Field Notes

Researching Family History One Record at a Time

Ancestors /

John Farney Woodruff

b. December 6, 1842 · Keystone Station, Jackson County, Ohio – d. January 11, 1939 · Jackson County, Ohio

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Black-and-white photograph of a man seated on a stool on the front porch, in the open doorway of a log cabin, petting a dog beside him. The exterior log wall with chinking is visible around the doorframe. Two children are visible in the dark interior behind him, through the open doorway.
John Farney Woodruff, seated on the front porch in the open doorway of a cabin believed to be in Cripple Creek, Colorado, ca. 1890, petting a dog beside him. This date is Shannon's estimate, based on the birth of the two youngest sons of this marriage — Lee Roy (b. 30 Oct 1889) and Warren Browning (b. 7 Feb 1894) — in the Cripple Creek/Teller County area. Two children, visible inside the cabin behind him, have not been identified and may or may not be these sons. Original photograph in the collection of Shannon's mother, scanned by Shannon.

Vital Facts

Event Date Place Status Source
Birth December 6, 1842 Keystone Station, Jackson County, Ohio Proven 1
Death January 11, 1939 Davisville, Jackson County, Ohio Proven 2a,2b Buried 13 Jan 1939, Fairmount Cemetery, Jackson, Ohio.

Family

Parents

  • Joshua Woodruff — Father. Born c. 1818, Ohio. Farmer/day laborer, Franklin Township (1850) and Greenfield Township, Gallia County (1860), Ohio. Identified as John's father via the 1850 and 1860 census, both enumerating John in his household at consistent ages. 3a,3b
  • Milly Woodruff — Mother. Born c. 1820, Ohio. 3a,3b

Marriages

Spouse Date Place Status Outcome Notes
Mary Jane Shope (1st) 30 May 1861 unknown Proven Abandoned by John, after 1867 Marriage verified by license. Three children died in infancy; John later abandoned Mary Jane. She remarried, had additional children, and died in 1905. Read full account →
Sarah Sherman (2nd) September 8, 1875 unknown Proven Abandoned by John, after son's birth Marriage verified by license. One son, John Farney Woodruff Jr. John abandoned Sarah and their son sometime after the boy's birth. She remarried, had additional children, and died in 1914.
Annie E. Chaney (3rd) October 10, 1876 Shoals, Martin County, Indiana Working Hypothesis Divorce finalized September 14, 1899 No marriage license located; relationship established through census and John's own divorce filing. The sworn divorce complaint itself gives a marriage date of 10 Oct 1876; a separate, later state abstract of the divorce record instead gives 1877, likely a clerical error.
Ida B. Williams (Emmons) (4th) October 25, 1899 unknown Proven Ida died in a house fire, August 22, 1902 Marriage verified by license and newspaper announcement. No children.
Martha A. Secor (5th) May 30, 1906 Colorado Springs, CO Proven Divorce finalized February 26, 1923 Marriage verified by the Colorado marriage index4, which records her under her prior married name, Martha A. Moore — corroborating her earlier marriage to a Moore and the two stepchildren of that name found in the 1910 census. Her own parentage — James W. Secor and Nancy C. Kimes, born 8 Dec 1873, Iowa — is documented via her Social Security application5. One daughter with John, Amelia. John left Colorado after ~1911, lived in Florida, and arrived in Jackson County, Ohio — his birthplace — in 1920. Divorce filed 2 Jan 1923 on Gross Neglect of Duty; default judgment, Martha never appeared6.
Eliza Jane Bloat (6th) 1923 unknown Proven Predeceased John, died 1928 Marriage verified by license and newspaper announcement. John was 81 years old at the time of this marriage. Eliza Jane, who went by 'Jennie,' died in 1928, eleven years before John.

Children

  • Serena Alice Woodruff (b. 17 Jul 1862) — Child of John and Mary Jane Shope. Recorded in the family Bible as 'Verena Alice.' Died 22 August 1862, per the family Deaths register.
  • Charley A. Woodruff (b. 2 Jun 1866) — Child of John and Mary Jane Shope. Recorded in the family Bible as 'Charles A.' Died 8 August 1866, per the family Deaths register.
  • Elmer Ottis Woodruff (b. 4 Jul 1867) — Child of John and Mary Jane Shope. Recorded in the family Bible as 'Elmer O.' Died 25 Oct 1867, age 4 months, of whooping cough, per the Lawrence County, Ohio probate death record — the official primary source. The family Deaths register instead gives 24 Nov 1867, a discrepancy of about a month; the probate record is treated as authoritative here. His birth record names his mother 'Jane' or 'Jane Bowen' rather than Shope — almost certainly a clerical or informant error by the midwife, given the independently well-documented 'Shope' surname elsewhere (Find a Grave, her own headstone, her siblings' records), but noted rather than silently corrected. 7a,7b
  • John Farney Woodruff Jr. (b. 3 Dec 1875, Upper Township, Lawrence County, Ohio) — Child of John and Sarah Sherman. Died 6 May 1949, Los Angeles, California. Neither this marriage nor this son's birth was recorded in the family Bible. John abandoned Sarah and their infant son to be with Annie E. Chaney. Birth and death verified by county birth records, government records, death certificate, and military records.
  • (see Annie E. Chaney's page for full list with John Farney Woodruff) — All eight children of John and Annie's marriage — Edna Latitia, Anna Maud, Robert Franklin, David Henry, William Wilson, Florence, Lee Roy, and Warren Browning — are documented in full on Annie E. Chaney's page.
  • Amelia A. Woodruff (b. Jan 1909, Colorado) — Child of John and Martha A. Secor — John's youngest child, born when he was 66.

