# Levi Woodbury *American jurist and Democratic politician from New Hampshire (1789–1851)* Levi Woodbury, born December 22, 1789, and died September 4, 1851, was a New Hampshire lawyer, judge and officeholder of the [[Democratic Party (United States)]]. Over roughly forty years in public office he was an associate justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]], a U.S. senator, the ninth [[governor]] of New Hampshire, and a cabinet secretary under Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.[^1] He joined the New Hampshire bench in 1817, governed the state from 1823 to 1824, and sat in the U.S. Senate from 1825 to 1831 and again from 1841 to 1845. He left the Senate in 1845 when President James K. Polk appointed him to the Supreme Court. Supporters put his name forward for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1848, and the convention chose Lewis Cass of Michigan.[^2] [[Woodbury]], [[Minnesota]], is among the places named for him.[^3] ## Life and early career Woodbury's parents were Peter and Mary Woodbury, and he was born in Francestown, New Hampshire. He attended Atkinson Academy. He then took his degree from Dartmouth College in 1809 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and spent a short time at Tapping Reeve Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut. After reading law, he was admitted to the New Hampshire bar in 1812. He kept a private practice in Francestown from 1812 to 1816 and was a Freemason.[^4] While in Francestown he wrote the Hillsborough Resolves, a defense of the Madison administration's decisions in the War of 1812. The Wikipedia account dates the start of his political involvement to that publication. He was clerk of the New Hampshire State Senate from 1816 to 1817 and sat on the Superior Court of Judicature from 1817 to 1823.[^5] In the 1823 governor's race, the party caucus nominated Samuel Dinsmoor, while a public convention, which the account calls irregular, nominated Woodbury. Woodbury won by a wide margin. The Wikipedia account judges his single year in office a failure, saying his attempt to reconcile Federalists and Democratic-Republicans made little headway. It also reports that some scholars read his reputation for independence and moderation as indecision. He was Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1825.[^6] ## Federal government service ### Senate and Cabinet service During his first Senate term, from 1825 to 1831, Woodbury chaired the Senate Commerce Committee from 1827 to 1831. He was elected to the New Hampshire State Senate in 1831 but never took that seat, because Jackson named him Secretary of the Navy, a post he held from 1831 to 1834. Early in that tenure he helped secure the appointment of Edmund Roberts, also of New Hampshire, as special agent and envoy to the Far East.[^7] From 1834 to 1841 he was Secretary of the Treasury, first under Jackson and then under Van Buren. As a senator he worked with Jackson's supporters to end the Second Bank of the United States. Like Jackson, he favored an independent treasury and hard money over paper currency.[^8] The Wikipedia account lists the Panic of 1837 and the collapse of speculative land prices among the legacies of his Treasury tenure. After the panic he backed the Independent Treasury act that Congress passed in 1840. The next administration largely repealed that act the following year. An independent Treasury was established in 1846 under Polk.[^9] He served a second Senate term from 1841 to 1845. The account also records his ten-day chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Finance during a special session of the 29th Congress, which it describes as the shortest on record.[^10] ### Supreme Court tenure Woodbury accepted Polk's appointment to the Supreme Court in 1845 and sat as an associate justice from 1845 to 1851. He was the first justice of the Court to have attended law school.[^11] ## Presidential candidacy and death At the 1848 Democratic National Convention, Woodbury drew substantial support, chiefly from New England delegates, but the nomination went to Cass. Looking ahead to 1852, he encouraged party allies to promote him. He was positioned as a possible compromise choice at that year's convention until his health failed. He died at Portsmouth on September 4, 1851, and the account gives the cause as an inflammatory tumor of the stomach.[^12] ## Legacy He is counted among the few people to have held constitutional office in all three branches of the federal government. He is also one of seven people to have done so while also serving as a state governor.[^13] Places named for him include Woodbury County, Iowa; Woodbury, Minnesota; Woodbury, Tennessee; Woodbury Avenue in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and Woodbury School in Salem, New Hampshire. Several ships have also borne the name USS Woodbury. New Hampshire historical marker number 43 commemorates him on New Hampshire Route 136 in Francestown.[^3] His daughter Mary married Montgomery Blair, who served as Postmaster General under [[Abraham Lincoln]]. His son Charles L. Woodbury was a lawyer who served as United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. Charles also sat in the New Hampshire House of Representatives and the Massachusetts General Court.[^14] ## Works - *Political, Judicial, and Literary Writings*, edited by N. Capen (Boston, 1852).[^15] ## In the Minnesota record ### Where - Woodbury, Minnesota, is named in his honor.[^3] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury* (revid 1360144720, retrieved 2026-10-26) — dates of birth and death, party, and the offices he held. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury*, lead and section *Presidential candidacy and death* (retrieved 2026-10-26) — his 1817 judicial appointment, governorship and Senate terms, Polk's 1845 appointment, and Cass's 1848 nomination. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury*, section *Legacy* (retrieved 2026-10-26) — places and ships named in his honor, including Woodbury, Minnesota, and New Hampshire historical marker number 43. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury*, section *Life and early career* (retrieved 2026-10-26) — his birth, parents, education, 1812 bar admission, 1812–1816 practice, and Masonic membership. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury*, section *Life and early career* (retrieved 2026-10-26) — the Hillsborough Resolves, his 1816–1817 Senate clerkship, and his 1817–1823 service on the Superior Court of Judicature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury*, section *Life and early career* (retrieved 2026-10-26) — the 1823 election against Dinsmoor, the assessment of his governorship, and his 1825 speakership. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury*, section *Senate and Cabinet service* (retrieved 2026-10-26) — his 1825–1831 Senate term, Commerce Committee chairmanship, the 1831 state senate election, his Navy secretaryship, and Edmund Roberts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury*, section *Senate and Cabinet service* (retrieved 2026-10-26) — his 1834–1841 Treasury secretaryship, the Second Bank, and his treasury and currency positions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury [^9]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury*, section *Senate and Cabinet service* (retrieved 2026-10-26) — the Panic of 1837, the 1840 Independent Treasury act, its repeal the following year, and the 1846 establishment under Polk. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury [^10]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury*, section *Senate and Cabinet service* (retrieved 2026-10-26) — his 1841–1845 Senate term and ten-day Finance Committee chairmanship. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury [^11]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury*, lead and sections *Life and early career* and *Senate and Cabinet service* (retrieved 2026-10-26) — Polk's appointment, his 1845–1851 Court service, and his being the first justice to have attended law school. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury [^12]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury*, section *Presidential candidacy and death* (retrieved 2026-10-26) — his 1848 and 1852 candidacies and his death at Portsmouth on September 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury [^13]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury*, section *Legacy* (retrieved 2026-10-26) — his offices in all three branches and his place among seven who were also governors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury [^14]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury*, section *Legacy* (retrieved 2026-10-26) — his daughter Mary's marriage to Montgomery Blair and the offices of his son Charles L. Woodbury. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury [^15]: Wikipedia contributors, *Levi Woodbury*, section *Works* (retrieved 2026-10-26) — his collected writings, published in 1852. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Woodbury