IN tracing the history of my fathers, I find
it difficult to obtain a satisfactory account of
the Woodruff family for more than three gen-
erations.
My great grandfather, Josiah Woodruff,
lived nearly one hundred years, and possessed
an iron constitution and performed a great
amount of manual labor nearly up to the time
of his death. His wife's name was Sarah; she
bore to him nine children as follows:—Josiah, Appleton, Eldad, Elisha, Joseph, Rhoda, Phebe, and two names not given.
My grandfather, Eldad Woodruff, was the
third son of Josiah. He was born in Farming-
ton, Hartford Co., Connecticut, in 1751; he
also possessed a strong constitution; it was
said that he performed the most labor for
several years of any man in Hartford Co., and
from over exertion in hewing timber he was
attacked with rheumatism in his right hip,
which caused severe lameness for several
years before his death. He married Dinah
Woodford, by whom he had seven children,
viz.:—Eldad, Elizabeth, Samuel, Aphek, Titus, Hellen, and Ozem.
My grandfather died in Farmington, with
the spotted fever in 1806, aged 55 years. My
grandmother, Dinah, died in 1824, in the same
place, with a cancer in the left breast: her
sufferings were very great.
My father, Aphek Woodruff, was born in
Farmington, ; he married Beulah
Thompson, who was born in 1782, .
She bore three sons, namely:—Azmon, born
; Ozen Thompson, born ; myself born .
My mother died with the spotted fever, , aged 26 years, leaving me fifteen
months old. My father's second wife, Azu-
bah Hart, was born ; they were
married ; they had six children,
viz.: Philo, born , and died by
poison administered by a physician ; Asahel Hart, born , and
died in Terrahaute, ; Franklin,
born , and died ; Newton,
born , drowned Sept., 1820; Ju-
lius, born , and died in infancy; Eunice, born . I married her to Dwight Webster in Farmington, Conn., [.]
My father was a strong constitutioned man,
and has done a great amount of labor. At
eighteen years of age, he commenced attending
a flouring and saw mill, and continued about
[Column 2]
50 years; most of this time he labored eight-
een hours a day.
He never made any profession of religion,
until I baptized him with all his household
into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints on the . He was
a man of great charity, honesty, integrity and
truth, and made himself poor by giving to the
poor, and accommodating his fellow men by
loaning money and becoming surety for his
neighbors, and always saying yes, to every
man who asked a favor at his hand.
I was born in the north part of the town of
Farmington, now called Avon, Hartford Co.,
Conn., . I assisted my father
in attending the Farmington Mills, until I was
twenty years of age.
In April, 1827, I took the flouring mill of my
aunt, Hellen Wheeler, which I attended three
years. In May, 1830, I took charge of the
flouring mill of Mr. Collins, the ax manufac-
turer, in South Canton, Conn. At the end of
one year it was demolished to make way for
other machinery. In March, 1831, I took
charge of the flouring mill owned by Mr. Rich-
ard B. Cowles of New Hartford, Conn. In
the spring of 1832, in company with my oldest
brother, Azmon, I went to Richland, Oswego
Co., New York, and purchased a farm and
saw mill, and settled in business.
At an early age my mind was exercised upon
religious subjects, although I never made a
profession until 1830. I did not then join any
church, for the reason that I could not find any
denomination whose doctrines, faith or prac-
tice, agreed with the gospel of Jesus Christ,
or the ordinances and gifts which the apostles
taught. Although the ministers of the day
taught that the faith, gifts, graces, miracles
and ordinances, which the ancient saints en-
joyed, were done away and no longer needed,
I did not believe it to be true, only as they
were done away through the unbelief of the
children of men. I believed the same gifts,
graces, miracles and power would be manifest
in one age of the world as in another, when
God had a church upon the earth, and that
the church of God would be re-established
upon the earth, and that I should live to
see it. These principles were rivetted
upon my mind from the perusal of the Old
and New Testament, with fervent prayer
that the Lord would show me what was right
and wrong, and lead me in the path of salva-
tion, without any regard to the opinions of
man, and the whisperings of the Spirit of the
Lord for the space of three years, taught me
that he was about to set up his church and
kingdom upon the earth in the last days. I
was taught these things from my youth by Robert Mason, an aged man, who lived in Simsbury, Conn., who was frequently called
the old prophet Mason: he taught me many
things which are now coming to pass. He did
not believe that any man had authority to ad-
minister in the ordinances of the gospel, but
believed it was our privilege through faith,
prayer and fasting, to heal the sick, and cast
out devils by the laying on of hands, which
was the case under his administration, as
many could testify.
In 1832, I was inspired to go to Rhode Is-
land; my brother, Asahel, was also directed
by the Spirit of God to go to the same place.
