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| 201 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXI. JAMES HAINES WOODHULL, seventh generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the eldest son of William Woodhull and Ruth Haines. He was born at Roxbury (now Chester), Morris County, New Jersey, March 28, 1791. As far as can be learned, his early life was spent in and about his birthplace. He married, April 4, 1811, Harriet, daughter of John and Mary Eastburn, of New York City. It is evident from such letters as exist that for several years he resided in the City of New York, and that on or about the date of his second marriage to Eliza D. Campbell, which occurred February 12, 1824, he removed to Newark, New Jersey. Very little is known of his business career until about the years 1829-30, when having been in the grocery business in Newark, New Jersey, he failed "because he trusted everybody." His second wife died July 16, 1829, leaving three children. The two journals which he wrote in the years 1829 and 1830 contain some interesting facts which show that he was a most saintly and religious man. Page 322 The journals referred to were written mostly on Sundays, and were made up almost exclusively of comments on sermons he had heard, or reflections on his own religious experiences. Most of these seem too sacred, and personal, for publication, but one or two references may be of interest as showing the character of the man. Under date of May 8, 1830, he writes: "Oh my soul, to which of those worlds art thou hastening? Thou hast professed to be on thy journey to the Heavenly Kingdom. Art thou in the right way? What are thy evidences? Examine carefully and faithfully thy letter of instructions. A mistake here may be fatal to thy everlasting happiness." Under date of June 14, 1830, there appears this entry: "This day in company with my Christian Brother Dougherty have taken a delightful ride to Paterson, which however brings to my mind some most painful circumstances. I have been but once to that place, before today, and that was in the year 1822, during the prevalence of the yellow fever in the City of New York, where I then lived. I and my dear wife were induced, almost against our wills and against the dictates of our consciences, to go on the Sabbath Day. My heart sinks of that sin, and the judgments which immediately followed, for in about six weeks, three out of the four of us who were heads of families, were numbered with the dead, and I was raised, as it were, from the grave. I was taken with the yellow fever in about two weeks after that visit. Oh Lord, how great is thy goodness towards me in sparing my life, when thou mightest so justly have cut me off." Under date of July 3, 1830, he gives expression to sentiments which seem particularly interesting as forecasting the Emancipation Proclamation of thirty years later. He says, in speaking of a certain Colonization Society for the negroes: "How surprising, that we who so highly prize liberty, should continue to oppress our brother man and hold him in bondage a thousandfold worse than that for which we fought and bled. Oh, Lord, awaken this people to see and do their duty in this matter." On August 1, 1831, he married his third wife, Adeline Baldwin, daughter of Ananias and Elizabeth Baldwin. Shortly after his third marriage, he became one of the organizers of the American Fire Insurance Company of Newark, New Jersey, and for the remainder of his life was connected with that Company as its Secretary. He was one of the organizers and an Elder in the First Congregational Church, of the City of Newark, and throughout his life was a man of broad mind, and beloved by all who knew him. He died at Newark, New Jersey, January 31, 1873, leaving a widow, one son and a daughter. (See Genealogy, No. 278.) Page 323 | Woodhull, James Haines (I18335)
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| 202 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXII. CALEB SMITH WOODHULL, (Hon.), sixth generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the fourth son of Merritt Smith Woodhull and Mary Davis. He was born February 26, 1792, at Miller's Place, Long Island. He pursued his classical course preparatory to College, under the Rev. Herman Daggett, of Brookhaven, Long Island. He entered Yale College in 1808, at the age of fifteen, then under the Presidency of Dr. Dwight, and graduated with the honors of his class in 1811. He taught for a few months after his graduation and then commenced the study of law, with George W. Strong, a New York lawyer of high repute. He was a private in the War of 1812, a member of the Militia in New York City, which were the guardians of the city, but saw no active service. He continued in the Militia for many years, holding several commissions during that period. Owing to his disapproval of certain methods, then in vogue, he resigned his commission in 1830, urging, at the same time, the necessity for, and strongly recommending, a system that was afterwards adopted. In 1817 he was admitted to the New York Bar, as Counsellor-at-Law. He was a warm advocate of the Whig party, and at the Charter election in the Spring of 1836, was chosen to represent the second ward in the Common Council, and was continued by his constituents a member of that body for eight successive years. In 1843 he was President of the Board of Aldermen and of the Common Council, and was elected Mayor of the City of New York in the Spring of 1849, which office he held until January, 1851, when he retired from political life. During the term of his Mayoralty, this country was visited by Jenny Lind, the celebrated Swedish singer, and he was her only adviser as to her many charities bestowed upon the poor and needy of the great city. During this time the famous singer spent an evening at the hospitable home of Mr. Woodhull, the memory of which is treasured by his children to this day. General Louis Kossuth was another distinguished visitor to this home. The "Astor Place Riot" was an event in his political career which called down both censure and high praise, censure because he was thought to have been too humane in not sooner giving the order to fire upon the surging mob of maddened men. He however received many congratulatory letters for the course pursued upon that memorable night, among which was one from Queen Victoria, thanking him for protecting one of her British subjects. Caleb Smith Woodhull was for many years Chairman of the Law Committee, during which period many measures of importance were recommended or defeated by his strong influence. Page 324 In 1844 he was chosen by the political friends of Henry Clay, one of the Presidential Electors for New York State, and with the exception of the Hon. John A. Collier, received the highest number of votes. "He was a man of broad political outlook, and possessed not only the unshaken confidence and esteem of his friends, but the high regard of his political opponents as well. "His sound judgment, integrity and talents made him a man of great usefulness in his generation." Although never very robust, he was remarkably active throughout his life. He was tall, slender, and very erect. Until his marriage he was a Presbyterian, after which he attended the Collegiate Church, in Fulton St., New York. In 1818, he married Lavinia Nostrander, who died within a few months. In 1830, he married Harriet, daughter of Abraham Fardon, of New York City. He died at his birth-place, Miller's Place, Long Island, July 16, 1866, leaving a son and daughter. (See Genealogy, No. 144.) | Woodhull, Caleb Smith (I18033)
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| 203 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXIII. GILBERT SMITH WOODHULL, (M. D.), sixth generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the youngest child of the Rev. John Woodhull, D. D., and Sarah Spofford. He was born near Freehold, New Jersey, January 11, 1794. His literary studies were pursued under his father, who was a successful teacher, as well as preacher. He was graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1823. His medical preceptors were Dr. John Tennent Woodhull (his brother), and Dr. Hosack, of New York. He was graduated from Jefferson Medical College, after which he acquired a very extensive practice in the townships of Freehold, Manalapan, and Upper Freehold. He was a man of fine personal appearance, prepossessing address, and manner unusually pleasing and magnetic, combining dignity with a genuine bonhomie. He was almost a Centaur in his out-of-door life, always in the saddle, sitting his horse with inimitable ease and grace; riding at a slashing gait; shortening distances by crossing fields and fences, of great endurance, a stranger to fatigue. The close of a morning's ride would frequently find him forty miles away from his starting point. Inheriting considerable wealth from his father, he practiced rather from love of his profession than the desire of pecuniary gain. Eminently a pious man, he was chosen a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church at Perrineville, New Jersey, of which his nephew was pastor. He married, November 25, 1817, Charlotte, daughter of William Wikoff, of Monmouth County, New Jersey. He was admitted a member of the Monmouth District Medical Society in the year 1818. In 1822-3 he was elected President of the County and in 1825 of the State Medical Society. This brilliant man died in his thirty-seventh year, leaving a widow, three daughters and a son. (See Genealogy, No. 139.) He was interred in the burial ground attached to the Presbyterian Church at Perrineville, where a substantial monument was erected to his memory, upon which is inscribed this appropriate quotation: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them that love his appearing." (See "History of the Monmouth District Medical Society.") | Woodhull, M.D. Gilbert Smith (I8273)
