Joseph William Woodrough


Joseph William Woodrough was a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and previously was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.

Education and career

Born on August 29, 1873, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Woodrough studied at Heidelberg University in the German Empire and then read law in 1893. He was a Judge of the Ward County Court in Texas from 1894 to 1896. He was the County Attorney of Ward County in 1897. He was in private practice in Omaha, Nebraska from 1898 to 1916.

Federal judicial service

Woodrough was nominated by President Woodrow Wilson on March 13, 1916, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska vacated by Judge William Henry Munger. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 31, 1916, and received his commission on April 3, 1916. His service terminated on April 12, 1933, due to his elevation to the Eighth Circuit.
Woodrough was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 3, 1933, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated by Judge Arba Seymour Van Valkenburg. He was confirmed by the Senate on April 12, 1933, and received his commission on April 12, 1933. He assumed senior status on January 3, 1961. His service terminated on October 2, 1977, due to his death.