WILLIAM HENRY WOODWARD

Butte County

Biographies

WILLIAM HENRY WOODWARD

WILLIAM HENRY WOODWARD.--A man thrown upon his own resources at an early age, and whose natural abilities were strengthened by contact with the world, is William Henry Woodward, a prosperous rancher and public spirited citizen living in Hurleton Precinct, Butte County, about eight miles from Oroville. Mr. Woodward was born in Dubuque, Iowa, January 22, 1850, a son of Edward and Elizabeth (Wilde) Woodward, natives of England and Pennsylvania, respectively. Edward Woodward came to America when a young man, with California as his objective point, accordingly soon after his arrival he came via the Isthmus of Panama and with his family settled in Marysville, after their arrival. In that city he conducted the Philadelphia Hotel for two years, and this same building is now occupied as a boarding-house. In 1856 he removed to Oroville and in that city managed the New Orleans Hotel, on Montgomery Street. Mr. Woodward was taken ill and died at the early age of thirty-five years, leaving a widow and six children in very straitened circumstances. These children were: William Henry, of this review; Fred, who died at Santa Rosa, leaving two daughters; Hannah, who married Dr. I. L. R. Mansfield and resides at Wyandotte; Mary E., widow of a Mr. Carlton residing in San Francisco; Richard, now deceased; and James H., also a resident of the western metropolis. After several years of widowhood Mrs. Woodward chose for a second husband, John J. Smith, of Oroville, who was postmaster two terms under President Grant, and of this union were born four children: Sherman and Alfred, both deceased; and Charles and Lillian, residing at Berkeley. Mrs. Woodward-Smith died at the age of seventy-five years and was mourned by a wide circle of friends.

William H., the eldest son, was reared in Oroville, but owing to the death of his father and the fact that there was a large family of small children to be reared, his schooling was limited to a short attendance at the public schools of Oroville. He early became a bread-winner for the little family and found employment herding hogs and sheep, and learning to care for stock, also to plow and to do general farm work. Every pay-day he would regularly take to his mother his earnings and in this way became her mainstay. As a young man he began to serve an apprenticeship at the Locher Foundry at Oroville, where he worked for three years, becoming an expert machinist and very proficient in running lathes and steam engines, an experience that has been of great benefit in his later years.

In 1881 Mr. Woodward was united in marriage with Miss Emma L. Bendle, born and reared at Bidwell's Bar and the daughter of the pioneers, John S. and Louisa (Griffin) Bendle, natives of New York state and England respectively, and early settlers in Butte County, where they are still living at the ages of eighty-six and eighty-four years respectively, still hale and hearty and surounded by a large circle of friends of many years. Of this happy marriage two children have come to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Woodward: Edward John, driver of the auto stage from Oroville to Lumpkin, and Eva Elizabeth, wife of Leonard Noel and the mother of a daughter, Leona. She resides at Oroville where her husband is a dredgerman.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Woodward came to Hurleton Precinct where he purchased a quarter section of land and at once began making improvements and building up a home. From time to time he has added to his holdings and now owns two hundred forty acres and has a comfortable home. The family are highly respected wherever known. The adversity and difficulties of Mr. Woodward's early life have only strengthened and made more cheerful his optimism and disposition to succeed, and his life accomplishments are worthy of emulation by the rising generation.

Transcribed by Sande Beach.

Source: "History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 786-789, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.

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