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| 204 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXIV. SAMUEL WOODHULL, sixth generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the third son of Abraham Cooper Woodhull and Eunice Sturges. He was born at Fairfield, Connecticut, January 5, 1800. Afflicted with deafness at nine years of age, an elder sister took it upon herself to give him an education. In later years books were to him a source of deep pleasure. History and poetry seem to have been his greatest solace. He also wielded a facile pen, and some of his published writings show a deeply thoughtful, tender nature. In 1830, in a bit of blank verse occur these lines, uttering the longing for free libraries: "See'st thou our youth? and dost thou hear them plead? They long for knowledge, but no books to read Then found a Library, rich, choice and free. Sure all will join in such Philanthropy, And thus these youth much Knowledge will obtain And wiser be when future years they gain." Owing to his deafness, by which he was greatly hampered in the choice of a business career, he took up the tailoring trade. Page 326 In 1848, he took the long and toilsome journey to the California gold-diggings, where he remained several years absent from his family, but returned at length, little the richer except in experience and travel. He was a most exemplary man, of kindly disposition, a consistent Christian and a Presbyterian, esteemed and loved by all who knew him. In 1823, he married Mary Ann Bull, of New Haven, Connecticut. They had six children. He died April 14, 1869. (See Genealogy, No. 177.) The following lines from the pen of Samuel Woodhull will be of special interest to his descendants. It was written at North Fork American River, California, May 9, 1851: TO MY WIFE. 'Tis true my love, I said goodbye What else could I have said? I knew full well your heart's reply, What in your face I read. What anguish gusbes from the heart The quivering lip will tell, When "two fond souls" are call'd to part And far from each to dwell. O, keen and bitter words of woe, Goodbye--Farewell--Adieu Which could I choose to send a throe, In thy kind heart so true? But now 'tis o'er we parted then Our hearts were wrung with pain But "Hope and Courage makes the man," And we may meet again. My heart responds most warm with thine To pray and hope each day No heart can feel more deep than mine If near--or far away. Yes, feel for you, my Joy my Pride, (Our little ones likewise,) No earthly bliss--or gold beside, So precious in my eyes. Hope on--Hope on--the day may come When we again shall meet When you and home--will be my home In love and bliss complete. 'Till then "Goodbye," you'll think of me Most kindly and most true; And in return I'll think of thee Dear wife and babes--Adieu. Page 327 | Woodhull, Samuel (I18594)
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| 205 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXIX. CALVIN WOODHULL, sixth generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the second son of Ebenezer Woodhull and Sarah Tallcott, and grandson of Colonel Jesse Woodhull. He was born at Herkimer, New York, April 4, 1813. In 1853 he removed to Schoharie County, New York. He married, September 12, 1844, Gertrude M., daughter of Waterman Watkins. His early recollections of Herkimer County in his boyhood days are interesting. Page 333 He witnessed the grading of the first turnpike road from Albany to Utica; saw the first four-horse stage go through some months later; remembers the laying of the first strap iron railroad track through the Mohawk Valley, and saw the first train of cars go by. He remembers watching the bateaux being "poled" up the Mohawk by two men. This was the first mode of transporting goods to the settlements in the valley. Each bateau was about 24 feet long and carried about two tons. He saw the building of the Erie canal through his farm, and was a witness of the great celebration, in October, 1825, when the canal was open to traffic, and the Hudson was baptized with the waters of Lake Erie. He has lived to see the four tracks of the New York Central Railroad revolutionize the valley, and the frontier moved to the Hawaiian Islands in the dim west of the Pacific ocean. At this time, (1904) in his 91st year, he is enjoying good health, a sound body, and a clear mind. (See Genealogy, No. 199.) Page 334 | Woodhull, Calvin (I18811)
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| 206 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXV. RICHARD WOODHULL, (Rev.), sixth generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, January 15, 1802. He was the youngest child of Abraham Cooper Woodhull and Eunice Sturges. His father, a sea captain, lost his life in an accident in Boston Harbor when his son was but seventeen months old; so from this early age he came under the entire charge of his mother, who in this sad loss, was also left in straitened circumstances; she was however a woman of strong character, sincere piety, and of great industry and energy; this early influence formed her son's character for after years. During these early years, her judicious instruction, and the reading of choice books in the evenings, gave him his love of books, and under the pastoral care and teachings of Dr. Humphrey, afterwards President of Amherst College, his mind and heart were so deeply impressed, that the influence of his ministry was never effaced. At the age of eighteen he was brought to dedicate himself to God, and he gave at once his life of active usefulness in the Cause of Christ, and soon had a desire to become a minister. Being without the necessary means for his studies, he applied to the Education Society of Maine for assistance, and this application being accepted he was enabled to finish his preparatory and Collegiate course. It is worthy of mention here, that the money paid to him from the Education Society was paid back to that Society, both principal and interest. Richard Woodhull entered Bowdoin College in 1823, and assisted himself peeuniarily by teaching in the town during most of his senior year, and graduated in 1827 with high rank in his class. After leaving College he entered Princeton Theological Seminary, but at the close of the first year, through the advice of President Allen, of Bowdoin, he took charge of the Classical Department of Bangor Theological Seminary, which position he filled with great acceptance until he entered the ministry. On August 13, 1829, he was married to Sarah, daughter of William Forbes, Esq., of Brookfield, Massachusetts, and Bangor, Maine. Their life together, of forty-four years, was one of mutual sympathy and happiness, ten children being born to them. In 1830 Mr. Woodhull accepted a call to the Congregational Church in Thomaston, Maine, and was ordained their pastor July 7, President Allen, of Bowdoin College, preaching the sermon. This pastorate was held with fidelity for twenty-four years and eight months, and he loved his people. This period was filled with study and labor, with sympathy and comfort to those under affliction, with instruction in every duty in life and in education; he was a great help to this town of sea-faring men, having taught some hundred, or more, ship masters their navigation. Besides the merely religious, many an interest, private and public, felt his influence. But the field was hard, there had been in it elements impossible to harmonize, and the meagre salary was often short in payment, making it difficult to meet the common necessities of life; this Mr. Woodhull supplemented by teaching a young ladies' select school, and also in his writings for publication. During his ministry there were three considerable revivals, in the years 1834-37 and '42, when forty-nine persons were received into the church by profession. At the close of the Rev. Richard Woodhull's ministry at Thomaston, he accepted the Agency of the American Bible Society, which he held with great fidelity until 1862, when he was chosen Treasurer and General Agent of the Bangor Theological Seminary; and this office he held until his death. During his period of office the funds of the Seminary increased by $163,000. As one of the Board of Trustees remarked, "Undoubtedly due to the marked financial ability, sound judgment, untiring zeal, and strict integrity of Mr. Woodhull." Rev. Richard Woodhull was one of the oldest members of the Board of Overseers of Bowdoin College, a member, and for some years President of the Board of Trustees of the State Hospital for the Insane at Augusta, and a Trustee of the Maine Charitable Society, besides holding various minor positions of trust and usefulness. Next to his integrity, his remarkably sound judgment made his services exceedingly valuable in all the important trusts which he filled. His wisdom in counsel was marked by all, his judgment was wonderfully correct on all committees and boards of trust, and especially in cases of church difficulties and questions of policy and expediency. His opinion, when asked and given, always carried great weight with it. He was a thorough student in Latin and Mathematics and possessed much musical talent. He had a logical mind and could sustain his position in an argument, and his generous sympathies and warmth of heart made him a most useful Christian minister and a model parishioner in his later years. It has been said of him as a minister of Christ, "that voice of his and conscientious face, as he stood and delivered his Master's message, an audience, once hearing and seeing, would not soon forget." Rev. Richard Woodhull died at Bangor, Maine, November 12, 1873, aged 71 years and 10 months. During his long year of suffering all the beautiful traits of his lifelong piety shone forth most brilliantly, his obedience, his submission, his faith in God, his singular conscientiousness, his love of prayer--these were never clouded, and made the pathway of this noble and true man "shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day." He was survived by his wife and six children. (See Genealogy, No. 178.) Page 329 | Woodhull, Rev. Richard (I18596)
