Florida Governor, Author. He received his place in American history as the seventh governor of the State of Florida serving a term of less than six months. In 1835 President Andrew Jackson appointed him as United States District Attorney for the Southern District of the Florida Territory. He served as a member of the Florida Territorial Council in 1837 and a delegate to the Florida Constitutional Convention from 1838 to 1839. In 1839 he was appointed as a territorial judge by President Martin Van Buren. He went into private law practice in Key West from 1845 to 1847. In March of 1847 Florida became a state and he was appointed to Judge of the United States District at Key West by President James Polk. The experiences he gained at that position led him to write a couple of nationally recognized textbooks with "Law of Wreck and Salvage" being the most well-known and still in print. On January 10, 1861, the State of Florida seceded from the Union of the United States declaring itself an independent nation and the following April, the American Civil War started. In the middle of the Civil War on April 18, 1863, Judge Marvin wrote President Abraham Lincoln of his wish to resign his position as "District Judge of the United States for the Southern District of Florida" for health reasons, yet more than likely it was for political reasons. He resigned July 1, 1863 and moved north to practice law until 1865. On July 13, 1865 , President Andrew Johnson named him as Florida's provisional governor for the purpose of reestablishing the state's government at the end of the Civil War. He replaced Abraham Allison, who served as Florida's governor for only a month. From May 19, 1865, when Allison's term ended, until Marvin came to office in July, the State of Florida did not have a governor. During his governorship, he petitioned for the state constitutional convention, which assembled on October 28, 1865 and he canceled the ordinance of secession. On December 20th his term ended with David Walker becoming governor. At this point, the Florida Legislature elected him as a Democrat candidate for the office of United States Senate from Florida, yet the United States Senate refused to recognize this election and at the support of many Republican Senators, denied him a seat. Following that incident, the Federal government began the "reconstructing period" of what had been the Confederate states, but he refused to run for any other political office in Florida returning to New York in 1867 to practice law until his death. He was educated in the New York Public School System and at the Homer Academy. Although he did not attend law school, he received on the job practice in a law firm, admitted to the bar in 1833 and began his law practice in 1834 in Phelps, New York. He was very knowledgeable on various aspects of the law, respected by his colleagues and served the State of Florida well for many years. His brother Richard Marvin served in the United States Congress representing the State of New York. The Governor's Association states he was married twice: Florida's First Lady Harriet Newell and then Elizabeth Riddle Jewett, and he fathered a daughter.