Mr. Savage was more than twenty years Secretary or Treasurer of the first Savings Bank in Boston, and nineteen years Treasurer of the Massachusetts Historical Society, of which he is now the President. He is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has received the degree of LL. D. at Harvard College.
Forty-one years since, for the benefit of his health, he, in company with his relative and friend, William Tudor, Jr., visited the islands of Martinique, Dominique, St. Thomas, St. Domingo, and Jamaica. Since, he has been to Demerara, and five years ago, he went to England, with a view of visiting his fathers' sepulchres, and of enjoying himself in the father-land.
HON. LEVI WOODBURY OF PORTSMOUTH, N. H.
Levi Woodbury was born at Francestown, N. H., Dec. 22, 1789, where his father, the Hon. Peter Woodbury, resided. He was born in Beverly, Ms., in 1767, removed to New Hampshire with his father, and, when he entered upon the active business of life for himself, engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits, and was about fifteen years a Representative, and two years a Senator, in the State Legislature. He died in 1834. He was son of Peter Woodbury, who was born March 28, 1738, at Beverly, and married there, and in 1773 removed to Mont Vernon, then a part of Amherst, N. H. He spent the last twenty years of his life at Antrim, with his youngest son, Mark Woodbury, Esq., where he died, March, 1819, aged 85. His father was Josiah Woodbury of Beverly, who was born June 15, 1682, and lived in the Second or Upper Parish. The father of Josiah was Peter, who was born in 1640, made a freeman in 1668, and elected a Representative in 1689. He filled the office of deacon, and died July 5, 1704, aged 64. His father was Humphrey Woodbury, who was born in 1609, came to New England with his father, John Woodbury, in 1628, was admitted to the church in 1648, was a member of the First Church in Beverly, at its formation, was chosen deacon in 1668, and was living in 1681. John Woodbury, who was one of the original settlers of Beverly, came from Somersetshire, England, under the direction of the Dorchester company, which established itself at Cape Ann about 1624. He came to Salem in 1626, was made a freeman in 1630, and in 1635 was chosen a Deputy to General Court. He was an original member of the First Church in Salem. In 1636, he received a grant of two hundred acres of land on Bass river. He died in 1641.
Mr. Woodbury's mother was Mary Woodbury, daughter of James Woodbury, who was born in Beverly, but removed to Mont Vernon, N. H., in 1782. He was a subaltern in Col. Robert Rogers' regiment of Rangers, and was near Wolfe when he fell at the storming of Quebec. The sword he used in that service is now in the possession of a descendant. He had eight children, all daughters, and died at Francestown, March, 1823, aged 86.
The subject of this sketch was prepared for college in part at New Ipswich Academy, N. H., with Mr. Mulliken, but chiefly under the instruction of Hon. John Vose, the distinguished Preceptor of Atkinson Academy. In 1805 he entered Dartmouth College, where he remained till 1809, when he graduated with high reputation for talents and acquirements.
Immediately after leaving college he commenced the study of law, spending one year at the Law School of Judges Reeve and Gould, at Litchfield, Ct., and the residue of his preparatory course with Hon. S. Dana of Boston, Judge Smith of Exeter, and James Walker, Esq., of Francestown. In 1812 he opened an office in his native place, where he remained till 1819. In 1816 he was elected Clerk of the State Senate, and, in the year following, was appointed Judge of the Superior Court. This appointment to the bench of the highest judicial tribunal of the state, drew general attention to the manner in which the duties were discharged. Ample testimony, however, of the qualifications of Judge Woodbury may be found in the first two volumes of New Hampshire Reports. In 1819, he removed to Portsmouth, the commercial capital of New Hampshire, where he continues to reside. In 1823 he was chosen Governor of the State, and when his term of office expired, he returned to the practice of his profession. In 1825 he was chosen Representative from Portsmouth, and on the meeting of the Legislature, he was elected Speaker of the House. Among the last acts of the session was the choice of Gov. Woodbury to fill a vacancy which had occurred in the Senate of the United States. At the commencement of the session in 1825-6, he took his seat in the Senate, and during the six years succeeding, his name was connected with the most important measures discussed in that body. His term of service expired on the 4th of March, and four days after, he was chosen State Senator for the district in which he resided. In April following, he was invited by President Jackson to become Secretary of the Navy, which office he was induced to accept, having declined that of State Senator. July 4, 1834, he was appointed Secretary of the Treasury, in which capacity he served till March 3, 1841. During this time, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire, but declined the office. In 1841, he was again chosen U. S. Senator from New Hampshire, which office he held till September, 1845, when he was appointed an Associate Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court. In the summer previous, the office of Minister to England was tendered to him, but he refused it on account of the situation of his family.
In June, 1819, Judge Woodbury was married to Eliza W. Clapp, daughter of Hon. Asa Clapp of Portland, Me. They have five children: Charles Levi, who is now an attorney in Boston, Mary Elizabeth, Frances Anstris, Virginia Lafayette, and Ellen Carolina. The eldest is married to the Hon. Montgomery Blair of St. Louis, Mo.
Judge Woodbury has published one volume of Law Reports in connection with Judge Richardson, also speeches, pamphlets, and reports relating to the various official duties he has performed, besides numerous literary addresses. He has received the degree of Doctor of Laws at the Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He is also a member of various literary societies.
The brothers and sisters of Judge Woodbury are Peter P. Woodbury, M. D., of Bedford, N. H., now Vice-President of the New Hampshire Medical Society; Rev. James Trask Woodbury of Acton, Ms., formerly an attorney; Jesse Woodbury, Esq., who resides on the paternal estate; George Washington Woodbury, M. D., Yazoo county, Mississippi; Mrs. Mary Howe, widow of the late Luke Howe, M. D., of Jaffrey, N. H.; Mrs. Anstris B. Eastman, wife of Hon. Nehemiah Eastman of Farmington, N. H., formerly Member of Congress; Mrs. Martha W. Grimes of Quincy, Ms., widow of the late Thomas Grimes, merchant, of Windsor, Vt.; Mrs. Hannah T. Barnes, wife of Isaac O. Barnes, Esq., of Boston, U. S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts; Mrs. Harriet Dodge, wife of Perley Dodge, Esq., an attorney at Amherst, N. H.; Mrs. Adeline Bunnelle, wife of Edwin F. Bunnelle, Esq., of Boston, clerk in the Custom House.