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| 207 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXVI. JOHN NEILSON WOODHULL, (M. D.), seventh generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the second son of the Rev. George Spofford Woodhull and Gertrude Neilson. He was born July 25, 1807. He entered the sophomore class at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), in 1825, and graduated in 1828. Studied medicine with Samuel L. Howell, M. D., of Princeton, and graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1832. He commenced practice at Middletown Point, now Matawan, New Jersey, the same year, and in the latter part of 1835 opened an office at Trenton, New Jersey, but removed in a short time to Princeton, and there in the Spring of 1836, his brother, Alfred A. Woodhull, M. D., joined him in partnership. Dr. Alfred A. Woodhull died in the following year, but Dr. John N. Woodhull continued the practice of his medical profession for more than thirty years in Princeton. In his early manhood, Dr. Woodhull was very delicate, but having overcome that physical weakness, he carried on for many years a very extensive and successful country practice, which in later life was limited to office consultation. He had a marked taste for agriculture as well as for medicine and in the early forties purchased a large farm on Stony Brook, beyond Princeton, the cultivation of one-half of which he superintended for more than fifteen years. While the practice of Dr. Woodhull was both a large and extensive one, yet his retentive memory seemed to carry all the details of a case. In the sick-room he was inspiring, while his insight into the actual condition of his patients was singularly accurate. He had a very large acquaintance, and never failed in cordial recognition, but he had very few intimates. His manner was both genial and reserved. He never held office of any kind, nor did he ever engage in organized work whether professional, social or civic. He was liberal to approved charities, and to the deserving poor, but was unostentatious in his benevolence. Like all physicians, he performed a large amount of gratuitous work. Dr. Woodhull never married, his mother and one of her sisters constituted his family. He also took into his home, at different times sons of his two deceased brothers, and gave them opportunities for education they could not otherwise have enjoyed. He removed to his residence in Princeton in 1858, and died there January 12, 1867. His estate was very considerable for one acquired by the practice of medicine, and nearly all of it, not included in his farm, he bequeathed to the College for the purpose of founding a Professorship. Page 330 He was by far the most successful practitioner in the extensive region covered by his rounds, his very presence creating a trust that was doubtless a large factor in that success. (See Genealogy, No. 308.) | Woodhull, John Neilson (I18522)
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| 208 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXVIII. MAXWELL WOODHULL, (Captain United States Navy), seventh generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the only son of Richard Miller Woodhull and Catherine Van Zandt. He was born April 2, 1813. On June 4, 1832, he entered the Navy by appointment from President Andrew Jackson, and served with credit during his entire life. He served in the Mediterranean, on the Coast of Africa, on the Brazil Station, and in the Gulf of Mexico. During the Paraguay expedition he was executive officer of the Flag-ship "Sabine," and afterward commanded the Brig "Bainbridge." Being attached to the Coast Survey, he surveyed New York Harbor and the obstructions of Hell Gate, reported plans for their removal, and received the thanks of the Chamber of Commerce of New York. He was also engaged on surveys on the New England Coast. At the opening of the Civil War he was assigned to special duty under the Navy Department, and promoted to the rank of Commander, July 1, 1861. He organized the supply service for the blockading fleet, commanded the "Connecticut," was afterward transferred to the Gunboat "Cimerone," and led a division of the James River Flotilla during General George B. McClellan's Peninsular Campaign. He married, December 13, 1842, Ellen Francis, daughter of Moses Poor, Esq., of Washington, D. C. He died in Baltimore, Maryland, February 19, 1863, and was buried with military honors, the funeral being held in the City of Washington, February 21, 1863, after which the body was taken to New York City for interment in the Maxwell family vault in Old Trinity Church-yard, where his father and mother were also buried. He was survived by a widow, two sons and a daughter. (See Genealogy, No. 276.) | Woodhull, Maxwell (I18402)
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| 209 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXX. GEORGE SPOFFORD WOODHULL, (Hon.), seventh generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the second son of John Woodhull, M. D., and Ann Wikoff. He was born at the family homestead at Manalapan, four miles from Freehold, New Jersey, December 25, 1814. In 1830 he entered Princeton College (now Princeton University), graduating with honor in 1833, after which he studied law with Richard S. Field, at Princeton, New Jersey, and was admitted to the bar in 1839. In the year 1842 he opened a law office in Freehold, New Jersey, where he practiced for several years, and in April, 1847, he was married to Caroline Mandeville Vroom, youngest child of Guysbert Bogert Vroom and Catalina Delamater, of New York City, and niece of the late Governor Peter D. Vroom, of New Jersey. In 1850 he removed to May's Landing, New Jersey, where he became the Prosecuting Attorney of Atlantic County, and later held the same office for Cape May County. He was an ardent Republican, and during this period he became a candidate for the State Senate on the Republican ticket. Though the district was strongly Democratic, he made such a vigorous canvass, that he reduced his opponent's majority to a very small figure. After his defeat he continued his efforts on behalf of his party, and a few years later, Atlantic County took its place in the Republican column, where it has remained ever since. Page 334 In 1862 he removed to Camden, New Jersey, and in 1866 was appointed by Governor Marcus L. Ward, Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. During the first administration of President U. S. Grant, Judge Woodhull was tendered the office of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and although acceptance was strongly urged upon him by the Vice-President, Schuyler Colfax, he declined the office, deeming the salary inadequate, without private means, for the suitable maintenance of a large family, in the City of Washington. In 1873 Governor Joel Parker re-nominated him for another term of seven years, to succeed himself, the nomination being confirmed immediately by the Senate. During the years that he sat on the bench, he presided at several very important criminal trials, two of which might be classed among the causes c l bres of the State. In one of these he set aside the verdict of the jury, which was very rarely done in the criminal jurisprudence of New Jersey. The late Rev. Kemper Bocock, of Philadelphia, a clergyman in the Episcopal Church, and assistant Editor of The Church Standard, was some years ago a newspaper reporter. He wrote thus of the Hon. George S. Woodhull in his judicial capacity: "'Tall men, suncrowned, who live above the fog, In public duty and in private thinking.' "The above lines come into my mind as I try to recall the impressions received of Judge Woodhull by a young reporter who sat through the famous Hunter murder trial in Camden, N. J., nearly twenty-five years ago. "It was one of the most sensational crimes and one of the longest murder trials I have known of. The Court House was crowded daily, and at times it was not easy to preserve order. "The friends of the accused, the army of morbid seekers for the gratification of maudlin sympathy with criminals, and the host of political rounders who gather about public office buildings made up a most motley assemblage. "Richard S. Jenkins, Prosecutor of the Pleas, and his nephew, Wilson H. Jenkins, were pitted against Ex-Secretary of the Navy George M. Robeson, Aaron Thompson, and James Matlack Scovel. "It was a battle of legal giants, determined to leave no stone unturned to gain a victory. Their debates became exciting at times. Mr. Robeson played on all the strings of the harp of pathos, while Richard Jenkins and James Scovel battled fiercely, as if fighting for their own lives. On one occasion the prisoner at the bar, moved to a frenzy of rage, sprang from his seat, shook his fist at the witness, and gave him the lie. "In and over all this, Judge Woodhull presided like one who lived in a serene clime. There was no air of conscious superiority or boredom; but his calm, gentle voice, issuing a quiet order to the tipstaves, Page 335 or ruling on a point as to which the contending counsel had almost seemed ready to come to blows, seemed invariably to introduce an element of dignity. It was not as though he took the side of the lawyer who carried the point, but rather as if the lawyer had taken the side of eternal justice, and the Judge was there to show the harmony of the issue with that principle 'whose seat is the bosom of God.' "The lawyers might be fiery or scorching in their sarcasm, or stormy in their wrath with one another, but the Judge seemed an incarnation of peace and civilized order. "When Hunter sprang up and called the witness a liar, Judge Woodhull's tone was rather that of a mother quieting an unruly child than that of a severe magistrate rebuking an offender. It was full of sympathy, and yet uncompromisingly firm, so that the incident lasted only a few seconds. "I can see at this distance, across the years, that his spirit was suffering from the strain, but he gave no token of it. He never seemed to forget himself or let himself go for a minute. "Even at the close of a long and exciting day, his order to the officers to keep the doors closed and the spectators in their seats till the prisoner had been removed was as naturally spoken as if he had been making an observation on the weather, and without the slightest trace of impatience at the daily necessity of repetition. "I remember Judge Woodhull thus because I have not seen anybody else measure up to this rare standard of modest dignity, conscientious justice, and unfailing courtesy in the years that have since gone." In 1878 many of the legal fraternity urged upon