Who appointed Seth Thomas?

President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Seth Thomas to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in 1936.

Was Seth Thomas appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Seth Thomas was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Seth Thomas's confirmation vote?

Seth Thomas was confirmed by voice vote on January 22, 1936. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Eighth Circuit / Appointed 1936 / Served to 1962

Seth Thomas

Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

Appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 and confirmed by voice vote, Seth Thomas was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He earned a law degree from University of Iowa College of Law in 1910. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1873–1962
Appointed by: Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Iowa 1904 · University of Iowa College of Law 1910
Succeeded: Charles Breckenridge Faris
Succeeded by: Martin Donald Van Oosterhout

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1936	Eighth Circuit succeeded Charles Breckenridge Faris	F.D. Roosevelt (D)	Voice vote

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.

Confirmation vote

Voice vote

The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.

Education

University of Iowa	Ph.B.	1904
University of Iowa	A.M.	1906
University of Iowa College of Law	LL.B.	1910

Judicial Record

In our data, Thomas authored 3 published opinions for the court (1939–1940). Most cited: New York Life Ins. Co. v. Stoner (18 citations).

Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Selected opinions

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
1940	New York Life Ins. Co. v. Stoner	109 F.2d 874	18
1939	Mercantile-Commerce Bank & Trust Co. v. Southeast Arkansas Levee Dist.	106 F.2d 966	16
1939	Helvering v. Cronin	106 F.2d 907	7

Showing the 3 most-cited of 3 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.

Questions & answers

Who appointed Seth Thomas?: President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Seth Thomas to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in 1936.
Was Seth Thomas appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Seth Thomas was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Seth Thomas's confirmation vote?: Seth Thomas was confirmed by voice vote on January 22, 1936. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Seth Thomas on?: Seth Thomas was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

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26 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).