William Marvin

William Marvin
7th Governor of Florida
In office July 13, 1865 – December 20, 1865
Appointed by	Andrew Johnson
Preceded by	Abraham K. Allison
Succeeded by	David S. Walker
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
In office March 3, 1847 – July 1, 1863
Appointed by	James K. Polk
Preceded by	new seat
Succeeded by	Thomas Jefferson Boynton
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
In office 1835–1839
Appointed by	Andrew Jackson
Personal details
Born	April 14, 1808 Fairfield, New York
Died	July 9, 1902 (aged 94) Skaneateles, New York
Political party	None
Spouse(s)	Harriet Nash Marvin

William Marvin (April 14, 1808 – July 9, 1902) was an American lawyer, politician, and United States federal judge. He was the seventh Governor of Florida

Biography

Born in Fairfield, New York, Marvin read law in 1834 and entered private practice in Phelps, New York in 1834. President Andrew Jackson appointed him United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Territory at Key West in 1835, and he served in that position until 1839. Marvin served as a member of the Florida Territorial Council, governing the Florida Territory, in 1837.

Marvin served as a U.S. territorial judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Territory from 1839 to 1847. Florida became a U.S. state in 1845. On March 2, 1847, President James K. Polk nominated him to a seat on the newly created United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, created by 9 Stat. 131. Confirmed by the Senate on March 3, 1847, he received his commission on March 3, 1847.

Marvin resigned from the court on July 1, 1863 (since 1861, during the American Civil War, Florida had seceded from the Union and been part of the Confederacy). Marvin was in private practice in New York City in 1863 to 1865.

Marvin was appointed provisional governor of Florida on July 13, 1865, by President Andrew Johnson, to reestablish the government of the state after the end of the American Civil War.^[1] Marvin left office on December 20, 1865. The Florida Legislature elected him to the United States Senate as a Democrat, but the U.S. Senate refused to recognize the election and denied him a seat. Following the decision by the federal government to reconstruct the former Confederacy, he refused to run for any office.

In 1867, he left Florida and moved to Skaneateles, New York. He remained in private practice until his death in Skaneateles in 1902.

Marvin was the author of a nationally recognized textbook entitled Law of Wreck and Salvage, on salvage law.

His brother, Richard P. Marvin, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and later a New York state judge.^[2]

References

1. Presidential Proclamation No. 47, 13 July 1865, 13 Stat. 771
2. "The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volumes 16-17, (1862).

External links

• William Marvin at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Official Governor's portrait and biography from the State of Florida
• William Marvin: Judge, Governor, Gardener
• William Marvin at Find a Grave