Governor McClellan to re-nominate him for a third term, arguing that although a Republican he should retain the position which he had filled with such dignity and honor. Notwithstanding this, the nomination was awarded to Ex-Governor Parker, and Judge Woodhull resumed the practice of law with his eldest son, John Tennent Woodhull. During his eminently useful life, he held the position of Elder in three churches, the Old Tennent Church near Freehold, New Jersey; the Presbyterian Church at May's Landing, the Rev. Allen H. Brown being his close friend and pastor; and the Second Presbyterian Church of Camden, New Jersey, the Rev. Louis C. Baker, also his warm friend and pastor. He also served as Sunday-school Super-intendent for some years in the latter church, and for one term was President of the Camden County Bible Society, in which he ever showed the deepest interest. In him every good cause found an advocate, every down-trodden human being found a helpful friend. Of his personal appearance one thus describes him: "He was nearly six feet in height, gracefully formed, with large blue-grey sparkling eyes, erect of carriage and of a dignified easy manner." Page 336 He was the beloved companion and confidante of his children; a wise and loving counsellor to all who approached him. His strong manly character was most attractive; he was exceedingly fond of athletic sports, was a fine shot, an excellent swimmer, a prodigious walker, and a horseman of rare skill. On March 4, 1881, after a brief illness, this strong man, with the heart of a child, having worn throughout his whole career, "the white flower of a blameless life," "gave up his pure soul unto his Captain Christ under whose colors he had fought so long." The following eulogy was pronounced by Mr. Eugene Troth, a member of the Camden Bar, after his death: "Judge Woodhull had so much magnetism about him, he was such an accessible man, so companionable, so congenial, so kind-hearted, yet he preserved great and becoming dignity of mind and character. His nature had no barren side, it was made up of the pure, the good, the loving, the tender and true. "The elements were so mixed in this man, that the adamant and the angles which made up the vigor of his manhood lost none of their strength because they were hidden beneath the flowers of chivalric grace and esthetic culture." He sleeps with many of his name, in the peaceful graveyard of the Old Tennent Church near Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey. From the funeral discourse by the Rev. Louis C. Baker (afterward published as a memorial by the Camden Bar), is the following: "In the 37th verse of the 37th Psalm it is written: 'Mark the perfect man and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace.' "After an intimate acquaintance for many years with Judge Woodhull, I do not hesitate to say that these words seem to me to be a truer description of him than any other man I have ever known. "As I looked upon his face not long after death--he seemed to lie before me like an old knight, who had fallen in battle indeed, but who in falling, had won the greatest of all victories, the victory over self and the world." He left a widow, two daughters and four sons. (See Genealogy, No. 312.) | Woodhull, George Spofford (I18478)
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| 210 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXXI. WILLIAM WIKOFF WOODHULL, (Ph. D.), seventh generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the third son of John Tennent Woodhull, M. D., and Ann Wikoff. He was born July 28, 1817. He was prepared for college by tutors at his father's home at Manalapan, Monmouth County, New Jersey, and entered the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), at the age of thirteen, graduating at sixteen at the head of his class in 1833. Page 337 For a brief period he was a tutor in the college, and all his life was spent in imparting knowledge. He was the head of a very successful Classical School in Freehold, New Jersey, for many years assisted by his brother Charles Frederick Woodhull, who was also a graduate of the College of New Jersey, and who later opened a Classical School for boys in Camden, New Jersey. William Wikoff Woodhull was a man of superior intellect and attainments, but one whose retiring disposition deterred him from seeking the higher college position he could have filled so creditably. He was a man of a deeply religious nature, a profound thinker and a gentleman of the old school. When a young man of thirty he wrote upon the subject of teaching as follows: (The quotation occurs in a letter written February 10, 1847, to the Rev. Allen H. Brown, then pastor of the May's Landing Presbyterian Church, Atlantic County, New Jersey.) "I am glad to hear that you are turning your thoughts and efforts towards the furtherance of the cause of education throughout the Pines, and I verily believe that you give it its proper place when you rank it 'Next in importance to the promotion of religion.' "I consider the office of the teacher second only to that of the preacher of the Gospel, and the longer I live, the more difficult it is for me to comprehend, why it is, that most people take so little interest in this matter, and are so regardless of the qualifications, and especially of the moral and religious character of those whom they employ to instruct their children." In 1867 the degree of "Doctor of Philosophy" was conferred upon him by his Alma Mater. In his later life Dr. Woodhull was for a time Head Master of the Trenton Academy; he also taught for several years in the Classical School of Professor George Eastman, in Philadelphia. He married, April 6, 1852, Ellen Conover Wikoff, of Freehold, New Jersey. They had no children. (See Genealogy, No. 314.) | Woodhull, William Wikoff (I18480)
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| 211 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXXII. HENRY WILLIAM BECK WOODHULL, (M. D.), seventh generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the only son of Gilbert Smith Woodhull, M. D., and Charlotte Wikoff. He was born at Manalapan, Monmouth County, New Jersey, October 3, 1819. He was graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1838, and after conducting for three years the paternal farm (a part of the estate of his grandfather), commenced the study of medicine in the City of New York and graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons there in 1845. He commenced the practice of his profession Page 338 at New Brunswick, New Jersey, and on May 12th, 1847, married Azelia, youngest child of Joseph Giraud, a retired merchant of the City of New York, and a descendant of Pierre Giraud, a Huguenot refugee of 1685. Dr. Woodhull removed to the City of New York in 1854, and practiced there, in Long Island City, and in Brooklyn, removing to the last named place in 1879. He was an enthusiastic, efficient, and popular staff-officer of the National Guard of the State of New York, holding a commission as surgeon of the Twelfth Regiment from 1855 to 1857, and as brigade-surgeon (with the rank of major) of the old Fourth Brigade, First Division, from 1857 to 1869. As a physician, Dr. Woodhull was acute in diagnosis, skillful in therapeutics, and assiduous and devoted in his attention to his cases. While not without his preferences among the various departments of medicine and surgery, he resisted the tendency to sink into a specialty, and performed with ability and effectiveness the important and symmetrical functions of the general practitioner. In his intercourse with his patients, his manner was habitually cheerful, animating, and encouraging, and professional ability and personal influence were so combined in him that it was no uncommon thing for his patients to insist upon his services exclusively, even after they had removed to great distances. He died at his home in the (then) City of Brooklyn, on January 20th, 1894. (See Genealogy, No. 324.) | Woodhull, M.D. Henry William Beck (I18646)
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| 212 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXXIII. HENRY ISAAC WOODHULL, seventh generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the eldest son of Samuel Woodhull and Mary Ann Bull. He was born June 19, 1824. In 1869 he joined his two brothers, Sereno Dwight and William Sturges, at Salt Lake City, Utah, where for two years before they had started a mining venture. The three brothers opened an office, set up a mill and smelting works, and built a cabin up in the mountains, about twenty miles from Salt Lake City. After their claim was staked out they employed about one hundred miners and other workmen, and started the mining business under the firm name of "Woodhull Brothers." They sent out the first bullion ever produced in the State of Utah. It was taken from Gordon's Big Cottonwood Canyon. For a time they were greatly encouraged, but the venture was no easy one. All the ore had to be hauled by mule-team down the mountain and through the valleys for 20 miles to Salt Lake City. Page 339 The death of Henry Isaac Woodhull in August, 1870, in a great measure, broke up the enterprise, the two remaining brothers abandoning the work soon after. Henry Isaac Woodhull was a man much respected and beloved, and his death was keenly felt among his friends. He was a man of Christian character, a kind and indulgent father, and a devoted husband. He was also a staunch Free-Mason. He married, July 25, 1848, Mary W. Tyrrell. They had four children. (See Genealogy, No. 375.) | Woodhull, Henry Isaac (I18764)
