The United States District Court for the District of Ohio was created by Congress in 1803. In 1855, Ohio was divided into Northern and Southern Districts, which it retains to this day.[1] At the time of that division, the law provided that the judge who had been serving the District of Ohio, Humphrey Howe Leavitt, would be reassigned to the Southern District, and a new judge would be nominated to serve the Northern District.[1][2]