Timeline

  1. September 4, 1850 Enumerated at age 8 in the household of his parents, Joshua and Milly Woodruff, Franklin Township, Jackson County, Ohio — the earliest record of the family. 3a
  2. August 4, 1860 Enumerated at age 17 in his parents' household, Greenfield Township, Gallia County, Ohio, alongside siblings Mary, Milla, and Albert. 3b
  3. September 11, 1862 Enlists as a private in Co. F, 27th Ohio Infantry. 8
  4. August 1, 1864 Appointed first/orderly sergeant; per his own account, takes command of the company in the absence of a commissioned officer. 1
  5. 1864–1865 Commands the company during Sherman's March to the Sea and the Carolinas campaign. Family/researcher account holds that his 'Captain' nickname originates here: during a major engagement, the company's actual captain reportedly fled, and John rallied the men in his place. Encountered once in an Ancestry-hosted account attributed to a fellow soldier; the original source has not been relocated. Status: Unverified. 1,9
  6. April 4, 1865 Commissioned 1st Lieutenant, per his own account. An official roster instead dates this rank change, alongside a transfer from Co. F to Co. K, to 28 Jan 1865 — a documentary conflict not yet resolved. 1,8
  7. July 11, 1865 Mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky. 8
  8. 1870 Enumerated with wife Mary [Jane Shope], age 27, Elizabeth Township, Lawrence County, Ohio; occupation teamster. 10
  9. after 1867 Abandons Mary Jane Shope and their three children (Serena, Charley, and Ottis had already died in infancy).
  10. September 8, 1875 Marries Sarah Sherman.
  11. after birth of son Abandons Sarah Sherman and their infant son, John Farney Woodruff Jr.
  12. October 10, 1876 Marries Annie E. Chaney, per the sworn divorce complaint, Shoals, Martin County, Indiana; no marriage license has been located.
  13. 3 June 1880 Enumerated with Annie, Edna, and Maud in the US Census, Lone Oak Township, Bates County, Missouri — the only surviving census to record the family together. 11
  14. September 14, 1899 Divorce from Annie E. Chaney finalized.
  15. October 25, 1899 Marries Ida B. Williams (Emmons).
  16. 1900 Enumerated, Precinct 3, Teller County, Colorado. 12
  17. August 22, 1902 Ida dies in a house fire.
  18. 1903 City directory records him at 101 Red Rock Ave, Colorado Springs, laboring; daughter Florence boarding at the same address. 13
  19. 1904 City directory again records him at 101 Red Rock Ave, Colorado Springs. 14
  20. 1902–1906 Contests Ida's will. Trial transcripts on order from Colorado State Archives.
  21. May 30, 1906 Marries Martha A. Secor.
  22. 1909 Daughter Amelia born to John and Martha.
  23. 1910 Enumerated with wife Martha, Divide, Teller County, Colorado. 15
  24. 1911–1920 Per his own sworn divorce petition (uncontested by Martha), leaves Colorado and lives in Florida; relations with Martha deteriorate over this period. 6
  25. 1920 Arrives in Jackson County, Ohio — his birthplace — after Martha, per his account, drives him from their Florida home. 6
  26. 26 Oct 1922 Martha leaves with their daughter Amelia for San Francisco, California, per John's petition. 6
  27. 2 Jan 1923 Files for divorce from Martha in Jackson County, Ohio, alleging Extreme Cruelty and Gross Neglect of Duty. Described in his own sworn petition, at about age 80, as 'in feeble health and nearly blind.' Martha, served by publication in San Francisco, does not appear. 6
  28. February 26, 1923 Divorce from Martha A. Secor finalized by default decree; the court found her guilty of Gross Neglect of Duty and did not rule on the also-alleged Extreme Cruelty count. 6
  29. 1923 Marries Eliza Jane Bloat, at age 81.
  30. 1928 Eliza Jane Bloat dies.
  31. December 27, 1936 Profiled in the Portsmouth Times as one of six remaining G.A.R. veterans in Jackson County, age 94, totally blind for seven years, living with his brother Albert Woodruff in Davisville. Referred to as 'Captain' — a title not reflected in any official military record, which give his rank as 1st Lieutenant. 2b
  32. 1930 Enumerated as a boarder, age 87, widowed, in the household of William H. and Malissa Maloney, Jackson City, Ohio. 16
  33. January 11, 1939 Dies at 5 a.m., at the home of his brother Albert, near Coalton, Ohio. Funeral at Jackson U.B. Church, Rev. L. B. Mignery officiating, burial at Fairmount Cemetery under Elmer Ridgeway. His death left Barak Chase as the last surviving G.A.R. veteran in Jackson County. Obituary lists three surviving children 'in western states' — an undercount of his known surviving children at the time — and three half-brothers, George Woodruff (Wellston, Ohio) and Ben and Edward Woodruff (Jacksonville, Indiana), not otherwise documented. 17

