Sacramento County

Biographies

ELWOOD J. WOODBURN

Elwood J. Woodburn, a well known descendant of a prominent California pioneer family, is now a business manager of the city schools of Sacramento. Moreover, he is a native son of the capital city, his birth having here occurred on the 9^th of January, 1881. His parents were James and Anna (Woolfolk) Woodburn, the former a native of New Hampshire and the latter of Missouri. The father came to the Golden state on a sailing vessel which rounded Cape Horn in 1852 and for a time he tried mining on the mother lode section but subsequently conducted a hotel in Eureka. Returning to Sacramento, he entered the employ of Henderson & Power, wholesale liquor dealers, and was afterward in the same line of business with E.L. Billings. Later he became a partner of Mr. Barnes in the firm of Woodburn & Barnes and when that connection was dissolved continued in business alone. He was well known in Masonic circles and held membership in the Mystic Shrine. His wife was also a pioneer resident of California, having made the long and perilous journey across the plains in 1856.

Elwood J. Woodburn was educated in the schools of Sacramento and in the University of California but left college upon the death of his father. He then entered the state comptroller’s office and in 1917 became associated with the California National Bank. In 1922 he was appointed to his present position and organized the office of business manager of the city schools. He is a man of sound judgment, of keen insight and marked business discernment and is doing effective work in his present connection.

Mr. Woodburn was united in marriage to Miss Eugenie Mouser, who was born in Sacramento and represents one of the old families of the city. They have two sons, Elwood J., Jr., and James T., aged respectively twenty and seventeen years. Mr. Woodburn belongs to the Kiwanis Club and is widely known in Sacramento, where practically his entire life has been passed and where the circle of his friends is almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintance.

Transcribed by Debbie Gramlick.

Source: Wooldridge, J.W. Major History of the Sacramento Valley California, Vol. 2 Pgs. 304-305. The PioneerHistorical Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.

Sacramento County Biographies