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| 213 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXXIV. MERRITT SMITH WOODHULL, seventh generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the only child of Colonel Charles, and his wife Mary (or Polly) Woodhull. He was born August 16, 1824. "During his boyhood and youth he was given good educational advantages, attending both the public schools and Miller's Academy. "On attaining his majority Captain Woodhull went as a sailor on board a merchant vessel plying between New York and Liverpool, England, and later made two trips to China. "Being a wide-awake, capable and reliable young man, he soon won promotion, and was given positions of great responsibility. He rose steadily, and for some time had command of a coasting steamer running between New York and Southern ports. "He married, November 11, 1885, Mrs. Mary Jones (widow of Benjamin H. Jones). In 1890 he retired from the sea, having spent about forty-five years upon the water. "In business affairs Captain Woodhull prospered, and after a useful and well spent life he passed away August 15, 1892. "He was a man of the highest respectability, and those who were most intimately associated with him speak in unqualified terms of his sterling integrity, his honor in business, and his fidelity to all the duties of public and private life." (See Genealogy, No. 331.) | Woodhull, Merritt Smith (I18118)
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| 214 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXXIX. WILLIAM WATERS WOODHULL, (Pay Inspector United States Navy), seventh generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the second son of Ezra Reeves Woodhull and Elizabeth Waters. He was born June 15, 1836. His early education was received in Philadelphia, where he later married. He entered the Navy May 13, 1863, and served with distinction until its close, and since that time has done duty on every important foreign station and on most of those of the home stations. His first service was on the gunboat "Delaware" in the Sounds of North Carolina, under Rear Admiral S. P. Lee. In 1864, he was in the fleet on the James River that supported General Butler in his advance on Richmond, and continued in that service until the evacuation. The "Delaware" was constantly at the front, and was one of the vessels that protected the constructors of the Dutch Gap Canal, and was the first vessel to enter Richmond after the evacuation. Later the "Delaware" was transferred to the Potomac Flotilla, and was one of the vessels assigned to patrol the river in search of Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln. His first sea service, after the Civil War, was in the U. S. S. "Yantic" in 1867, when that vessel was sent to Tampico to receive and protect Emperor Maximilian, but which was unfortunately too late, as he was shot by his captors before the "Yantic" arrived. In 1869 he was detailed to the "Miantonomah" when she was sent to Portland, Me., with the fleet of Monitors to receive from England the remains of Peabody, from the British battleship "Monarch," which brought the body of that distinguished patriot to this country. Admiral Farragut was in command, and this was his last duty, as he died a few months later. From 1870 to 1873 William Waters Woodhull was attached to the sloop-of-war "Shenandoah" on the European Station, and during the Page 349 Franco-Prussian war was stationed at Havre under orders of the American Minister, Hon. E. B. Washburn. The officers were among the first to visit Paris after the siege where they were very hospitably entertained by the Minister. The "Shenandoah" visited all the principal ports in the north of Europe and in the Mediterranean, going as far East as the Holy Land. From 1877 to 1879 he was in charge of the Naval Depot at Nagasaki, Japan, and Purchasing Officer of the China Station. From 1881 to 1884 served on the "Lackawanna" in the South Pacific. It was this vessel that conveyed Messrs. Trescott and Blaine, Peace Commissioners to Chili, from Panama to Valparaiso in 1882. In 1883 the "Lackawanna" was sent to Honolulu to take part, with ships of other nations, in the coronation of Kalakaua as King of the Hawaiian Islands. From 1890 to 1893 he was attached to the cruiser "Baltimore," commanded by Captain Schley, which vessel carried the remains of Ericsson, the Swedish inventor of the monitor, from New York to Stockholm, and later was attached to the European Squadron. While in Stockholm the King visited the ship, and entertained the officers at dinner at the palace. They were also very hospitably entertained by the Kings of Denmark and Portugal at Copenhagen and Lisbon, and by Prince Henry of Prussia at Kiel. In the spring of 1891, the "Baltimore" was sent to Valparaiso to protect American interests during the war in Chili. After the close of the war the ship cruised in the northern Pacific, going as far as Puget Sound, and in 1893 returned to New York as Flag-ship of a Special Squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Gherardi, stopping, enroute, at ports of the various countries on the Pacific Coast to extend invitations to them to participate in celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Landing of Columbus. In 1898 he was detailed to the supply steamer "Celtic" as Commissary to the Blockading Squadron off Santiago during the Spanish-American War, and after the war was sent to San Juan, Porto Rico, to assist in establishing a Naval Station on that island. During the intervals between cruises he served at nearly all the Navy Yards and Stations on the Atlantic coast, and at Mare Island, California. He was retired June 15, 1898. He married, June 24, 1862, Kate Oatly Bryan. They had two children, a son and daughter, both of whom are married. (See Genealogy, No. 475.) | Woodhull, William Waters (I18834)
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| 215 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXXV. JOHN ALPHEUS WOODHULL, (Rev.), seventh generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the third son of Richard Woodhull and Frances Greene. He was born October 30, 1825, near Lake Ronkonkoma, Suffolk County, Long Island. We read of clergymen, whose sermons set the standard of English for the community in which they lived, as well as the standard of spiritual excellence; whose lives inspired every man in the parish to Page 340 greater manliness and courage and awakened the interest in a broader world than the little eddying current of village life. Ways and means never stood in the way of this type of clergyman, nor were they obstacles to his disciples. Barriers appeared only to be overcome; they were hazards, tests of strength only, and the man was he who surmounted the obstacles, not he who turned away and said "I was thwarted." Such a clergyman was John Alpheus Woodhull, son of Richard Woodhull and one of ten children, born in an interesting old house near the shores of beautiful Lake Ronkonkoma, where the home place, with its heritage of fine old trees, was a portion of that original property of 10,800 acres purchased by his first American ancestor, Richard Wodhull, in 1665. His mother was Frances Greene, of the Vermont family of Greenes, and not remotely connected with General Greene of Revolutionary fame. From his earliest years, he evinced a strong character, an unusual sense of personal dignity, fastidious taste, and a gift of eloquence that was a source of amusement to his fun loving father, who when he found him delivering a long extemporaneous sermon to his astonished brothers called him "little parson" and declared "I shall send that boy to college." When he was only nine years old, his father died and his young mother found that the property, that she had supposed large, was involved in debt and she was obliged to leave the large house for a smaller place and face, alone, the hard problem of bringing up the children on limited means. After a period of living with distant relatives, he at length made his home with Deacon Joel Brown, of Rocky Point, twenty miles or more from his old home, but with a man famed for the beauty of his character and the lovableness of his spirit. Into this home of plain living and high thinking, the young student came. He helped on the farm and walked through the picturesque woods to school. He was a reticent proud boy, with his own thoughts about life and the future. From his father, he had learned the pride in his race but in the boy, it had early passed into a phase of idealism,--character was the measure of the man. If he the descendant of kings and earls was without means and outward show of dignity, he might yet be of royal soul,--that no outward circumstance could touch. Material dignities, material obstacles were thus ignored, the life of the spirit usurped complete sway. At the Academy, his reverence and enthusiastic admiration were stirred for Homer and Virgil, Theocritus and Horace, Demosthenes and Cicero, and he early became a good classical scholar. He stored his mind with long passages from Shakespeare and Milton, Pope and Cowper, Thomson and Young, Burns and Wordsworth, and recited these in his long walks through the woods. Page 341 He wrote easily and was keen in debate. For mathematics, he cared little except for Geometry, that appealed to his imagination and his sense of beauty. Before he entered Yale, he distinguished himself as a teacher who controlled by tact and force of personality, and interested his students by a variety of resource and keenness of wit. At Yale College, he led a quiet student life, was sometimes quoted for his quaint humor and formed some life long friendships. His health caused much anxiety and although he was absent months at a time, he succeeded in graduating with his class in 1850 and held creditable rank. He had never felt any hesitation about his life work and the year after his graduation from Yale, he entered Bangor Theological Seminary. His independence of thought led him to adopt a custom of an earlier day in migrating from Seminary to Seminary, in pursuit of the professor best versed in a given subject. In following this plan, he went from Bangor to Yale, and finally graduated at Auburn Theological Seminary in 1853. In July following, he was married to Joanna Brown whom he had known from childhood, and whose buoyancy of spirit and tenderness of devotion made sunshine in dark days of struggle with ill health; whose open-hearted hospitality and genial sympathy aided him in church work for thirty-four years; and whose unselfish spirit never faltered when life with an unpractical idealist and eight small children brought serious problems that must be practically solved. In 1852, the Rev. John Alpheus Woodhull had been licensed to preach by the Long Island Congregational Association, but for two years after his graduation from Auburn, the