John Gage Marvin (1815–1855) was an American lawyer, known as a legal bibliographer and figure of the history of California.

Early life

He was born at Le Raysville, Pennsylvania, and was educated at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. He then taught at Athens Academy, Athens, Pennsylvania from 1840.Michael H. Hoeflich, ''Annals of Legal Bibliography: J. G. Marvin'', Law Library Journal (2004) vol. 96
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. Three of his brothers attended the school, and a fourth worked the farm at Le Raysville. In 1842 Marvin enrolled at Harvard Law School, from an address given as

Towanda, Pennsylvania Towanda is a borough and the county seat of Bradford County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located northwest of Wilkes-Barre, on the Susquehanna River. The name means "burial ground" in the Algo ...

, and was there for four years, studying under

Simon Greenleaf Simon Greenleaf (December 5, 1783 – October 6, 1853), was an American lawyer and jurist. He was born at Newburyport, Massachusetts before moving to New Gloucester where he was admitted to the Cumberland County bar. Early life and legal ...

Joseph Story Joseph Story (September 18, 1779 – September 10, 1845) was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from 1812 to 1845. He is most remembered for his opinions in ''Martin v. Hunter's Lessee'' and '' United States ...

and

Charles Sumner Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...

. He graduated LL.B. in 1846, having served as Librarian. Marvin was the last beneficiary (1843–5) of a system of student librarians set up in 1830, who had a rent-free room in Dane Hall and some payment for their services to the

Harvard Law Library Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

In California

Towards the end of the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

Marvin left his Boston law practice for the West Coast. He was with the

Quartermaster Corps Following is a list of Quartermaster Corps, military units, active and defunct, with logistics duties: * Egyptian Army Quartermaster Corps - see Structure of the Egyptian Army * Hellenic Army Quartermaster Corps (''Σώμα Φροντιστών ...

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. He left the military in 1849, becoming editor of the ''Sonora Herald'', and settling in

Tuolumne County Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorporated city is Sonora. Tuolumne County comprises the ...

. Known locally as "Judge Marvin", he became a prominent citizen and part-time official.Roy W. Cloud, ''Education in California: Leaders, Organizations & Accomplishments of the First 100 Years'' (1952), pp. 23–4
Google Books
Marvin laid out the settlement of Empire City on the

Tuolumne River The Tuolumne River (Yokutsan: ''Tawalimnu'') flows for through Central California, from the high Sierra Nevada to join the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley. Originating at over above sea level in Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne ...

in Stanislaus County, California (at that time in

). It became the county seat of the new Stanislaus County in 1854, and an army supply center. Marvin was the first

California State Superintendent of Public Instruction The state superintendent of public instruction (SPI) of California is the nonpartisan (originally partisan) elected executive officer of the California Department of Education. The SPI directs all functions of the Department of Education, execu ...

. He came to San Jose at the end of 1850 to assume the position, finding nothing of which he could take charge. There was a legislative vacuum, which he proceeded to fill through the state legislature in stop-gap fashion, having consulted John C. Pelton who had recently set up a school in San Francisco. A clumsy and much amended school bill of 1851 was signed into law by Governor John McDougall, as California's first schools legislation. Financial problems remained for public education, and Marvin had the state vote $50,000 in 1852. A second school law created a board of education. At the 1853 state Democratic convention, Paul K. Hubbs was nominated for Superintendent of Public Instruction ahead of Marvin. A John G. Marvin Elementary School is now in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, founded in 1956.www.joincalifornia.com page for John G. Marvin
Concurrently with his activities on behalf of education, Marvin associated with

Jim Savage James D. Savage (1817–1852) was a California pioneer. He was a 49er, businessman, American soldier in the Mexican–American War, and commander of the California Militia, Mariposa Battalion in the Mariposa War and the first alleged non- indi ...

. At the end of the

Mariposa War The Mariposa War (December 1850 - June 1851), also known as the Yosemite Indian War, was a conflict between the United States and the indigenous people of California's Sierra Nevada in the 1850s. The war was fought primarily in Mariposa County a ...

, he became quartermaster of the King's River Reservation, and business partner of Savage. Marvin was present at the quarrel between Savage and Walter Harvey in 1852, when Harvey shot Savage dead.

Death

He died in the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1855, or in some sources 1857.

Works

Marvin's best-known work is his '' Legal Bibliography, or A thesaurus of American, English, Irish, and Scotch law books'' (1847). It was preceded by an 1843 edition of a work on

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

Sir James Mackintosh Sir James Mackintosh FRS FRSE (24 October 1765 – 30 May 1832) was a Scottish jurist, Whig politician and Whig historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor and barrister, and worked also as a jo ...

, with reading list, and an 1846 ''Catalogue'' of the Harvard Law Library including recent accessions. The ''Bibliography'' is alphabetical by author, with a topical index, and includes evaluative comments on the works, drawing on numerous sources. Despite the impression given by its short title, the ''Bibliography'' was an attempt to integrate other legal works into the Anglo-American tradition.

Notes

External links

''Events after the Mariposa Indian War''
from ''Sam Ward in the Gold Rush'' (1861, 1949) by Samuel Ward {{DEFAULTSORT:Marvin, John Gage 1815 births 1855 deaths American bibliographers Wesleyan University alumni California Superintendents of Public Instruction Harvard Law School alumni 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers