John F. Main
# John F. Main

John F. Main (1864 – October 13, 1942) was a justice of the Washington Supreme Court from 1912 to 1942.

## Education

Born in Seaton, Mercer County, Illinois, Main was raised on a farm there, and attended Monmouth College. He worked his way through school while studying for an A.B. from Princeton University, which he received in 1891. He later attended the University of Michigan Law School.

Main practiced law in Aledo, Illinois, for three years in partnership with George A. Cooke, who later served on the Supreme Court of Illinois. Main moved to Seattle, Washington, in 1900. From 1904 to 1909, he was a professor of law at the University of Washington School of Law.

## Judicial service

In 1908, Main was a candidate for a seat on the King County Superior Court. Main was unsuccessful, but in 1909, Governor Marion E. Hay appointed Main to a seat on the King County Superior Court vacated by the elevation of George E. Morris to the state supreme court. Main remained on the superior court until September 1912, when he was appointed by Governor Hay to a seat on the state supreme court vacated by the death of chief justice Ralph O. Dunbar. Main was reelected to the supreme court four times, becoming one of the longest-serving members of that court, and serving as chief justice on two occasions. He planned to seek a fifth term in 1942, winning the Republican primary for the seat, but thereafter was forced to withdraw from the election due to failing health, leaving Joseph A. Mallery running unopposed.

## Personal life and death

In 1892, Main married Mary G. Crouch, with whom he had one daughter. Main died at a sanitarium in Seattle at the age of 78, following a period of failing health.