When we met, we both told our impressions,
and it caused us to marvel and wonder, what
the Lord wanted of us in Rhode Island; but as
we had made preparations to move to the
west, we let outward circumstances control us,
and Jonah-like, instead of going to Rhode Is-
land, we went to Richland, Oswego Co., New
York, and there remained until ,
when I heard Elders Zerah Pulsipher and Elijah Cheeny preach. My brother Azmon
and I believed their testimony, entertained the
elders and offered ourselves for baptism the
first sermon we heard. We read the Book of
Mormon, and I received a testimony that it
was true.
We soon learned what the Lord wanted of
us in Rhode Island, for at the time we were
warned to go there, two of the elders were
[Column 3]
preaching there, and had we gone, we should
have embraced the work at that time.
—I was baptized by Elder Zerah
Pulsipher; he confirmed me the same evening.
—I was ordained a teacher, and
my brother Azmon, an elder, and a small
branch organized of 12 members by Elder Pul-
sipher.
In February following, in company with
Elder Holton, I walked some 60 miles to the
town of Fabius, to attend an evening meeting
of the Saints in that place, where Elder Pulsi-
pher was presiding; I saw the book of com-
mandments or revelations given through Joseph
Smith, Jr., and I believed them with all my heart
and rejoiced therein; and after spending sev-
eral days, and holding several meetings, we
returned home rejoicing.
During the winter, we were visited by sev-
eral of the elders. , Elder Parley P.
Pratt called upon us and instructed the branch
till midnight: we had a precious time. I ac-
companied brother Pratt to Jefferson Co., and
told him my circumstances; he said it was my
duty to prepare myself to go to Kirtland, and
join the camp of Zion. I immediately settled
my business.
—With my horses and wagon
I took brs. Harry Brown and Warren Ingles,
and started for Zion. I met with Orson Pratt, John Murdoch and other Elders on the way,
and arrived in Kirtland on the .
The Prophet Joseph invited me to make his
house my home; I accepted his offer, and staid
with him about one week. I became acquaint-
ed with many of the High Priests, Elders and
Saints. I spent one Sabbath in Kirtland and
heard many of the Elders speak, and I felt to
rejoice before God for the light and knowledge
which was manifested to me during that day.
—I started from Kirtland, and went
to New Portage, and remained till all the com-
pany joined us, when we were organized.
—We took up our line of march,
pitching our tents by the way, and traveled to Missouri.
After we had pitched our tents in Clay coun-
ty (our numbers being 205) and many of the
brethren had taken sick, and some had died,
Joseph requested the camp to disperse, except
enough to take care of the sick; all who had
teams were required to leave the ground and
go among the brethren. I went to br. Ly-
man Wight's, in company with Heman Hyde
and Milton Holmes. Shortly, Joseph called
the brethren together at Lyman Wight's, and
told them if they would humble themselves be-
fore the Lord, and covenant to keep His com-
mandments and obey His counsel, the plague
should be stayed from that hour, and there
should not be another case of cholera in the
camp. The brethren covenanted to do do this
and the plague was stayed and there was not
another case in camp.
Prest. Joseph Smith returned to Kirtland
with many of the brethren, I remained with
Lyman Wight, laboring with my hands till the
following winter.
I had a great desire to preach the gospel,
which I did not name to my brethren, but one
Sunday evening I retired into the woods alone,
and called upon the Lord in earnest prayer to
open my way to go and preach the gospel to
the inhabitants of the earth; the spirit of the
Lord bore witness that my prayer was heard,
and should be answered. I arose from my
knees happy, and walked some forty rods and
met Elias Higbee, a High Priest, with whom
I had staid a number of months. As I ap-
proached him, he said "Br. Wilford, the Spirit
of the Lord tells me that you should be or-
dained and go on a mission." I replied, "I
am ready."
At a meeting of the High Council at Lyman
Wight's, Clay county, Missouri, , I was
ordained a Priest by Elder Simeon Carter; Stephen Winchester and Heman T. Hyde were
also ordained Priests.
[Column 4]
could find any body who had faith enough to
go with me, for it would be a dangerous coun-
try to travel in, in consequence of the Missou-
ri persecution, to take him. I told him I was
as ready to go South as any where; and asked
if I should go through Jackson county, as it
lay in our route. He replied, it would be at
the risk of life, and he had not faith enough
to undertake it; if I had, I might try it. I also
asked him, if I went through Jackson county,
if I should start without purse or scrip accord-
ing to the law of God. He answered, that he
had not got faith enough to start on a mission
through Jackson county without money, and
if I did it, I must do it on my own faith. I
felt strenuous to keep the commandments, so
I started without money. I called upon Elder
Harry Brown, and asked him to accompany
me; he consented, and Bishop Partridge ap-
pointed him to go with me.
—I received an honorable dis-
charge from Lyman Wight, certifying that I
had faithfully performed my duties in Zion's
camp.
