Aaron Dickinson Woodruff (September 12, 1762 – June 24, 1817) was the

Attorney General of New Jersey The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confi ...

from 1792 to 1811 and from 1812 to 1817.

Biography

Woodruff was born in 1762 in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Princeton College Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

as the

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

for his class. After serving in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, he was admitted to the bar in 1784. He served in the

Electoral College An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

and won a seat in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

from

Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a County (United States), county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county was the state's List of counties in New Jersey, 4th-least populous ...

.''Genealogical and Personal Memorial of Mercer County, New Jersey''
(1907), pp. 425-6. As a legislator he was influential in having Trenton selected as the state

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

in 1790.Official bio
Office of the

. Accessed July 18, 2008. In 1793, he was appointed

New Jersey Attorney General The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confi ...

and served in the position until 1811, when he was replaced by Andrew S. Hunter. Woodruff, who was a

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

, was ousted by the

Democratic-Republicans The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed li ...

who had taken control of the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

in that year's elections. However, when the Federalists regained control of the Legislature in 1812, they reinstated Woodruff as Attorney General.Birkner, Michael J
''Samuel L. Southard: Jeffersonian Whig''
(1984), pp. 27-8. Woodruff continued to serve until his death in 1817. He died at the home of his brother-in-law in Changewater (now

Warren County, New Jersey Warren County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. According to the 2020 census, the county was the state's 19th-most populous county,1762 births 1817 deaths Politicians from Elizabeth, New Jersey Politicians from Hunterdon County, New Jersey Princeton University alumni Members of the New Jersey General Assembly New Jersey attorneys general 18th-century American lawyers 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American legislators 19th-century New Jersey politicians 18th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature