Woodbury, Levi

Born December 22, 1789, in Francestown, NH
Died September 4, 1851, in Portsmouth, NH

Federal Judicial Service:
Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Received a recess appointment from James K. Polk on September 20, 1845, to a seat vacated by Joseph Story; nominated to the same position by James K. Polk on December 23, 1845. Confirmed by the Senate on January 3, 1846, and received commission on January 3, 1846. Service terminated on September 4, 1851, due to death.

Supreme Court Oath:
September 23, 1845

Allotment as Circuit Justice:

First Circuit, ca. October 1, 1845-September 4, 1851

Education:
Litchfield (Tapping Reeve) Law School
Dartmouth College, 1809
Read law, 1812

Professional Career:

Private practice, Francestown, New Hampshire, 1812-1816
Clerk, New Hampshire State Senate, 1816-1817
Associate justice, New Hampshire Superior Court of Judicature, 1817-1823
Governor, New Hampshire, 1823-1824
Private practice, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1824
Speaker, New Hampshire House of Representatives, 1825
U.S. senator from New Hampshire, 1825-1831, 1841-1845
State senator-elect (did not serve), New Hampshire, 1831
Secretary of the Navy, 1831-1834
Secretary of the Treasury, 1834-1841

Bibliography

Bader, William D., Henry J. Abraham, and James B. Staab. “The Jurisprudence of Levi Woodbury.” Vermont Law Review, vol. 18, no. 2 (Winter 1994): 261-312.

Capowski, Vincent Julian. “The Making of a Jacksonian Democrat, Levi Woodbury, 1789-1831.” Ph.D. Diss., Fordham University, 1966.

Hoogenboom, Ari and Herbert Ershkowitz. “Levi Woodbury’s ‘Intimate Memoranda’ of the Jackson Administration.” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 92, no. 4 (Oct. 1968): 507-15.

Jones, Michael E. “Five New Hampshire U.S. Supreme Court Justices: Woodbury, Clifford, Chase, Stone and Souter.” New Hampshire Bar Journal, vol. 33, no. 4 (Dec. 1992): 6-12.

Wheaton, Philip D. “Levi Woodbury, Jacksonian Financier.” Ph.D. Diss., University of Maryland, 1955.

Woodbury, Charles Levi. Memoir of Hon. Levi Woodbury. Boston: David Clapp and Son, 1894.

“Levi Woodbury.” Current Comment and Legal Miscellany, vol. 3, no. 1 (Jan. 15 1891): 1-7.

Manuscript Collections

Dartmouth College
Hanover, N.H.
Levi Woodbury papers, 1811-1846.
95 items; correspondence, business papers, and miscellany.

Duke University
Durham, N.C.
Levi Woodbury papers, 1830-1843.
25 items; papers concerning miscellaneous naval appointments, the value of various foreign monetary units, the views and directions of President Van Buren on the issuance of land patents, and payments to a government revenue inspector.

Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
Papers of the Levi Woodbury family, 1638-1914.
16 linear ft. (17,000 items); finding aid; collection contains Woodbury's and his son's correspondence, diaries, financial and legal papers, articles, scrapbooks, clippings, and other papers.

New Hampshire Historical Society
Concord, N.H.
Levi Woodbury letters, 1813-1851.
ca. 110 items; finding aid; collection contains official correspondence, chiefly from Woodbury's years as U.S. Secretary of the Navy (1831-1834) and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1834-1841).

Federal Judicial Center

You are here

Woodbury, Levi