My Genealogy Hound

JOHN WOODROW. He with whose name we introduce this biographical outline bears the distinction of being one of the oldest living settlers of Clark County. He is a veteran of eighty-five years, having been born April 4, 1805, and is a native of Fayette County, Pa. Few men have witnessed the growth and development of the Buckeye State with warmer interest or felt greater pride in the position which she holds to-day among the great commonwealths of the West.

The immediate progenitors of our subject were James and Fanny (Stutzman) Woodrow, who were natives of Pennsylvania and the latter of German descent. The Woodrow family traces its ancestry to England. James Woodrow and his estimable wife were called from earth when their son John was less than three years old, and he was then taken into the home of one Daniel Rouzer, of Miami County, this State. With him he came to Clark County when a lad of ten years. They settled in Springfield Township during its pioneer days and young Woodrow remained a member of Mr. Rouzer’s family until a youth of eighteen years and until the death of his benefactor, which took place in 1823. He then struck out for himself, equipped with little more than the resources with which nature had endowed him, having a very limited education and not much experience of the world. His industry and honesty, however, secured friends for him wherever he went. When coming to Clark County, Springfield was but a hamlet of a few log huts and the country around was practically a wilderness.

When about twenty-two years old Mr. Woodrow, under David Pettigrew, of Springfield, commenced an apprenticeship at wood turning, serving three years, and thereafter followed this in connection with chair-making and the manufacture of spinning-wheels for the long period of, probably, sixty years. When a young man of twenty-four, he was married, March 8, 1829, to Miss Mary Berry. This lady was born in Greenbrier County, Va., November 25, 1806, and is a daughter of James and Isabel (Best) Berry, who were likewise pioneer settlers of Clark County, having emigrated hither as early as 1808. Mrs. Woodrow was then but two years old. She remained with her parents, obtaining her education in the primitive schools and becoming familiar with all useful household duties. Of her union with our subject there was born a family of seven children, only two of whom are living — David N. and Laura B. The deceased are: Mary E., William W., Martha, Sarah A. and one who died in infancy unnamed.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Woodrow settled in Springfield, where the family lived until removing to the present homestead in Moorefield Township, in June, 1888. Mr. Woodrow, besides this property, has a house and lot on Factory Street in the city” of Springfield. Mrs. Woodrow, after remaining the faithful and devoted companion of her husband for a period of fifty-seven years, departed this life June 27, 1886. She was a lady of many Christian virtues and was not only greatly mourned by her immediate family but by the entire community. Mr. Woodrow in his religious belief inclines to the doctrines of the Presbyterian Church, with which he is associated in membership at Springfield.