I took my valise in hand, weighing 15lbs,
mostly books of Mormon, and started in com-
pany with Elder Harry Brown, crossed the
river into Jackson county, and felt thankful.
We bowed our knees, and prayed that God
might protect us from the mob while going
through the country, and that His judgments
might rest upon the wicked who had shed the
blood of the Saints in that land, that the land
might be cleansed from sin. I had a petition
to the Governor of Missouri, for redress of
wrongs perpetrated upon us in Jackson county,
for the purpose of obtaining signatures. We
bent our way south, through Jackson county,
without any molestation; yet, in one instance,
we were preserved from a mob of about sixty,
assembled at a grog shop which we had to
pass.
—We called at the Harmony mis-
sion and had an interview with the President,
a Presbyterian minister. Although it was
near sundown he would neither give us any-
thing to eat, nor lodge us, because we were
Mormons. It was fifteen miles to the nearest
house, which was Jerrew's Indian trading
house. We asked the minister to direct us
there. He gave us directions, but the Spirit
said to me he was deceiving us. I asked him
three times, and he declared he was telling us
the truth. We followed his directions and we
came to the Osage river swamp, where we
were lost in darkness of the night. We
followed the river, but as it is very crooked,
we made but little progress. After traveling
through mud and water for one hour, we con-
cluded to go out on the open prairie and lie
down in the grass until morning, but when we
got out into the prairie we heard the Osage In-
dians' drum and shout at the trading house
as they were having a pow-wow. As we ap-
proached, we were met by a dozen large savage
looking dogs; they smelt us in a friendly man-
ner, but did not attempt to bite nor bark. We
arrived about midnight, covered with mud,
hungry and weary, and were kindly received
and entertained for the remainder of the night
by Mr. Jerrew, who had an Osage squaw for
a wife; she prepared us a good supper, but
marvelled that we did not drink coffee. She
proffered us their best bed, which was highly
ornamented, but we declined her kind offer, as
we were wet and muddy; she made us a good
bed of mackinaw blankets before a large fire,
and we slept comfortably. May the Lord re-
ward both Mr. Jerrew and wife, and the Pres-
byterian minister according to their deserts.
——Mr. Jerrew gave us a good breakfast,
put us across the Osage river in a canoe, and
we started upon our long day's walk, it being
sixty miles to the nearest house; we had not
anything with us to eat. Most of our travels
through the day was through prairie; before
dark we entered timbered land; as we ap-
proached the timber a large black bear met
us; we had no weapons. When the bear got
within about six rods of us, he rose upon hi[s]
hind feet and examined us a short time, an[d]
went off. We were soon enveloped in su[ch] [page folded]
IN tracing the history of my fathers, I find
it difficult to obtain a satisfactory account of
the Woodruff family for more than three generations.
My great grandfather, Josiah Woodruff,
lived nearly one hundred years, and possessed
an iron constitution and performed a great
amount of manual labor nearly up to the time
of his death. His wife's name was Sarah; she
bore to him nine children as follows:—Josiah,
Appleton, Eldad, Elisha, Joseph, Rhoda,
Phebe, and two names not given.
My grandfather, Eldad Woodruff, was the
third son of Josiah. He was born in Farmington, Hartford Co., Connecticut, in 1751; he
also possessed a strong constitution; it was
said that he performed the most labor for
several years of any man in Hartford Co., and
from over exertion in hewing timber he was
attacked with rheumatism in his right hip,
which caused severe lameness for several
years before his death. He married Dinah
Woodford, by whom he had seven children,
viz.:—Eldad, Elizabeth, Samuel, Aphek, Titus,
Hellen, and Ozem.
My grandfather died in Farmington, with
the spotted fever in 1806, aged 55 years. My
grandmother, Dinah, died in 1824, in the same
place, with a cancer in the left breast: her
sufferings were very great.
My father, Aphek Woodruff, was born in
Farmington, ; he married Beulah
Thompson, who was born in 1782, .
She bore three sons, namely:—Azmon, born
; Ozen Thompson, born ; myself born .
My mother died with the spotted fever, , aged 26 years, leaving me fifteen
months old. My father's second wife, Azubah Hart, was born ; they were
married ; they had six children,
viz.: Philo, born , and died by
poison administered by a physician ; Asahel Hart, born , and
died in Terrahaute, ; Franklin,
born , and died ; Newton,
born , drowned Sept., 1820; Julius, born , and died in infancy;
Eunice, born . I married her to
Dwight Webster in Farmington, Conn., .
My father was a strong constitutioned man,
and has done a great amount of labor. At
eighteen years of age, he commenced attending
a flouring and saw mill, and continued about
Column 2
50 years; most of this time he labored eighteen hours a day.
