Melville Weston Fuller was born in Augusta, Maine, on February 11, 1833. He graduated from Bowdoin College and briefly attended Harvard Law School. He was a newspaperman in Augusta for a time, was admitted to the bar in 1855, and practiced law in Chicago from 1856 to 1888.

Fuller was a prominent member of the Chicago bar, but was unknown nationally. In 1888, however, he was appointed Chief Justice of the United States by Grover Cleveland. Other members of the Court at his time were such prominent jurists as Oliver Wendell Holmes and John Marshall Harlan. Although not as forceful an intellect as they were, Fuller developed a reputation as an impartial and skilled administrator of the Court's business. Holmes referred to him as the best presiding judge he had ever known.

Fuller wrote two important opinions during his tenure on the Court: one that narrowly construed the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 and another the declared unconstitutional the federal income tax act of 1894. While serving as Chief Justice, he was also a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague for ten year. A biography of Chief Justice Fuller, written by Willard L. King (another member of The Chicago Literary Club) was published in 1950.

Fuller was a member of The Chicago Literary Club from 1878 until his death on July 4, 1910. He presented two papers and participated in two conversations. A magnificent oil portrait of Chief Justice Fuller may be found in the art collection of the Union League Club of Chicago.

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