American political leader, born at Francestown, NH, on the 22nd of December 1789. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1809, was admitted to the bar in 1812, and was a judge of the superior court from 1816 to 1823. In 18231824 he was governor of the state, in 1825 was a member and speaker of the state House of Representatives, and in 18251831 and again in 18411845 was a member of the U.S. Senate. He was secretary of the navy in 18311834, secretary of the treasury in 18341841, and associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1846 until his death, at Portsmouth, NH, on the 4th of September 1851. From about 1825 to 1845 Woodbury was the undisputed leader of the Jacksonian Democracy in New England.
See his Writings, Political, Judicial and Literary (3 vols., Boston, 1852), edited by Nahum Capen; and an article in the New England Magazine, new series, xxxvii. p. 658 (Feb. 1908). See Free Trade.