frailty of his health prevented his taking a permanent charge. After preaching for a time at Union Center, New York, and at Freeport, New York, he was in 1856 ordained pastor of the Congregational Church at Wadham's Mills, Essex Co., New York, where he began his preaching in 1855. Two years later, he removed to New Village, in his native county, where on account of his outspoken views on the question of anti-slavery certain difficulties arose that led to his accepting the pastorate of the church at Commacs in the same county, where he remained for seven years, from 1859-1866. The following three years were spent at Northville, also in Suffolk County, where he suffered from the dissensions of pro slavery members of the parish but overcame opposition by the dignity of his bearing and by tact. Here he not only preached but started an Academy, for the better education of the older children and young people. The next three years were spent as pastor of the First Congregational Church of New Boston, Connecticut, and in 1872 he removed to Groton, where he was installed December 24th, 1873. He was Chairman of the School Board, and also became interested in the history of both the town and church, and wrote "A Review of Congregational Church History of Groton, Connecticut, with sketches of its ministers from 1704-1876." For ten years, he was again in his native county, this time at Baiting Hollow. From here he removed to Middlefield, Massachusetts, where in 1887 he was called upon to bear the loss by death of his wife. In 1889 he married Mrs. Eliza Miller Church and removed to Plainfield, Massachusetts, where he preached for seven years. Then after an active service in the Ministry of over forty years he retired and resided in Chicago until his death, February 1, 1902. He was interred beside his wife and two children in the historic Ledyard Cemetery, at Groton, Connecticut, where his widow has erected a substantial monument to his memory. In the new stone church at Groton, is a window designed by Mr. Frederick Wilson, executed by Tiffany and given as a memorial to the Rev. John A. Woodhull, by his wife Eliza Miller Woodhull. His life, like that of the parson in the Deserted Village, ran its unworldly course; of worldly ambition, he knew little, of the aspiration for all that was high and noble and beautiful, he knew much. There was no community that was ever touched by his life that was not ennobled; young men went to college, libraries were started, public sentiment grew nobler and broader. One of his parishioners quoted Chaucer's well known lines in characterizing the Rev. John Alpheus Woodhull, and I know of no more fitting summary with which to conclude this sketch. "He waited after no pompe ne reverence, Ne maked him no spiced conscience, But Cristes lore, and his apostles twelve, He taught, but first he folwed it himselve." Of his children, four sons and one daughter survive him. (See Genealogyy, No. 402.) | Woodhull, Rev. John Alpheus (I18693)
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| 216 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXXVI. GILBERT TENNENT WOODHULL, (Rev.), (D. D.), seventh generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was born February 18, 1827, at Manalapan, Monmouth Co., New Jersey. He was the seventh son of John Tennent Woodhull, M. D., and Ann Wikoff. He attended the school taught by his brother William, later a noted classical teacher, and was by him prepared for college. He was graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), in 1852; and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1855, and was appointed Tutor in Mathematics at Princeton which position he held from 1854 to 1855. Two years were spent in South Jersey, as stated supply to the Congregation of May's Landing and Tuckahoe. While on a visit to his friend and fellow-student, the Rev. Edwin R. Bower, who was pastor at Wappinger's Falls, New York, he preached to the neighboring congregation at Fishkill, whose pulpit was then vacant, the result being a call to the pastorate. He was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of North River, on November 10, 1857, and was the faithful and beloved pastor of the small, scattered, but loyal congregation from 1857 to 1867. Meanwhile, three of his College and Seminary fellow students, the Revs. Isaac N. Rendall, Lorenzo Westcott, and Edwin R. Bower had become Professors at Lincoln University, near Oxford, Chester Co., Penna., the first institution founded in the United States for the higher education of colored youth. In 1869, the growth of the work demanded an additional professor and Mr. Woodhull's scholarship, character and general fitness for the position being brought before the Trustees by his college friends, an invitation was extended to, and accepted by him to become Professor of Greek and Latin. Two years later a Professor of Latin was added to the Faculty, and Mr. Woodhull became Charles Avery Professor of Greek. For two years he lived at Oxford four miles distant, and during that period it was his custom to ride on horseback to his classes. Later, he and his family occupied the home near the University, which a quarter of a century's residence has associated with his name. In 1881, Mr. Woodhull received the degree of Doctor of Divinity, from Princeton University, an honor of which he was eminently worthy. He possessed great educational gifts and acquirements. President Rendall, his friend and colleague of many years, speaks of him as a choice and very valuable man for their common work, by his faithful, quiet, steady, accurate instruction, his power of inducing thoroughness in study, and his influence upon the mental training of the students. Order was kept in the class-room solely by his dignified presence, for here as elsewhere, appeared the peculiar and remarkable combination, for which Dr. Woodhull was justly noted, that of dignity, gravity, reserve and firmness together with uniform courtesy and gentleness. His placid demeanor gained, from one class at least, the familiar name among themselves of "Moses." Yet he could ask one who had made a specially unreasonable complaint concerning his grade, to hand it back that it might be reduced to its merits. It was understood by the students that the Professor of Greek was not to be trifled with. On one occasion an unprepared student was "splashing about" in the effort to escape total failure in his poorly prepared recitation, when Dr. Woodhull exclaimed "Mr. (???) you can extemporize in English and perhaps also in Latin, but you can't extemporize in Greek." His pupils admired and loved him, and liked to fancy that his study of Greek had made him classic in features, hair, attire and walk, and in every sentence of his sermons; and even declared that he talked Greek to his horse. Outside of the class-room, the students proved his accessibility and personal kindness, feeling that they were welcomed in his study by a genuine friend, to whom they could unbosom their cares. Like many of his race and name, he was a strong Republican, yet he took little part in political or civil affairs, although ever warmly attached to the best traditions of his party. As a preacher he gave forth the utterance of a well informed theologian and an ardent believer; each sermon bore the marks of careful study, scholarly interpretation, decided conviction, spiritual experience, clear, ripe and well ordered thinking, sympathetic fidelity of application and notably cultured and chaste expression, while the delivery was with loving persuasion and impressiveness. His preaching "day" always excited the glad expectation of pleasure and profit, and the students competed for the front seats. His public prayers, it may be added, were reverent, spiritual and comprehensive, distinguished by simplicity and elevation of diction. Dr. Woodhull regarded his labors at Lincoln as part of the missionary work of the Church. When the Mission Sabbath School, in the little village contiguous to the University, was at a low ebb he, with his eldest daughter, taking the feeble organization in hand, was the means of recovering the school. He also established and carried on a preaching service, and brought the mission well forward toward its present issue in the village Chapel, now under the charge of the Presbyterian Congregation of Oxford. Dr. Woodhull's only publication was an address in the Theological Department of the University, in September, 1885. It was entitled "The Importance and Responsibility of Ministerial Work," and was printed by request. Notwithstanding his kindliness and affability, Dr. Woodhull was seldom seen in society. He loved better the privacy of his own home, where his bright, cheerful, uncomplaining spirit made him the idol of the household. He was never known to lose control of his temper, while his consideration for others and his appreciation of anything done for himself were very marked. He had a deep sense of humor and thoroughly enjoyed a joke at his own expense. He was a noted horseman for many years, and a pedestrian as well, walking almost daily for exercise, usually accompanied by a favorite hunting dog. Page 345 He had a marked degree of muscular strength, and when near the age of three score and ten, he surprised his younger colleagues by raising himself up with his hands to the branch of a tree well overhead. He was never in haste, on the contrary very deliberate, yet accurate and effective. These qualities, and his renowned coolness and courage, came into play when he was the young pastor at Fishkill, when, revolver in hand, he stepped from the parsonage door and confronted a stalwart stranger clad in a long dark cloak and slouched hat. Coolly pointing the revolver at the intruder in such a manner that the moonlight flashed across the ominous looking weapon, the young minister calmly ordered the intruder to turn round and make his way to the gate, which, followed by Mr. Woodhull, he obediently did, the raised weapon often meeting him when he ventured to pause and look back. The road reached, the man was dismissed with a warning. Very different treatment was accorded the suppliant stranger. Two interesting cases were those of a runaway slave from the South, and a young French lad whose English