William Burnham Woods

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William Burnham Woods

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Term in office
January 5, 1881 – May 14, 1887
Preceded by	William Strong
Succeeded by	Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar
Nominated by	Rutherford B. Hayes
Born	August 3, 1824 Newark, Ohio
Died	May 14, 1887

William Burnham Woods (August 3, 1824 – May 14, 1887) was an American jurist, politician, and soldier.

Woods was born in Newark, Ohio. He attended college at both Western Reserve University and Yale University, graduating from Yale in 1845. Upon his graduation he returned home to Newark and studied law, being admitted to the bar in 1847 and establishing a practice with his tutor.

Woods, a loyal Democrat, was elected mayor of Newark in 1856, and to the Ohio General Assembly in 1858, being named Speaker of the House shortly thereafter. He opposed the Civil War but, not being a proponent of slavery, came to see the necessity of a Union victory. In 1862 he left the Ohio state house and joined the Union Army.

He was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 76th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which served in the Western Theater. He fought at the battles of Shiloh and Vicksburg, and was promoted to brigadier general. Woods commanded a brigade under William T. Sherman during the Atlanta Campaign and a division during Sherman's March to the Sea. During the Carolinas Campaign, he fought with distinction at the Battle of Bentonville. He was appointed a brevet major general in early 1865. He left the Army in February 1866.

At the end of the war, Woods stayed in the South, settling in Bentonville, Alabama, where he reopened his law practice and began farming cotton. In 1869 he was named by President Grant to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Woods sat on the Fifth Circuit for 11 years, before being named by Rutherford B. Hayes to the Supreme Court in December, 1880. He was the first person named to the high court from a Confederate state since 1853, though, being a northerner and {by that time} a Republican he was palatable to the Republican majority in the Senate.

Woods was not a major contributor to the court, spending only six years on the bench. He remained on the court until his death in 1887.

[edit] References

• Supreme Court Historical Society
• Oyez (Supreme Court multimedia site)

Preceded by: William Strong

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States January 5, 1881 – May 14, 1887

Succeeded by: Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar

The Waite Court
1881:	N. Clifford | S.F. Miller | S.J. Field | J.P. Bradley | W. Hunt | J.M. Harlan | Wm. B. Woods | Th. S. Matthews
1882–1887:	S.F. Miller | S.J. Field | J.P. Bradley | J.M. Harlan | Wm. B. Woods | Th. S. Matthews | H. Gray | S. Blatchford