Martin Dewey Follett

Who was Martin Dewey Follett?

Martin Dewey Follett was a Democratic politician in the U.S. State of Ohio who was an Ohio Supreme Court Judge 1883-1887.

Martin Dewey Follett was born at Enosburg, Franklin County, Vermont. In 1836 his family settled in Licking County, Ohio, where he grew up. He taught school, then entered and graduated from Marietta College in 1853 with a BA. In 1856 he earned an MA. He taught high school for a year in Newark, and two years at Marietta, where he was elected superintendent of schools in 1856, and served two years.

In 1856, Follett was married to Harriet L. Shipman, of Marietta, who had four children, and in 1875 he married Abbie M. Bailey, of Lowell, Massachusetts, who had one child. Follett was admitted to the bar in 1858. In 1864, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention which nominated George B. McClellan.

In 1866, Follett was nominated for the Congress by the Democratic party, but lost the fifteenth district to Tobias A. Plants. In 1868 he lost the same district to Eliakim H. Moore.

Follett won election for Ohio Supreme Court judge over Republican William H. Upson in 1883, and was seated in December of that year.