Henry A. Melvin

Henry Alexander Melvin (September 28, 1865 – April 24, 1920) was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from September 28, 1908 to December 1920. Biography Melvin was born at Springfield, Illinois, on September 28, 1865, to Samuel and Sarah Melvin, the youngest of four children. In 1874, when he was nine years old, his family moved from Illinois to St. Helena, California. In 1878, his parents moved to Oakland where his father, a retired medical practitioner, opened a pharmacy. Henry attended the University of California, Berkeley, while assisting his father to earn his school fees, graduating with a B.Phil. in 1889. In April 1890, he was elected census marshal by the Oakland Board of Education. Melvin then enrolled in Hastings College of Law, receiving his LL.B. degree in 1892. While a student, he was elected and served as the Justice of the Peace of Brooklyn Township in Alameda County. In 1893, Melvin became the assistant District Attorney of Alameda County. The next year in 1894, he accepted a five-year term to serve as Prosecuting Attorney for the City of Oakland. He returned to Alameda County to serve as Chief Deputy District Attorney, except for a period of three months when he was acting Deputy Attorney General of California.