Charles Levi Woodbury (May 22, 1820 – July 1, 1898) was an American lawyer and politician.
Life
Woodbury was born on May 22, 1820, in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...
. His father was
Levi Woodbury
Levi Woodbury (December 22, 1789September 4, 1851) was an American attorney, jurist, and Democratic politician from New Hampshire. During a four-decade career in public office, Woodbury served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U ...
, a prominent New Hampshire lawyer who served as
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
,
U.S. senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
,
Secretary of the Navy
The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense.
By law, the se ...
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, with his parents when he was ten. He attended a select academy there instituted by
Salmon P. Chase
Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States. He also served as the 23rd governor of Ohio, represented Ohio in the United States Senate, a ...
. He attended Columbia College and the Catholic College in Georgetown, graduating from the latter school at an early age. He then began studying law, first in the office of
United States Attorney General
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
Benjamin F. Butler
Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is best ...
and then with Roland S. Coxe. He was admitted to the bar before he turned twenty. He moved to Lowndes County, Alabama, shortly after he was admitted to the bar and practiced law there. He moved to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
in 1845 and practiced law there. He initially practiced law with future congressman
Robert Rantoul Jr.
Robert Rantoul Jr. (August 13, 1805August 7, 1852) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts.
Rantoul was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1835–1839), the commission to revise the laws of Massachusetts, an ...
for a few years. He then practiced law largely on his own, although he occasionally associated with younger lawyers, including Charles G. Chick and Josiah P. Tucker in his later years. In the earlier days of his law practice, he jointly edited with George Minot the three-volume ''Reports of Cases argued and determined in the Circuit Court of the United States for the First District'', which contained his father's decisions as judge from 1847 to 1852. He also edited the second and third volume of ''Levi Woodbury's Writings'' and wrote pamphlets on the fisheries question and other matters related to diplomatic relations between the United States and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
Woodbury was a delegate and New Hampshire vice-president of the
1856 Democratic National Convention
The 1856 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met from June 2 to June 6 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1856 election. ...
. In 1853, he declined an offer from President
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...
(who had previously studied law in his father's office) to be Ambassador to Bolivia. He was elected to the
New Hampshire House of Representatives
The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 legislative district ...
in 1857, representing
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
. Later that year, he was appointed
U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts
The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (in case citations, D. Mass.) is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The first court session was held ...
. He served as U.S. Attorney until 1861. He then served in the
Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...
as one of the three representatives of the Suffolk County 5th District in
1870
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England.
** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed.
* January 3 – Construction of the Broo ...
and
1871
Events January–March
* January 3 – Franco-Prussian War – Battle of Bapaume: Prussians win a strategic victory.
* January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the sout ...
. He was a delegate to the
1880 Democratic National Convention
The 1880 Democratic National Convention was held June 22 to 24, 1880, at the Music Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, and nominated Winfield S. Hancock of Pennsylvania for president and William H. English of Indiana for vice president in the United Stat ...
and served on its Committee on Resolutions.
Woodbury was a member of the
New England Historic Genealogical Society
The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is the oldest and largest genealogical society in the United States, founded in 1845.
NEHGS provides family history services through its staff, original scholarship, website, He was also an honorary member of the
Maine Historical Society
The Maine Historical Society is the official state historical society of Maine. It is located at 489 Congress Street in downtown Portland. The Society currently operates the Wadsworth-Longfellow House, a National Historic Landmark, Longfellow Ga ...
Freemasons
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
and held high offices in the
York Rite
The York Rite, sometimes referred to as the American Rite, is one of several Rites of Freemasonry. It is named for, but not practiced in York, Yorkshire, England. A Rite is a series of progressive degrees that are conferred by various Masonic ...
and Scottish Rite, serving as second officer and on the supreme council of the latter body. He was also a trustee for the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and was on the board for the supreme council.
Woodbury died in the
Parker House Parker may refer to:
Persons
* Parker (given name)
* Parker (surname)
Places Place names in the United States
*Parker, Arizona
*Parker, Colorado
* Parker, Florida
* Parker, Idaho
*Parker, Kansas
* Parker, Missouri
* Parker, North Carolina
*Parke ...
in Boston on July 1, 1898. His funeral was in St. Paul's Church. His funeral was attended by, among other people,
Albert E. Pillsbury
Albert Enoch Pillsbury (August 19, 1849 – December 23, 1930) was a Boston lawyer who served in both houses of the Massachusetts legislature, president of the Massachusetts State Senate, and as the Attorney General of Massachusetts from 1891 to ...
,
William S. McNary
William Sarsfield McNary (March 29, 1863 – June 26, 1930) was an American Democratic politician who served two terms as a U.S. Representative from Boston, Massachusetts and exercised tremendous influence over the Massachusetts Democratic Party ...