was limited to the one word "work." This helpless youth was taken into the Doctor's family, given employment, and taught to read and speak the English language. A French Bible was given to him, the first he had ever seen, having been brought up a Roman Catholic. Now grown to man's estate, this prot g is doing well and in the enjoyment of prosperity. Though Dr. Woodhull had the courtly manners of the old school, it was without stiffness; such gracious dignity is rarely seen, and akin to this, another chief element in the universal esteem and affection that gathers about his memory: it was expressed at the time of his death in the tribute paid by the great poet in "In Memoriam" to the friend he mourned: "And thus he bore without abuse The good old name of Gentleman." Other lines might be fitly applied to him from the same poem-- addressed to one who also was a Professor of Greek, and whom the Lincoln Professor in many ways resembled: "And thou art worthy, full of power, As gentle, liberal-minded, great, Consistent, wearing all that weight Of learning lightly as a flower." One of the letters of sympathy received by Mrs. Woodhull after her husband's death, was from his cousin, a surgeon and Colonel in the United States Army, at whose home in Princeton, New Jersey, in College and Seminary days, the subject of this sketch had been "a frequent and welcome visitor." It is thus Colonel Woodhull wrote of him: "I know that his record has constantly been just such as one would desire for efficiency Page 346 and for reputation--a life of intelligence and culture, tending in the words so conspicuous at Princeton, to 'the advancement of sound learning and true religion.'" "True religion" was the source and strength of the life and character thus briefly sketched. She who knew him best writes that "it was his habit for many years to rise early each morning for the purpose of uninterrupted meditation and prayer in the privacy of his study. As it was said of Enoch, 'he walked with God.'" Dr. Woodhull rested from his labors on February 11, 1898. During his brief illness he was able to talk little, but he "held fast the beginning of his confidence steadfast unto the end" and among his last words were "Oh, Jesus loves me," and "All is well." Funeral addresses were made by the Rev. Isaac N. Rendall, D. D., President of Lincoln University, his colleague for twenty-nine years, and the Rev. William R. Bingham, D. D., President of the Board of Trustees. He was buried at Oxford beside a much loved and mourned little son. Gilbert Tennent Woodhull married, May 14, 1862. Elizabeth, daughter of William Besley Waldo and Jane Ann Bruce, of New York City. Mrs. Woodhull was descended in the eighth generation from Cornelius Waldo, of Chelmsford, Mass., who died in the year 1700. Dr. Woodhull was survived by his widow, one son and four daughters. (See Genealogy, No. 320.) | Woodhull, Gilbert Tennant (I18441)
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| 217 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXXVII. GEORGE SPOFFORD WOODHULL, (D. D.), seventh generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the youngest son of William Woodhull and Phebe Carl. He was born July 25, 1829. He was graduated from New York University in 1848, with the Greek Honor, and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1852, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of New York the same year. He was ordained as an Evangelist by the Presbytery of West Jersey, 1853. Was Chaplain United States Army, 4th Virginia Infantry (then Chaplain of the 4th West Virginia Infantry when West Virginia was admitted into the Union in 1863), from 1861 to 1864. Was pastor for many years of the Presbyterian Church at Point Pleasant, Mason County, Virginia (now a part of West Virginia), and later pastor at Marinette, Wisconsin, also at some other churches served for shorter periods, and finally at Saginaw, Michigan. The Rev. George S. Woodhull had the Honorary Degree of D. D., or S. T. D., conferred upon him by New York University. At the Page 347 age of seventy Dr. Woodhull was honorably retired (H. R.), by the Presbytery of Flint, Michigan. He was married, October 25, 1855, to Elizabeth D., daughter of Moses Martin, of Peacham, Vermont. They had five children, of whom two are living (1904). (See Genealogy, No. 344.) | Woodhull, D.D. George Spofford (I18633)
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| 218 | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH XXXVIII. ADDISON WADDELL WOODHULL, (M. D.), seventh generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of Brookhaven, Long Island, was the youngest son of John Woodhull, M. D., and Ann Wikoff. He was born at Manalapan, Monmouth County, New Jersey, August 13, 1831, and was graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), in 1854. He subsequently studied medicine under his father's direction and under those famous physicians, Valentine Mott and VanBuren, and in 1856, received from the New York Medical University the degree of M. D., with the highest honors. He was soon after appointed physician to the penitentiary on Blackwell's Island and performed the duties of that office for one year. In 1857, he removed to Newark, N. J., and there established himself in the practice of his profession, which he left at the commencement of the war of the Rebellion, responded to his country's call and accepted the appointment of Assistant Surgeon of the Fifth New Jersey Volunteers. In this connection he remained until February 6th, 1862, when he was promoted Surgeon of the Ninth Regiment. In the fall of the same year he was appointed surgeon-in-charge of the Hammond General Hospital, at Beaufort, where he remained until he was again called into the field by the departure of General Heckman for South Carolina, when he was made surgeon of Heckman's Star Brigade. He superintended the erection of the Mansfield General Hospital at Morehead City, North Carolina, which was pronounced a model institution of its kind. He was with Burnside and with Rosecrans, and was also with Sherman during the latter part of his memorable journey to the sea; was wounded twice, one ball disabling an arm, another, which was never extracted, breaking one of his ribs. At the close of the war, Dr. Woodhull returned to Newark to resume his practice and met with a hearty welcome. He was made President of the District Medical Society of Essex County, also of the Newark Medical Association, was one of the staff of physicians of St. Michael's Hospital, member of the Board of Page 348 Examiners for Pensions and Medical Examiner of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company. He was a ruling elder and prominent member of the South Park Presbyterian Church, the pastor of which, the Rev. James P. Wilson, D. D., was his close friend. Dr. Woodhull married, November 23, 1859, Emma Taylor Ellis, daughter of Daniel H. Ellis and Catherine Ann Holmes, of Freehold, New Jersey. He died at his home, Newark, N. J., May 14th, 1876, after a short illness, and was buried in the Old Tennent Church-yard. Dr. Woodhull left a widow, three sons and a daughter. (See Genealogy, No. 323.) | Woodhull, M.D. Addison Waddell (I18446)
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| 219 | Birth index for Mason Callen Hawkins recorded his mother's maiden name as Callen. | Callen, Lila C. (I2998)
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| 220 | Birth surname not confirmed. | Borman, Katherine Magdalena (I16084)
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| 221 | Bob Sweezey notes: "This person is sometimes listed as Thomas Reeves. There appears to be much confusion about the early Reeve(s) family on Long Island. Some sources claim that James had a brother named Thomas, and that all the Reeves from Long Island comes from the two brothers. There appears to be some justification for this theory. There appear to be enough additional children born in the late 1600's to indicate that there was another ancestor besides James." | Reeve, James I (I4542)
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| 222 | Bob Sweezey records: "Page 183.--In the name of God, Amen, February 27, 1760. I, DAVID DAVIS, of the town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, being sick. I leave to my son William all my homestead, house, and lands and meadows joining to the homestead, with t | Davis, David > (I4498)
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| 223 | Bob Sweezey, while using this date, also records "According to the records at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Ruth died Apr 1850 at age 75." | Hulse, Ruth > (I893)
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| 224 | Born Proof: proven. 15 DEC 1844. Bruinisse, Zeeland, Netherlands. Note: Netherlands, Birth Index, 1787-1915. Name Wolfert van Popering. Father Marinus van Popering. Mother Martina de Vrieze. Birth 15 Dec 1844 - Bruinisse. Archive Zeeuws Archief. 3 Died Cause: headstone. Proof: proven. 2 SEP 1924. West Sayville, Suffolk, New York, United States. Note: Find A Grave Memorial# 120514326. Suffolk County News 5 Sep 1924, p (unable to read). Wolfer died very suddenly at about 9pm. Prominent West Sayville resident for more than half a century, allied with planting and shipping of oysters. Lying in hammock on his porch on West Street when his dtr Miss Louise went to call him and found he had passed away. Born Bruinisse on 14 Dec 1844, son of Martina De Vries and Marinus Van Popering, came to this country with them when he was seven years old. First made home in Oakdale, then West Sayville where as a lad he went to work culling oysters. Later in young manhood he was capt of a sloop running oysters and clams to New York City and nearby ports and for 16 years was thus engaged. In 1860 he saw greater opportunities for oyster cultivation in Great South Bay and it was that year he planted his first bed. At first he shipped to New York markets by boat but later extended to markets all over the country and England. For 50 years concentrated his business acumen upon his oyster plant. In 1910 he retired, selling as did all other local shippers to the Sealshipt System. [paragraph on athletic abilities, skating, rode bicycle on the day of his death]. Surviving are 12 children, Mrs Wm Van Vessem, Miss Louise VP, Mrs John C Van Wyen, Miss Minnie, Cornelius, and Wolfer Jr, all of West Sayville; Mrs Martin Dykstra of Jamestown RI; Miss Martha VP of Midland Park NJ; Wm of Sound Beach CT; Lewis of Islip, Bernard of Greenport; sister Laurena Hiddink of Sayville; brother Edward of West Sayville. Services held at his late home this afternoon, interment was Union Cemetery. Census: Proof: proven. 