Judge Marmaduke Dent (1849-1909), who authored the opinion in the Williams v. Board of Education case, served on the West Virginia Supreme Court from 1893 to 1904. Dent was born in Monongalia County in the town of Granville on April 18, 1849. West Virginia University opened in 1867, and Dent became the first graduate of West Virginia University in 1870, and the first president of the WVU Alumni Association.

After graduation, Dent taught in West Virginia public schools until 1873, when he became deputy clerk of the circuit and county court. He had decided early in life to become a lawyer, so while teaching school and working in the clerk’s office, he undertook the systematic reading of legal textbooks and, in 1875, was admitted to the Taylor County Bar in Grafton, where he practiced for 20 years.

An 1892 article about Judge Dent stated, “He spares nothing from himself that he would put upon others. In his politics he has many friends outside of his own party. Judge Dent is a firm believer in the legal and moral equality of the sexes.”

The following quotes from Judge Dent’s opinions exemplify his egalitarian philosophy: “It is universally recognized as an unequivocal truth that the greatest source of evil among men is a selfish disregard of the rights of others, the existence of which argumentatively makes civil government absolutely necessary for man’s felicity.” (Mayer v. Frobe, 1895). “One of the foundation stones of civil government is the protection of the weak against oppressive, willful conduct of the strong, and this is a principle that should be most rigidly enforced against powerful corporations who derive their existence and strength wholly from the government. (Scott v. C&O RR.,1897). Dent was the subject of a 1968 biography by John Philip Reid titled An American Judge.