# Seth May

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{{Short description|American judge (1802–1881)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}}

'''Seth May''' (July 2, 1802 – September 20, 1881),<ref name="Cleaves">{{cite web|url=http://www.cleaves.org/sjcbios1.htm|title=The Supreme Judicial Court of the State of Maine, 1820 to 2009|publisher=Nathan & Henry B. Cleaves Law Library|access-date=December 22, 2019}} Citing ''In Memoriam Seth May'', 74 ME 601.</ref> was a Maine attorney who served as a justice of the [Maine Supreme Judicial Court](/source/Maine_Supreme_Judicial_Court) from May 6, 1855 to May 7, 1862.<ref name="Cleaves"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://legislature.maine.gov/lawlibrary/maine-supreme-court-chief-and-associate-justices/9284/|title=Maine Supreme Court Chief and Associate Justices|publisher=Maine State Legislature|access-date=December 24, 2019}}</ref>

Born in [Winthrop, Maine](/source/Winthrop%2C_Maine), May attended the [Monmouth Academy](/source/Monmouth_Academy_(Maine)) and the Hallowell Academy, and "began his career as an accountant",<ref name="Cleaves"/> but was unhappy with his employment, and therefore [read law](/source/reading_law) to gain admission to the bar in 1831.<ref name="MA">Maine Genealogy Archives, [https://archives.mainegenealogy.net/2008/05/maine-supreme-judicial-court-justices.html Maine Supreme Judicial Court Justices, 1820-1920].</ref> May entered the practice of law in Winthrop that year, and remained in private practice until 1855.<ref name="Cleaves"/>

On May 6, 1855, May was appointed by Governor [Anson Morrill](/source/Anson_Morrill) as an associate justice of the state supreme court,<ref name="MA"/> to a seat newly created by the legislature in the previous session.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-advertiser-democrat-new-judge-of-the/185784863/|title=New Judge of the Supreme Court|date=May 11, 1855|pages=2|work=The Norway, Maine Advertiser-Democrat|via=newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1861, May coauthored a ruling on fugitive slaves, holding that the [Fugitive Slave Act of 1850](/source/Fugitive_Slave_Act_of_1850) was unconstitutional, and that the state of Maine had the right to protect alleged fugitive slaves through its own personal liberty laws.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://digitalmaine.com/early_aa_history_me/71|title=1861 Supreme Court Opinion of Justices May and Goodenow Regarding Fugitive Slaves|date=February 21, 1861|journal=1764-1865}}</ref> He retired from the bench on May 6, 1862,<ref name="MA"/> and returned to private practice, also serving as a [Referee in Bankruptcy](/source/Referee_in_Bankruptcy) from 1867 to 1873.<ref name="Cleaves"/>

He died at [Auburn, Maine](/source/Auburn%2C_Maine), at the age of 79.<ref name="Cleaves"/><ref name="MA"/>

==References==
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{{s-start}}
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{{succession box
|title=[Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court](/source/List_of_justices_of_the_Maine_Supreme_Judicial_Court)
|before=Newly established seat
|after=[Charles W. Walton](/source/Charles_W._Walton_(Maine_politician))
|years=1855–1862}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:May, Seth}}
Category:1802 births
Category:1881 deaths
Category:People from Winthrop, Maine
Category:U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law
Category:Justices of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court

{{Maine-state-judge-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Seth May](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seth_May) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seth_May?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.