Peter Woodbury

Who was Peter Woodbury?

Peter Woodbury was a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Woodbury attended both Columbia and Harvard Law Schools. After several years in private practice in his native New Hampshire, he served briefly as a judge of the New Hampshire Superior and then for 8 years as a justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Woodbury to the First Circuit in 1941. He served as an active judge for 23 years, including a term as Chief Judge from 1959 to 1964.

On December 7, 1960, Woodbury was injured when the train he was traveling on collided with a bottled gas truck. Six people were killed in the accident, one of whom was Woodbury's law clerk at the time.

Woodbury assumed senior status in 1964. He retained that position until his death in 1970.

The elementary school in Bedford, New Hampshire is named both for him and for his great-grandfather, Peter P. Woodbury.