LUCIUS D. WOODRUFF
Company B, Twenty-first Missouri
Volunteer Infantry
BIO-Pen Pictures
SURNAMES: GILLETT, FERNALD, McNEILL,
Lucius D. Woodruff. One of the finest ranches in the Willow District is owned by the subject of this sketch. It is located on Curtner Avenue, between Lincoln and Plummer Avenues. In September, 1881, Mr. Woodruff bought 25 87/100 acres, then part of a grain-field. The following spring he set out 1,500 trees. He has retained eighteen acres, selling the remainder. Each year he has planted trees, until now all of his property is devoted to fruit culture, and nearly all of his trees are in bearing. His fine, large orchard now comprises 600 French prune, 100 Silver prune, 400 apricot, 500 peach (of different varieties, principally Seller’s Cling), 50 old cherry, 74 young cherry, 50 apple, 5 almond, and a few walnut and fig trees. In 1887 280 peach trees (budded only two years before) yielded $365 worth of fruit. In the same year the entire orchard, many being young trees, and the oldest being but six years old, produced $2,000 worth of fruit. Of this sum $900 was realized from 400 apricot trees, 100 of which were but four years old. Mr. Woodruff may justly feel satisfied with the financial result of his labor in his horticultural interests, while the rapid growth and thrifty condition of his young orchard bear witness to the excellent care which he bestows upon it.
Mr. Woodruff was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, December 3, 1824. He is a descendant from a long line of New England ancestry, the family history of both parent running back to the Mayflower
He is the son of Denman and Naomi (Gillett) Woodruff, who never left their native State, and now sleep in the old Litchfield Cemetery, with their forefathers. Mr. Woodruff was reared to a farm life, receiving the education of the common schools. On the sixth of October, 1864, he wedded Miss Mary Ann Fernald, who, although of American parentage, was born in the Province of New Brunswick. Her father, Mark Fernald, was a native of Kittery, Maine, and her mother Ann (McNiell) Fernald, of New Boston, New Hampshire. They moved to New Brunswick before their marriage, in 1812, and spent the remainder of their lives in that province. Mr. Woodruff engaged in agricultural pursuits for two years after his marriage, in Connecticut, thence removing to Boston, Massachusetts, where he remained until 1851. In the latter year they emigrated to Knox County, Missouri, then in the far West, where Mr. Woodruff engaged in farming.
At the time of his country’s peril, he offered his service in her defense, entering the service as Orderly Sergeant, July 6, 1861, in Company B, Twenty-first Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and was made First Lieutenant November 15. He participated in the desperate and heroic battle at Pittsburg Landing. After the evacuation of Corinth, failing health necessitated his resignation. After a partial recovery, he received, on the tenth of August, 1862, a commission as Captain of a company in the Fifty-first State Militia. August 19, 1864, he was honored by another promotion, being commissioned Lieutenant Colonel, in which capacity he acted until the war closed.
In 1868 he removed to Rock Island, and during the following nine years was a trusted employe of the government, as one of the Engineer Corps, and again at the Arsenal on Rock Island. He came to Santa Clara County in September, 1881, immediately locating at his present home.
The faithful
conscientious performance of duty which made Mr. Woodruff a good solider and
officer, he has carried into all the relations of his life, business and
social. This quality, combined with a bright, genial spirit and a kind heart,
have made him loved and respected in the community where he makes his home.
Politically he is identified with the Republican party. He was reared, as was
also his wife, in the faith of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or
Santa Clara County, California,
Illustrated. - Edited by H.S. Foote. -
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1888.
p. 460, 461
SANTA CLARA COUNTY BIOGRAPHY PROJECT