7 JUN 1880. Sayville, Suffolk, New York, United States ed 0321. Note: head Wolfert is 34yo. Bayman. wife Matilda is 22yo, born Holland. dtr Matilda is 8yo, born NY. son Cornelius is 5yo, born NY. dtr Dina is 5yo, born NY. Proof: proven. 11 JUN 1900. West Sayville, Suffolk, New York, United States ed 0771. Note: head Wolfer is 55yo, born Dec 1844 Holland, parents Holland. Age at first marriage 23. Arrived US 1852, here 48 years, naturalized. Wholesale oyster dealer. wife Matilda is 42yo, born Dec 1857 Holland, parents Holland. Age at first marriage 23. Arrived US 1873, here 27 years. Has born 10 children, 10 living. son Cornelius is 25yo, born Oct 1874 NY. Oysterman. dtr Louise is 19yo, born Nov 1880 NY. dtr Rose is 17yo, born Jun 1882 NY. son Marinus J is 15yo, born Oct 1884 NY. At school. son Wm is 13yo, born Dec 1886 NY. At school. dtr Martha is 11yo, born Aug 1888 NY. son Wolfer is 9yo, born Oct 1890 NY. At school. dtr Nellie is 7yo, born Nov 1892 NY. At school. son Lawrence is 5yo, born Apr 1895 NY. At school. son Bernard is 3yo, born Mar 1897 NY. son Henry is 6/12yo, born Nov 1899 NY. Proof: proven. 9 MAY 1910. West Sayville, Suffolk, New York, United States ed 1376. Note: head Wolfert is 65yo, in second marriage 32 years. Wholesale dealer, oysters. wife Matilda is 52yo, in first marriage 32 years. Has borne 11 children, 11 living. son Cornelius is 35yo. Oysterman, oyster house. dtr Louisa is 28yo. son Wm is 23yo. Engineer, oyster steamer. dtr Martha is 21yo. Dressmaker, working out. son Wolfer is 19yo. Apprentice, carpenter. dtr Nellie is 17yo. Dressmaker, working out. son Lewis is 15yo. Newsboy, street. son Bernard is 13yo. Newsboy, street. son Henry is 10yo. Newsboy, street. dtr Minnie is 7yo. Proof: proven. 1 JUN 1915. West Sayville, Suffolk, New York, United States AD 02/ed 0009. Note: head Wolfert is 70 yo. No occupation. wife Matilda is 58yo. son Cornelius is 40yo. Oysterman. dtr Louise is 32yo. dtr Martha is 26yo. Seamstress. son Wolfer is 24yo. Foreman, building. dtr Nellie is 22yo. son Lewis is 20yo. Carpenter. son Bernard is 18yo. Clerk, hardware store. son Henry is 15yo. At school. dtr Minnie is 13yo. At school. Proof: proven. 14 JAN 1920. West Sayville, Suffolk, New York, United States ed 0126. Note: head Wolfert is 75yo, widowed. son Cornelius is 45yo. Laborer, oyster industry. dtr Louisa is 39yo. dtr Martha is 31yo. son Wolfer is 29yo. Carpenter, housebuilding. son Lewis is 24yo. Carpenter, housebuilding. son Bernard is 22yo. Designer, machinery. dtr Minnie is 17yo. Buried Proof: proven. 5 SEP 1924. Sayville, Suffolk, New York, United States. Note: Find A Grave Memorial# 120514326, Plot N 93/005. | Van Popering, Wolfer Walter (I30591)
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| 225 | Born Percival Schulberg, it is said he took the name Benjamin from the boy in front of him when registering for school to avoid mockery for his British name. | Schulman, Benjamin Percival (I13162)
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| 226 | Both she and her husband died from typhoid fever. [Some sources report her place of death as Setauket, NY. However, by 1755, she was living on the Floyd estate in Mastic, NY.] | Smith, Tabitha (I1428)
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| 227 | C | Hage, Alimina (I30549)
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| 228 | Caleb Helme was of the fourth generation of the Tangier Smith family. | Helme, Caleb (I8221)
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| 229 | Caleb was raised by William and Jane Rawlinson of Stratford, CT. William Rawlinson died in 1712 and left to his ‘loving adopted son Caleb Daighton.’ | Dayton, Caleb < (I13695)
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| 230 | Captain Charles F. Darling apparently had no descendants. The only child to attain maturity was William who died as a young man; William apparently had no issue. Captain Darling outlived his wife, and there was apparently no one left in the family to arrange for the inscription of his death date on the family memorial obelisk. | Darling, Captain Charles Fulton (I5522)
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| 231 | Captain John Post was the progenitor of the Post's at the East end of Long Island, including Brookhaven Hamlet and Bellport (Post). | Post, John > (I4928)
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| 232 | Carman.net recorded Catherine's marriage to Timothy Carl Carman (b. abt 1822), son of Timothy Carman and Elizabeth Carll., I have not yet found any other confirmation of this relationship. Other sources, such as at Ancestry.com, recorded her marriage to William Benjamin Mott (b. abt 1835), son of Benjamin Mott and Hannah. However, they placed the family in North Hempstead, NY in 1860; Catherine was clearly recorded living with her parents in 1860. Catherine A. Carman was not found in the 1870 or later census. For these reasons, I have not recorded a spouse. | Carman, Catherine A. ^ (I270)
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| 233 | Carman.net records: "John Carman was a miller of grain, a sawmill operator, and prob. a farmer too. A mill of his stood on the west side of Hicks Neck. He acted as a Townsmen of Hempstead in 1663." | Carman, John [ii] > (I6821)
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| 234 | CAUS: "suddenly"She likely died from complications due to the birth of her youngest daughter Emeline Carman Miller. | Carman, Emeline ^ (I298)
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| 235 | CAUS: after a long illnessHe was 63 years old. At the time of his death he had a surviving sister, Mrs. George T. Smith. | Potter, Joseph Wiltsie Fuller (I9565)
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| 236 | CAUS: automobile accident with his wifeHe is reported to have died, with his wife, as the result of an automobile accident that occurred the previous day. | Bayles, Elwin Richard < (I4127)
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| 237 | CAUS: automobile accidet with her husbandShe is reported to have died, with her husband, as the result of an automobile accident that occurred the previous day. | Whiteman, Marian (I4129)
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| 238 | CAUS: Based on 1855 letter from his wife Mary relating she was a widow of David. Letter was actually her applying to get pension for her 2nd husband. Before 1850 as she living with one of her children at that time. | Deforest, David L. (I27614)
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| 239 | CAUS: Cert # 2034 Not certain if this is the correct death certificate because age is off by 4 years. | Chalmers, Isabella (I24085)
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| 240 | CAUS: Death Date/Place of Death (1804/Morris Co, NJ) per family tree of diane001, Ancestry.com 20Oct2001. | Wines, Barnabas (I24942)
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| 241 | CAUS: drowningThe inscription indicates that he is the son of Nathaniel and Hannah Woodruff, and that he drowned on his passage to North Carolina 12 May 1819, ae 17 y. | Woodruff, George Brown ^ (I11221)
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| 242 | CAUS: from a heart attack The Long Island Advance, 11 July 2002: In Memoriam: Cowles Waldron, highly decorated veteran Last week, two days after the Fourth of July, Cowles G. Waldron of Brookhaven hamlet di | Waldron, Cowles G. ^ (I11638)
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| 243 | CAUS: from drowning in a fishing incidentHe was one of eleven men from Fire Place who drowned in a fishing incident in the Atlantic Ocean off of Fire Island, opposite Fire Place Neck. | Brown, Benjamin Alfred ^ (I1040)
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| 244 | CAUS: from drowning on a transport during the Civil WarHe was wounded at Kingston on 14 Dec. 1863. A memorial stone is located at his parents' grave site in Bellport (Woodlawn Cemetery), Brookhaven, Suffolk, NY. [There are several possibilities for th | Homan, Charles Oliver < (I3059)
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| 245 | CAUS: from drowning while fishingHe was one of eleven men from Fire Place (modern Brookhaven Hamlet, NY) who drowned in a fishing incident in the Atlantic Ocean off of Fire Island, opposite Fire Place Neck. | Rose, William ^ (I6053)
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| 246 | CAUS: from drowning while fishingHe was one of eleven men from Fire Place (modern Brookhaven Hamlet, NY) who drowned in a fishing incident in the Atlantic Ocean off of Fire Island, opposite Fire Place Neck. | Homan, Henry ^ (I11235)
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| 247 | CAUS: from drowning while fishingHe was one of eleven men from Fire Place (modern Brookhaven Hamlet, NY) who drowned in a fishing incident in the Atlantic Ocean off of Fire Island, opposite Fire Place Neck. Accounts of his death indicated that he had had | Homan, James Bell Jr (I11234)
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| 248 | CAUS: from drowningCapt. Samuel Hand died in a tanner's vat at Soak Hides, Three Mile Harbor, East Hampton, NY. | Hand, Samuel (I11424)
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| 249 | CAUS: from heart diseaseHe was stricken while riding the subway. His death notice indicated that he had two daughters. | Boughton, Herbert Daniel (I8696)
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| 250 | CAUS: in an airplane crash during WWIIPatchogue Advance, 30 Sept. 1943:Plane Crash Kills Sgt. L. KinsellaBrookhaven Resident, Members of Large FamilyLeaves Bride of Only Two Months, Former Rosemary Cleaves, Bellport Teacher — Expected Ove | Kinsella, Lawrence William ^ (I9789)
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