Who appointed William Calvin Chesnut?

President Herbert Hoover appointed William Calvin Chesnut to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in 1932.

Was William Calvin Chesnut appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

William Calvin Chesnut was appointed by President Herbert Hoover, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was William Calvin Chesnut's confirmation vote?

William Calvin Chesnut was confirmed by voice vote on January 12, 1932. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

District of Maryland / Appointed 1932 / Served to 1962

William Calvin Chesnut

Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

Appointed by President Herbert Hoover in 1932 and confirmed by voice vote, William Calvin Chesnut was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. He earned a law degree from University of Maryland School of Law (now Francis King Carey School of Law) in 1894. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1873–1962
Appointed by: Herbert Hoover, 1932
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Johns Hopkins 1892 · University of Maryland Law (now Francis King Carey School of Law) 1894
Succeeded: Morris Ames Soper
Succeeded by: Roszel Cathcart Thomsen

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1932	District of Maryland succeeded Morris Ames Soper	Hoover (R)	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

Johns Hopkins University	A.B.	1892
University of Maryland School of Law (now Francis King Carey School of Law)	LL.B.	1894

Judicial Record

In our data, Chesnut authored 193 published opinions for the court (1931–1961). Most cited: Aler v. Travelers Indemnity Co. (69 citations).

A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Recent & notable rulings

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
1950	Aler v. Travelers Indemnity Co.	92 F. Supp. 620	69
1955	United States v. Stark	131 F. Supp. 190	68
1939	Coca Cola Co. v. Dixi-Cola Laboratories, Inc.	30 F. Supp. 275	53
1949	Todd Shipyards Corporation v. the City of Athens	83 F. Supp. 67	49
1950	Johns v. Bay State Abrasive Products Co.	89 F. Supp. 654	48
1941	United States v. Certain Parcels of Land	40 F. Supp. 436	44
1944	Brazil Oiticica, Ltd. v. the Bill	55 F. Supp. 780	38
1938	Arthur v. Kraft-Phenix Cheese Corporation	26 F. Supp. 824	36
1941	Malkin v. Arundel Corporation	36 F. Supp. 948	34
1939	Tullgren v. Jasper	27 F. Supp. 413	34
1960	Potter v. McCauley	186 F. Supp. 146	32
1948	Jefferson v. United States	77 F. Supp. 706	30
1948	Colonial Hardwood Flooring Co. v. International Union United Furniture Workers of America	76 F. Supp. 493	30
1947	Seese v. Bethlehem Steel Co.	74 F. Supp. 412	30
1959	Ortiz v. Greyhound Corporation	192 F. Supp. 903	29

Showing the 15 most-cited of 193 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 William Calvin Chesnut?: President Herbert Hoover appointed William Calvin Chesnut to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in 1932.
Was William Calvin Chesnut appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: William Calvin Chesnut was appointed by President Herbert Hoover, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was William Calvin Chesnut's confirmation vote?: William Calvin Chesnut was confirmed by voice vote on January 12, 1932. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was William Calvin Chesnut on?: William Calvin Chesnut was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Sources

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

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