Melville Weston Fuller papers

  • Creator Names Fuller, Melville Weston, 1833-1910.
  • Title Melville Weston Fuller papers [manuscript], 1816-1967, bulk 1875-1910.
  • Physical description 9 linear ft. (22 boxes)
  • Collection summary
    • Correspondence, legal documents, clippings, and other papers concerning Melville W. Fuller's personal, professional, and political life, chiefly in the form of photostats collected by Willard L. King in the 1940s while writing a biography of Fuller. Included are briefs of all cases handled by Fuller as a practicing attorney before the Illinois Supreme Court and as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Other topics include the Fuller family; Chicago real estate; and international disputes, particularly the Venezuelan boundary dispute (1890-1910) and the Muscat Dhows question (1904-07), which were handled by the Permanent Board of Arbitration at the Hague while Fuller was a member.
    • Correspondents include Samuel Blatchford, Henry Billings Brown, Grover Cleveland, J. C. Bancroft Davis, William Rufus Day, Stephen J. Field, Augustus Hill Garland, Horace Gray; Walter Q. Gresham, John Marshall Harlan, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Howell E. Jackson, Rufus Peckham, Erskine Phelps, William L. Putnam, Henry M. Shepherd, George Shiras, William Howard Taft, Lambert Tree, and Edward Douglas White.
    • Original documents in the collection primarily concern management of Fuller's Chicago real estate by John and Henry Morris (1870-1909, ca. 100 items). Topics also include lots in Graceland Cemetery and a commemorative service at Fuller's grave in 1940.
    • Microfilm boxed with the collection includes microfilm Day-Fuller papers King used for his Fuller biography, including papers possibly at Northwestern University Law School and microfilm of Fuller correspondence with his daughter, Mrs. Hugh Campbell Wallace.
    • Collection also includes correspondence (1950-1967), bills for copying original manuscripts, contracts, clippings, reviews, and the annotated final manuscript of Mr. King's book: Melville Weston Fuller, Chief Justice of the United States, 1888-1910, published by Macmillan in 1950, 2nd ed. published by University of Chicago Press, 1960. Topics include research, publication, and responses to the book.
  • Acquisition information Most of this collection was a gift of Willard L. King in 1953, 1964, and 1973. (M1954.0042; M1964.0447; M1974.0027).
  • Finding Aids Note Descriptive inventory with index to Fuller correspondents available in the repository.
  • Location of Other Archival Materials Note Related materials at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, include the papers of Willard King and Mr. King's published biography of Fuller.
  • Names
    • Fuller, Melville Weston, 1833-1910 Archives.
    • Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908.
    • Davis, J. C. Bancroft (John Chandler Bancroft), 1822-1907.
    • Field, Stephen Johnson, 1816-1899.
    • Gray, Horace.
    • Harlan, John Marshall. 1833-1911.
    • Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1841-1935.
    • King, Willard L. (Willard Leroy), b. 1893. col
    • Morris, John.
    • Shepherd, Henry M.
    • Tree, Lambert, 1832-1910.
    • Graceland Cemetery (Chicago, Ill.)
    • Illinois. Supreme Court.
    • United States. Supreme Court.
    • Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908.
    • Davis, J. C. Bancroft (John Chandler Bancroft), 1822-1907.
    • Field, Stephen Johnson, 1816-1899.
    • Gray, Horace.
    • Harlan, John Marshall. 1833-1911.
    • Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1841-1935.
    • King, Willard L. (Willard Leroy), b. 1893, collector.
    • King, Willard L. (Willard Leroy), b. 1893. Melville Weston Fuller, Chief Justice of the United States 1888-1910.
    • Morris, John.
    • Shepherd, Henry M.
    • Tree, Lambert, 1832-1910.
  • Subjects
    • Families Illinois Chicago 19th century.
    • Families Illinois Chicago 20th century.
    • Judges United States.
    • Lawyers Illinois Chicago.
    • Real estate investment Illinois Chicago 19th century.
    • Real estate investment Illinois Chicago 20th century.
  • Geographic coverage
    • Chicago (Ill.) Commerce 19th century.
    • Chicago (Ill.) Commerce 20th century.
    • Chicago (Ill.) Politics and government.
    • United States Politics and government.
    • Venezuela Boundaries.
  • Genre
    • Briefs (legal documents) aat
    • Contracts. aat
    • Correspondence. aat
    • Manuscripts for publication. aat
    • Microfilm. aat
    • Photostats. aat
    • Scrapbooks. aat
  • Geographic name
    • United States District of Columbia Washington.
    • United States Illinois Cook County Chicago.