He is the longest-serving federal judge in history, with a total service tenure of 61 years.

Born on August 29, 1873, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Woodrough studied at Heidelberg University in the German Empire and then read law in 1893.

[1] 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.

[1] 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.