Fenton Whitlock Booth

Who was Fenton Whitlock Booth?

Fenton Whitlock Booth was an Illinois State Representative, and later a long-serving judge on the United States Court of Claims.

Born in Marshall, Clark County, Illinois, Booth graduated from DePauw University, and received an LL.B from the University of Michigan Law School in 1892. He was in private practice in Marshall from 1892 to 1905, and was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1896 to 1897, and a delegate to the 1904 Republican National Convention. He was appointed to the United States Court of Claims by President Theodore Roosevelt, taking office on March 17, 1905. He was later nominated by President Calvin Coolidge to be Chief Justice of that court, and was so commissioned on April 23, 1928, serving in that capacity from 1928 to 1939, the year of his retirement. While serving on the court, he was Dean of the YMCA Law School for several years, and for seven years during the 1920s was Dean of the Howard University Law School, all the while refusing to accept payment for holding the position. He also later taught at the National University Law School.

Booth was the nephew of California political figure Newton Booth. He married Mabel Dana on December 17, 1893.