Charles Henry Leavy (February 16, 1884 – September 25, 1952) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

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and a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

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Education and career

Born on February 16, 1884, on a farm in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, York County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, Leavy moved with his parents to

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

with his parents in 1887, and attended the public schools of Missouri. He attended the Warrensburg Normal School (now the

University of Central Missouri The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri, United States. In 2024, enrollment was 13,734 students from 48 states and 52 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, incl ...

), the Bellingham Normal School (now

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...

) and the

Kansas City School of Law Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

(now the

University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law The University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law is the law school of the University of Missouri–Kansas City. It is located on the university's main campus in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, near the Country Club Plaza. It ...

) and then

read law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...

in 1912. He taught school near

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

, Missouri from 1903 to 1906, and at Everson,

Touchet Touchet is a surname, and may refer to: Members of the English peerage: * James Touchet, 5th Baron Audley, (c. 1398–1459) * George Thicknesse-Touchet, 19th Baron Audley (1758–1818) ** George Thicknesse-Touchet, 20th Baron Audley, (1783–1837 ...

, Kahlotus, and Connell,

from 1906 to 1913. He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in

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, Washington starting in 1912. He was prosecutor for Pend Oreille County, Washington from 1914 to 1918. He was an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

for the Eastern District of Washington from 1918 to 1921. He was prosecutor for

Spokane County Spokane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 539,339, making it the fourth-most populous county in Washington. The largest city and county seat is Spokane, the second largest c ...

, Washington from 1922 to 1926, one of his deputy prosecutors being Edward M. Connelly. He was a Judge of the Superior Court of the State of Washington from 1926 to 1936.

Congressional service

Leavy ran for the open

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

seat of

Clarence Dill Clarence Cleveland Dill (September 21, 1884January 14, 1978) was an American politician from the state of Washington. A Democrat, he was elected to two terms each in both houses of Congress. Early years Dill was born in Fredericktown, Ohi ...

in 1934, but was unsuccessful in the primary against

Lewis B. Schwellenbach Lewis Baxter Schwellenbach (September 20, 1894 – June 10, 1948) was a United States senator from Washington, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington and the 5th United States S ...

, a

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

attorney raised in Spokane, who easily won the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

over Reno Odlin of Olympia. Leavy was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

from

Washington's 5th congressional district Washington's 5th congressional district encompasses the Eastern Washington counties of Ferry County, Washington, Ferry, Stevens County, Washington, Stevens, Pend Oreille County, Washington, Pend Oreille, Lincoln County, Washington, Lincoln, Spok ...

to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

of the 75th,

76th 76th may refer to: *76th Academy Awards ceremony honored films of 2003 *76th Air Army, an air army of the Soviet Air Forces from 1949 to 1980 and from 1988 to 1998 *76th Air Assault Division (Russia), a division of the Russian Airborne Troops based ...

, and

77th United States Congress The 77th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 194 ...

es and served from January 3, 1937, until his resignation on August 1, 1942, to accept an appointment to the federal bench.

Federal judicial service

Leavy's publicly stated ambition was to become a federal judge. Leavy was nominated by President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

on October 23, 1941, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Edward E. Cushman. He was confirmed by the

on February 18, 1942, and received his commission on February 25, 1942. He assumed senior status due to a certified disability on August 31, 1952. He had been diagnosed with a heart condition approximately a year earlier and had a paralytic stroke on September 11, 1952. His service terminated on September 25, 1952, due to his death in

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

, Washington. He was interred in Mountain View Memorial Park in Tacoma.

Family

Leavy was married to Pearl Williams Leavy and had two sons.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leavy, Charles Henry 1884 births 1952 deaths Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington United States district court judges appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt 20th-century American lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Washington (state) Assistant United States attorneys People from Pend Oreille County, Washington People from York, Pennsylvania 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives