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1 A GENTLEMAN AND A SCHOLAR Augusta, the capital of Maine, was a small frontier community in the 1830s. Into this rustic environment Melville Weston Fuller, the second son of Frederick Augustus Fuller and his wife, Catherine Martin Weston, was born on February 11, 1833. Family tradition pointed Fuller on the path to a legal career. His father was an attorney in Augusta, and an uncle was a lawyer in Bangor. Fuller's maternal grandfather, Nathan Weston, sat on the Supreme Court of Maine for many years and served as chiefjustice from 1834 to 1841. His paternal grandfather, Henry Weld Fuller, was a probate judge in Kennebec County.l The experiences of his childhood would leave a deep mark on Fuller's intellectual development. Three months after Fuller's birth, his mother filed suit for divorce from his father on grounds ofadultery. This was an unusual development since divorce was uncommon in antebellum America. As a result of the uncontested divorce decree, Fuller's father had no role in his son's upbringing. Catherine moved with her two children into the home of her father, Judge Weston. The future chiefjustice spent his formative years under the influence of his grandfather. An ardent Democrat, Judge Weston preached the virtues ofJacksonian politics and frugality in financial matters. He also maintained a fine library and transmitted his love of literature to the young Fuller. Under Judge Weston's tutelage Fuller early acquired lifelong commitments to the Democratic Party and literary pursuits. He was raised as an Episcopalian and remained in that faith until his death. For several years after her di1 . For the career of Nathan Weston see James W. North, The History ofAugusta (Augusta, Maine: Clapp and North, 1870), 502-505; William Willis, A History ofthe Law, the Courts, and the Lawyers of Maine (Portland: Bailey and Noyes, 1863), 510-517. For the career of Henry Weld Fuller see North, History ofAugusta, 516-517; Willis, History ofthe Law, 700702 . 4 A GENTLEMAN AND A SCHOLAR 5 vorce Fuller's mother earned a living by giving piano lessons. She remarried in 1844 despite the jealous protests of her second son, then eleven. The remarriage proved difficult for Fuller to accept, and he continued to live most of the time with his grandparents.2 At the age of sixteen, in September 1849, Fuller entered Bowdoin College . His mother and grandmother shared the cost of his college education . At Bowdoin Fuller was active in the Athenaean Society, a literary and debating organization, and was elected president of it during his junior year. He became an avid debater and pursued his passion for writing poetry. Democratic Party politics also claimed his attention. In 1852 Fuller helped form a Granite Club at Bowdoin to support Franklin Pierce's campaign for the presidency. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Fuller graduated from Bowdoin in September 1853.3 Fuller commenced his legal studies promptly after his graduation. As was then the common practice, he received most of his legal training by apprenticeship. Fuller studied law in the Bangor office of his uncle, George Melville Weston. In fall 1854 Fuller entered Harvard Law School, where he attended lectures for six months. Admitted to the Maine bar in 1855, Fuller moved back to Augusta and began to practice law with another uncle. His principal occupation, however, was as associate editor of the AugustaAge, the leading Democratic Party newspaper in Maine. A political career also beckoned. In March 1856 Fuller was elected to the Augusta common council. He was promptly appointed both president of the council and Augusta city solicitor.4 Despite his early political success and his advantageous family contacts , at the age of twenty-three Fuller abruptly decided to move to Chicago . Several factors influenced his relocation. For an ambitious young attorney Chicago offered much wider professional opportunities than static Augusta. Political considerations also played a role. Fueled by outrage over the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, the Republican Party gained ascendancy in Maine. This in turn induced Fuller, a loyal Democrat, to pursue his political fortunes in a more hospitable state. Last, he was escaping from the pain of a broken marriage engagement.5 2. Willard L. King, Melville Weston Fuller: ChiefJustice ofthe United States, 1888-1910 (New York: Macmillan, 1950, reprint Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967), 10-17. 3. King, Fuller, 18-26; Louis C. Hatch, The History ofBowdoin College (Portland: Loring, Short & Harmon, 1927), 115-116. 4. King, Fuller, 26-31; "ChiefJustice Fuller," 1 Green Bag 2...

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