Editorialana. 331
Ryan, Columbus, O.; C. E. Schenk, J. R.
Schindel, Murray Seasongood,
Frank H. Schaffer, D. H. T. Smith, Rufus
B. Smith, Dr. R. W. Stewart,
Thomas T. Swift, G. S. Sykes, Rev. Geo.
A. Thayer, Bryant Venable,
Emerson Venable, R. O. Venable, Dr.
Chas. E. Walton, J. W. Worth-
ington, F. B. Wiborg, J. O. White,
Charles B. Wilby, Joseph Wilby,
John F. Winslow, Isidor Wise, Paul
Wisenall, E. J. Wohlgemuth,
Everett I. Yowell.
MARTIN DEWEY FOLLETT.
Judge M. D. Follett, one of the
organizers of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society, a
life member and beginning
in 1895 for some ten years a trustee,
died at his home in Marietta,
Ohio, August 22, 1911.
Concerning his distinguished life we
quote from a memorial pub-
lished by the Washington County Bar
Association of which for many
years he was a most eminent member.
Martin Dewey Follett was born in
Enosburg, Franklin county,
Vermont, October 8, 1826, the son of
Captain John Fassett Follett and
grandson of Martin Dewey Follett. Many
members of his family had
risen to prominence in colonial and
revolutionary times. In 1836 his
father, with his wife and nine children,
came west and settled on a
farm in Licking county, Ohio, where the
subject of our sketch grew
to manhood. Having taught school for
several years, he entered Mari-
etta college and graduated, with highest
honors, in the class of 1853-
having completed the required course in
two years. He received the
degree of Bachelor of Arts; and three
years later was further honored
by having conferred upon him the degree
of Master of Arts. After
being graduated he taught for one year
in the high school at Newark,
Ohio, and for two years in the academy
and public schools at Marietta,
Ohio, and in 1856 was elected
superintendent of the local schools, which
he served two years.
In 1856 he married Miss Harriet L.
Shipman, of Marietta, Ohio,
to whom were born four children, all of
whom are deceased except
Mr. Alfred Dewey Follett, a member of
this bar. Judge Follett was
married a second time in 1875 to Miss
Abbie M. Bailey, of Lowell,
Mass., to whom was born one son, Edward
B. Follett, a judge of the
court of common pleas of this district.
Judge Follett was admitted to the bar in
1858, at the time of
his death being the oldest member of the
bar association, in point of
service; Mr. R. M. Stimson having been
admitted in 1849, but never
practiced; and R. K. Shaw, who was
admitted in 1855 in New York,
but came to Marietta in 1860. At the
October election in 1883, Judge
Follett was elected to the Supreme Court
of Ohio and served there from
332 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
December 8, 1883, until February 9,
1888. While a member of the
Supreme Court he established a
reputation for industry and judicial
ability which was recognized by the
profession throughout the state.
His opinions are found in volumes 42, 43
and 44, Ohio State Reports.
He was associated upon the bench with
such men as George W. Mc-
Ilvane, Selwyn N. Owen, John W. Okey and
Franklin J. Dickman,
and at the end of his term with present
Chief Justice William T. Spear,
who began his career upon the Supreme
bench in 1885.
Politically, Judge Follett was a sincere
and loyal member of the
Democratic party; in 1864 he served his
party as delegate in the national
convention which nominated Gen. George
B. McClellan for the presi-
dency; twice, in 1866 and 1868, he was
the party nominee for congress-
man from this district. He took much interest in matters of local
government and exerted wide influence
upon its affairs.
He was distinctively a humanitarian.
Since 1879, when Governor
Bishop sent him as a delegate from Ohio
to the National Conference
of Charities at Chicago, and Governor
Foster the following year to
Cleveland, he had devoted much time and
study toward the improve-
ment of conditions for the criminal and
insane. As a member of the
board of state charities, he has been
largely instrumental in bringing
the penal, reformatory and charitable
institutions of Ohio to the high
standard of present attainment. The new hospital
to be erected at
Lima for the care of the criminal insane
can be directly traced to the
influence which Judge Follett has
wielded for many years upon the
state's policy of caring for its
unfortunate. Surely, in this respect he
has aided in establishing the Kingdom
through this modern expression
of the brotherhood of man.
In giving an estimate of the services of
Judge Follett, we may
lay emphasis upon the fact that he was a
true friend of education.
Himself educated, wisely informed, a
teacher, he saw the importance
all along the line of lifting education
above the bread and butter stand-
ard. He served on the board of trustees
of Marietta college for many
years; and upon the local board of
education; he was a charter member
of, and until his death a faithful
attendant upon, the Marietta Reading
Club. Likewise, he conceived the law as
a profession rather than a
business, and never lost interest in the
meetings of the Ohio State
Bar Association and in the American Bar
Association, of which he
was a member and to which, upon
important committees, he rendered
valuable services.
As a man, Judge Follett possessed an
interesting and strong per-
sonality; as a citizen, he was ever
willing to assume his full share of
the burden of public service; as a
lawyer, he was successful, always
faithful to his client, and honorable;
and as a Christian, a faithful at-
tendant upon the services of the First
Congregational Church and in
his daily life loyal to his religious
convictions.