Lewis B. Woodruff

Male

June 19, 1809

September 10, 1875

Litchfield, CT

New York, NY

Harriet Hornblower Woodruff (November 4, 1835)

Lewis Bartholomew Woodruff, born in 1809 in Litchfield, CT, was the son of Major General Morris and Candace Catlin Woodruff. His older brother, George Catlin Woodruff, was also a student at the Litchfield Law School. Woodruff attended the Litchfield Female Academy before attending Yale College for undergraduate studies (he graduated in 1830). His education culminated in his studies at the Litchfield Law School.

After Woodruff's admission to the bar, he moved to New York City where, in 1832, he partnered with Willis Hall (who graduated from Law School in 1826). Hall and Woodruff remained partners until 1836 when Woodruff practiced on his own until 1840. He then partnered with George Wood and Richard Goodman under the firm name of Woodruff & Goodman. He remained there until his election ...to the Court of Common Pleas. Woodruff remained in private practice until 1849 and did not return to it for twelve years.

In November, 1835, Woodruff married Harriet Burnet Hornblower. The couple had three children: Charles (1836 - 1915), Morris (1838 - 1894), and Mary (1842 - 1924). Although New York City remained his primary residence, Woodruff returned regularly to Litchfield, where all of his children were born. In 1870, he purchased Judge Reeve's house as a summer residence.

In 1849, he was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, to succeed Hon. Michael Ulshoeffer, and held that office from 1850 until 1855. During his term, he gave notable construction to the Code and Mechanic's Lien law, then both new. At the close of his term of office in the Court of Common Pleas, he was elected Judge of the Superior Court, an office he held for six years (1856 - 1861).

During this time, from 1858 to 1860, he also served as president of New York University's Phi Beta Kappa chapter President. In 1860, Columbia University awarded Woodruff an honorary doctor of laws degree.

At the close of this judicial term, he resumed the private practice of his profession. Woodruff had acquired a good reputation at this point and his law firm prospered. As a trial lawyer, he was engaged in some of the most important cases of the day. He practiced with Hon. Charles F. Sanford (a Yale alum), and his son, Charles H. Woodruff, under the firm name of Sanford & Woodruff, for six years from 1862 to 1867.

In December, 1869, he was nominated by President Grant and confirmed by the Senate, to then newly created office of Judge of the Circuit Court of the United States for the Second Judicial Circuit which comprised of the states of New York, Connecticut and Vermont. He held this office until his death on September 10, 1875. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.
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“It is now almost 12 o’clock at night and I am hard at work drawing memorials from old policies of insurance, protests, invoices, bills of lading, abandonments &c . . .” -- Lewis Woodruff to his brother George Woodruff, Dec. 9, 1832.

LLS: 1830; LFA: 1820

Graduated from Yale College with honors in 1830.

Lawyer; Political Office

1832 in Litchfield County Court

Judge of the Circuit Court of the United States for the Second Judicial District in NY, CT, and VT (NY,CT,VT) 1869-1875

Judge of the Court of Common Pleas 1849-1855
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court 1856-1861
Judge Court of Appeals 1868-1869

Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1848.

Federal Judicial Center, "Woodruff, Lewis Bartholomew." http://www.fjc.gov/servlet/nGetInfo?jid=2645&cid=999&ctype=na&instate=na

Paisley, Donald J. "Lewis Bartholomew Woodruff." https://www.nycourts.gov/history/legal-history-new-york/luminaries-court-appeals/woodruff-lewis.html