Levi Woodbury, an American statesman, born in Francestown, N. H., Dec. 22,1789, died in Portsmouth, Sept. 7, 1851. He graduated at Dartmouth college in 1809, was admitted to the bar in 1812, and practised in Francestown till 1816, when he was elected clerk of the state senate; and at the close of the same year he was appointed a judge of the state superior court. In 1819 he removed to Portsmouth. In 1823 he was elected governor of the state, and in 1825 became a member and speaker of the state house of representatives. In the latter year he was also elected United States senator, and at the close of his term in 1831 he was appointed by President Jackson secretary of the navy. In 1834 he was transferred to the office of secretary of the treasury, which he held during the remainder of President Jackson's and the whole of President Van Buren's term. In 1841 he was again elected to the United States senate, and in 1845 President Polk appointed him a justice of the United States supreme court, as successor of Justice Story. He was one of the most influential leaders of the democratic party.

He published with Judge Richardson of New Hampshire a volume of law reports, and his "Political, Judicial, and Literary Writings" appeared posthumously (3 vols. 8vo, Boston, 1852).