Open Research Questions

  1. Why are Sarah Sherman and her son, John Farney Woodruff Jr., the only wife and child entirely absent from the family Bible? Every other wife's children are recorded there, including those who died in infancy. Their omission, while John's namesake son survived to adulthood, suggests a deliberate choice rather than an oversight.
  2. What is the outcome of John's contest of Ida Emmons Woodruff's will? Trial transcripts are on order from the Colorado State Archives and represent the next major evidentiary development in this research.
  3. What does the Frank E. Emmons probate file in El Paso County, Colorado contain? This is the highest-priority unexplored record target and may illuminate Ida's family, assets, and the contested estate.
  4. What is Annie E. Chaney's true relationship to John Farney Woodruff? She appears in his 1880 household but biological vs. step relationship is unverified by primary source.
  5. Where and when did John marry Annie E. Chaney? The sworn divorce complaint gives 10 October 1876, Shoals, Martin County, Indiana — treated as the better-supported date given its consistency with daughter Edna's proven birth date (28 Aug 1877); a separate state abstract of the divorce record instead gives 1877, likely a clerical error. No marriage record, license, or other independent documentation of the Shoals, Indiana marriage has been located. Given John's now-proven Ohio origins, an Indiana marriage is plausible but remains unconfirmed.
  6. What became of David Henry Woodruff, son of John and Annie? Absent entirely from the family Deaths register and unknown to the family until uncovered by this research — see open questions on Annie E. Chaney's page for full detail.
  7. His 1936 newspaper profile and 1939 obituary both call him 'Captain,' while every official military record gives his rank as 1st Lieutenant — courtesy title, late promotion, or reporting error? A family/researcher account (source not yet relocated) holds it was an honorific earned in the field after the company's actual captain fled during a major engagement on the march to the sea.
  8. The official Civil War service database gives his enlistment rank as 1st Sergeant and dates his commission/company transfer to 28 Jan 1865 — conflicting with his own 1912–13 GAR sketch, which describes enlisting as a private and being commissioned 4 April 1865.
  9. Who are half-brothers George, Ben, and Edward Woodruff, named in John's 1939 obituary? Presumably children of a second marriage of Joshua Woodruff's, not yet documented or dated.

Repository Targets

  • Colorado State Archives — Trial transcripts, John's contest of Ida Emmons Woodruff's will [On order]
  • El Paso County, Colorado — Probate Court — Frank E. Emmons probate file [Not yet requested — highest priority]
  • Hamilton County, Ohio — Records relating to Annie Chaney's origins [Professional genealogist engaged]
  • Ida B. Emmons Woodruff Estate — 136-page probate file [Obtained and analyzed]

