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William Burnham Woods (August 3, 1824 – May 14, 1887) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States circuit judge and an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court as well as an Ohio politician and soldier in the Civil War.


Early life and education

Woods was born on August 3, 1824, in Newark, Ohio. He was the older brother of
Charles R. Woods Charles Robert Woods (February 19, 1827 – February 26, 1885) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general during the American Civil War. He is noted for commanding the relief troops that first attempted to resupply Fort Sumter ...
, who also became a general in the Civil War. He attended college at Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) in Hudson, Ohio, before transferring to Yale University, from which he received an
Artium Baccalaureus Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in 1845 with honors.


Career

After graduating he returned to Newark and
read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...
by clerking for S. D. King, a prominent local lawyer. Woods was admitted to the bar in 1847. He entered the firm of his mentor, King, and became his partner. He practiced law with King in Newark, from 1847 to 1862. Woods, a loyal Democrat, was elected Mayor of Newark in 1856. He was next elected to the
Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...
in 1858, and was selected soon after as Speaker of the
House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
. He also served as Minority Leader.


Military service

Although Woods opposed the Civil War, because he opposed slavery, he came to accept a Union victory as a necessity. In 1862 he left the Ohio state house to join the Union Army. He was commissioned as
lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
of the 76th Ohio Infantry, which served in the Western Theater. He fought at the battles of Shiloh and Vicksburg, and was breveted brigadier general. Woods commanded his regiment under William T. Sherman during the Atlanta Campaign and Sherman's March to the Sea. During the Carolinas Campaign, he fought with distinction at the Battle of Bentonville, where he commanded a brigade. He was appointed a brevet major general and was promoted to full Brigadier General in early 1865. He left the Army in February 1866.


Settlement in the South

He decided to settle in the South, living for a year in
Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ...
, Alabama, where he reopened a law practice, before moving his practice to Montgomery. There he bought property and cultivated cotton, hiring free African-American workers, likely as sharecroppers. He served as a Chancellor for the Middle Chancery Division of Alabama in Montgomery from 1868 to 1869.


Federal judicial service


Circuit Court service

Woods was appointed as a United States Circuit Judge for the United States Circuit Court for the Fifth Circuit. Woods was nominated by President Ulysses S. Grant on December 8, 1869, to a new seat, created by 16 Stat. 44. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 22, 1869, and received commission the same day. He was appointed to the United States Supreme Court, and resigned from the circuit court on December 23, 1880. In ''United States v. Hall'', 26 F. Cas. 79 (C.C.S.D. Ala. 1871), Judge Woods upheld the constitutionality of the 1870 Enforcement Act under the authority of the Fourteenth Amendment. He held that Congress could enact legislation enforcing the “fundamental rights” of the Bill of Rights against state action and inaction. This meant Congress could enact legislation criminalizing violations of these rights by private individuals, at least in cases of state inaction. The '' Slaughter-House Cases'', which "tested the issue of the reach and breadth of the 14th Amendment", were the most important cases that Woods adjudicated in the lower courts. He found that a state act that created a monopoly in the slaughterhouse business violated the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the new 14th Amendment and "therefore was void". Three years later, a majority of the Supreme Court reversed his decision in the ''Slaughter-House Cases''.


Supreme Court service

Woods was nominated by President Rutherford B. Hayes on December 15, 1880 to be an associate justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
, to a seat vacated by William Strong. He was confirmed by the United States Senate, by a vote of 39 to 8, on December 21, 1880, and took the oath of office on January 5, 1881. Woods was the first person to be named to the Supreme Court from a former Confederate state since 1853. But he was known as a Northerner, Union veteran, and
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...
member, so was acceptable to the U.S. Senate's Republican majority. Woods is not considered to have been a major contributor to the Court. He served six years on the bench, until his death in Washington, D.C. on May 14, 1887.


Legacy and honors

During World War II the Liberty ship , built in
Brunswick, Georgia Brunswick () is a city in and the county seat of Glynn County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As the primary urban and economic center of the lower southeast portion of Georgia, it is the second-largest urban area on the Georgia coastline after Sa ...
, was named in his honor.


See also

*
List of American Civil War generals (Union) Union generals __NOTOC__ The following lists show the names, substantive ranks, and brevet ranks (if applicable) of all general officers who served in the United States Army during the Civil War, in addition to a small selection of lower-ranke ...
* '' Slaughter-House Cases'' * List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States


Notes


References

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, William Burnham 1824 births 1887 deaths 19th-century American judges Alabama lawyers Judges of the United States circuit courts Ohio Democrats Ohio Republicans Ohio lawyers People from Newark, Ohio People of Ohio in the American Civil War Speakers of the Ohio House of Representatives Union Army generals United States federal judges appointed by Rutherford B. Hayes United States federal judges appointed by Ulysses S. Grant Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Alabama Republicans