W. H. Seward Thomson (December 16, 1856 – November 29, 1932) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Education and career

Born in Beaver County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, Thomson attended Washington and Jefferson College, and Marshall College (now

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...

) in Huntington,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

before reading law to enter the bar in 1880. He was in private practice in

Beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

, Pennsylvania from 1881 to 1894, and then in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Pennsylvania until 1914.

Federal judicial service

On July 7, 1914, Thomson was nominated by President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania vacated by Judge James Scott Young. Thomson was confirmed by the

United States Senate 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 pow ...

on July 21, 1914, and received his commission the same day. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on February 21, 1928, serving in that capacity until his death on November 29, 1932.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, W. H. Seward 1856 births 1932 deaths People from Beaver County, Pennsylvania Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Marshall University alumni Washington & Jefferson College alumni United States district court judges appointed by Woodrow Wilson 20th-century American judges United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law