References

  • 1. ↩ "Personal War Sketches of the Members of Colorado Springs Post No. 22, Department of Colorado, Grand Army of the Republic," presented to the Post by Winfield Scott Stratton, 1895 (Louis H. Everts, Philadelphia, PA, 1890); Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum; sketch of Comrade John Farney Woodruff, p. 41, giving his own first-person account of Civil War service, recorded by the Post Historian, c. 1912–1913.
  • 2a. ↩ "Ohio, U.S., Soldier Grave Registrations, 1804-1958," database on-line, Ancestry.com (Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017), John Farney Woodruff, d. 11 Jan 1939, Davisville, Ohio, bur. 13 Jan 1939, Fairmount Cemetery, Jackson, Ohio; citing Graves Registration Cards Collection, Ohio History Connection, Columbus, Ohio.
  • 2b. ↩ "Captain John F. Woodruff...," Portsmouth Times, 27 Dec 1936, Jackson County, Ohio ed.
  • 3a. ↩ 1850 U.S. census, Jackson County, Ohio, population schedule, Franklin Township, p. 295a, dwelling/family 916, Joshua Woodruff household; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 698.
  • 3b. ↩ 1860 U.S. census, Gallia County, Ohio, population schedule, Greenfield Township, p. 264, dwelling/family 102, Joshua Woodruff household; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 966; FHL film 803966.
  • 4. ↩ "Colorado, Statewide Marriage Index, 1853-2006," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KNQY-NR1 : accessed 7 Feb 2026), entry for John F Woodruff and Martha A Moore, 30 May 1906, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado, p. 3653.
  • 5. ↩ "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007," database on-line, Ancestry.com (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015), Martha Adella Woodruff [Martha Adella Secor], b. 8 Dec 1873, Iowa; parents James W. Secor and Nancy C. Kimes; SSN 552-32-4109; name listed as Martha Adella Woodruff, Jun 1943.
  • 6. ↩ John F. Woodruff v. Martha A. Woodruff, divorce petition and decree, Case No. 8625, Court of Common Pleas, Jackson County, Ohio, filed 2 Jan 1923, decree entered 26 Feb 1923; "Jackson, Ohio, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-8996-V2YD?view=fullText : accessed 21 Jan 2025), image 272 of 315 [petition]; and (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G996-VVBY?view=fullText : accessed 21 Jan 2025), image 273 of 315 [affidavit, order, proof of publication, decree]; Ohio. County Court (Jackson County).
  • 7a. ↩ Lawrence County, Ohio, Probate Court, Record of Births, 1867, "Elmorter Woodruff," b. 4 Jul 1867, Upper Township, son of John Woodruff and "Jane," midwife Eliz. Delawder; The Lawrence Register, Lawrence County, Ohio Probate Births 1867 (https://www.lawrencecountyohio.com/genealogy/births/1867-births/); also indexed as "Elmorotes Woodruff" in "Ohio, Births and Christenings Index, 1800-1962," database on-line, Ancestry.com (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), father John Woodruff, mother Jane, FHL film 317727.
  • 7b. ↩ Lawrence County, Ohio, Probate Court, Record of Deaths, 1867–1868, p. 5, no. entry for "Woodruff, Elmer Ottis," d. 25 Oct 1867, age 0y 4m 0d, single, place of death and birth both Upper Township, cause of death "Whooping Cough," reported by A. E. Isaminger, M.D.
  • 8. ↩ Historical Data Systems, comp., "U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865," database on-line, Ancestry.com (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009), John F Woodruff, enlisted 11 Sep 1862, Co. F, 27th Ohio Infantry; transferred to Co. K, 28 Jan 1865; mustered out 11 Jul 1865, Louisville, Kentucky; citing Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio.
  • 9. ↩ Historical Data Systems, comp., "U.S., American Civil War Regiments, 1861-1866," database on-line, Ancestry.com (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999), 27th Infantry Regiment, Ohio; citing The Union Army, vol. 2.
  • 10. ↩ 1870 U.S. census, Lawrence County, Ohio, population schedule, Elizabeth Township, p. 262B, dwelling 148, John Woodroff household; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 1231.
  • 11. ↩ 1880 U.S. census, Bates County, Missouri, population schedule, Lone Oak, p. 214A (stamped), dwelling 36, family 37, J. F. Woodruff; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 October 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 673.
  • 12. ↩ 1900 U.S. census, Teller County, Colorado, population schedule, Precinct 3, p. 11B, enumeration district 0123, John F. Woodruff household; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 129; FHL film 1240129.
  • 13. ↩ "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989," database with images, Ancestry.com (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), Colorado Springs, Colorado, City Directory, 1903, p. 713: "Woodruff John F lab res 101 Red Rock ave"; also "Woodruff Flossie Miss bds 101 Red Rock ave."
  • 14. ↩ "U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989," database with images, Ancestry.com (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), Colorado Springs, Colorado, City Directory, 1904: "Woodruff John F, lab, res 101 Red Rock av."
  • 15. ↩ 1910 U.S. census, Teller County, Colorado, population schedule, Divide, p. 6A, enumeration district 0182, John F. Woodruff household; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 125; FHL film 1374138.
  • 16. ↩ 1930 U.S. census, Jackson County, Ohio, population schedule, Jackson City, p. 11B, enumeration district 40-13, John Woodruff (boarder, Maloney household); image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1828; FHL film 2341562.
  • 17. ↩ "Rites For Captain John Woodruff To Be Held In Jackson Church," Portsmouth Times (Portsmouth, Ohio), 13 Jan 1939, p. 13, col. 2, paras. 1–5; Portsmouth Times Newspaper Archives.