View source for William B. Woods

File:William Woods.jpg

William Burnham Woods lived an accomplished life after being born in Newark, Ohio on August 3, 1824, having held the rank of brevetted major general in the Union army during the Civil War and distinguished career in law, eventually serving as a United States Supreme Court Justice. <ref> Huff, W. Memories of Old Newark, (2000), 171-172 </ref>

Woods' father moved from Kentucky to Newark in 1818 and his mother was a native of Zanesville.  One of four children, including his brother Charles R Woods who also became a general in the Civil War, William Woods began his education at Western Reserve University and then finished at Yale university in 1844.  He joined the Ohio bar in 1847 and practiced law in Newark at the firm of King and Woods.  He entered politics in 1856 when we became mayor of Newark as a Democrat and joined the Ohio House of representatives in 1857, becoming Speaker in 1858.   He served in the [[Civil War]] from 1861 to 1866, attaining the rank of Major General. He fought in several major battles and marched with General Sherman. <ref> Huff, W. Memories of Old Newark, (2000), 171-172 </ref>

After the War, Woods would undergo two major changes in his life: moving to the South and becoming a Republican.  In 1869, President Grant appointed him as a Federal Judge in Georgia. <ref> (Spring 1997). The Historical Times. </ref>President Hayes appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1880, and took the oath of office on January 5, 1881.  Woods served on the Supreme Court until his death on May 14, 1887.  He lies buried at [[Cemeteries |Cedar Hill Cemetery]] in Newark. <ref> http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/MJC/places/wbWoods.asp </ref>

The most important court cases that Woods ruled on were the ''Slaughterhouse Cases'' and ''Presser Vs. State of Illinois''.  As a circuit court judge, Woods ruled in the majority opinion in support of ''Slaughterhouse'' to bolster federal authority from the 14th Amendment in regards to citizenship rights, but the case was later overturned by the Supreme Court.  In ''Presser'' Woods rejected the premise that the 2nd Amendment guaranteed the right to arms in a militia not sanctioned by the state in defiance of state law.

Judge Woods was a close friend of [[Joseph C. Wehrle]], founder of the [[Wehrle Stove Company]] in Newark. Judge Woods' portrait hangs in the [[Courthouse | Licking County Courthouse]], and the Woodside School was named after him.

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