He never made any profession of religion,
until I baptized him with all his household
into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints on the . He was
a man of great charity, honesty, integrity and
truth, and made himself poor by giving to the
poor, and accommodating his fellow men by
loaning money and becoming surety for his
neighbors, and always saying yes, to every
man who asked a favor at his hand.
I was born in the north part of the town of
Farmington, now called Avon, Hartford Co.,
Conn., . I assisted my father
in attending the Farmington Mills, until I was
twenty years of age.
In April, 1827, I took the flouring mill of my
aunt, Hellen Wheeler, which I attended three
years. In May, 1830, I took charge of the
flouring mill of Mr. Collins, the ax manufacturer, in South Canton, Conn. At the end of
one year it was demolished to make way for
other machinery. In March, 1831, I took
charge of the flouring mill owned by Mr. Richard B. Cowles of New Hartford, Conn. In
the spring of 1832, in company with my oldest
brother, Azmon, I went to Richland, Oswego
Co., New York, and purchased a farm and
saw mill, and settled in business.
At an early age my mind was exercised upon
religious subjects, although I never made a
profession until 1830. I did not then join any
church, for the reason that I could not find any
denomination whose doctrines, faith or practice, agreed with the gospel of Jesus Christ,
or the ordinances and gifts which the apostles
taught. Although the ministers of the day
taught that the faith, gifts, graces, miracles
and ordinances, which the ancient saints enjoyed, were done away and no longer needed,
I did not believe it to be true, only as they
were done away through the unbelief of the
children of men. I believed the same gifts,
graces, miracles and power would be manifest
in one age of the world as in another, when
God had a church upon the earth, and that
the church of God would be re-established
upon the earth, and that I should live to
see it. These principles were rivetted
upon my mind from the perusal of the Old
and New Testament, with fervent prayer
that the Lord would show me what was right
and wrong, and lead me in the path of salvation, without any regard to the opinions of
man, and the whisperings of the Spirit of the
Lord for the space of three years, taught me
that he was about to set up his church and
kingdom upon the earth in the last days. I
was taught these things from my youth by
Robert Mason, an aged man, who lived in
Simsbury, Conn., who was frequently called
the old prophet Mason: he taught me many
things which are now coming to pass. He did
not believe that any man had authority to administer in the ordinances of the gospel, but
believed it was our privilege through faith,
prayer and fasting, to heal the sick, and cast
out devils by the laying on of hands, which
was the case under his administration, as
many could testify.
In 1832, I was inspired to go to Rhode Island; my brother, Asahel, was also directed
by the Spirit of God to go to the same place.
When we met, we both told our impressions,
and it caused us to marvel and wonder, what
the Lord wanted of us in Rhode Island; but as
we had made preparations to move to the
west, we let outward circumstances control us,
and Jonahlike, instead of going to Rhode Island, we went to Richland, Oswego Co., New
York, and there remained until ,
when I heard Elders Zerah Pulsipher and
Elijah Cheeny preach. My brother Azmon
and I believed their testimony, entertained the
elders and offered ourselves for baptism the
first sermon we heard. We read the Book of
Mormon, and I received a testimony that it
was true.
We soon learned what the Lord wanted of
us in Rhode Island, for at the time we were
warned to go there, two of the elders were
Column 3
preaching there, and had we gone, we should
have embraced the work at that time.
—I was baptized by Elder Zerah
Pulsipher; he confirmed me the same evening.
—I was ordained a teacher, and
my brother Azmon, an elder, and a small
branch organized of 12 members by Elder Pulsipher.
In February following, in company with
Elder Holton, I walked some 60 miles to the
town of Fabius, to attend an evening meeting
of the Saints in that place, where Elder Pulsipher was presiding; I saw the book of commandments or revelations given through Joseph
Smith, Jr., and I believed them with all my heart
and rejoiced therein; and after spending several days, and holding several meetings, we
returned home rejoicing.
During the winter, we were visited by several of the elders. , Elder Parley P.
Pratt called upon us and instructed the branch
till midnight: we had a precious time. I accompanied brother Pratt to Jefferson Co., and
told him my circumstances; he said it was my
duty to prepare myself to go to Kirtland, and
join the camp of Zion. I immediately settled
my business.
—With my horses and wagon
I took brs. Harry Brown and Warren Ingles,
and started for Zion. I met with Orson Pratt,
John Murdoch and other Elders on the way,
and arrived in Kirtland on the .
The Prophet Joseph invited me to make his
house my home; I accepted his offer, and staid
with him about one week. I became acquainted with many of the High Priests, Elders and
Saints. I spent one Sabbath in Kirtland and
heard many of the Elders speak, and I felt to
rejoice before God for the light and knowledge
which was manifested to me during that day.
—I started from Kirtland, and went
to New Portage, and remained till all the company joined us, when we were organized.
—We took up our line of march,
pitching our tents by the way, and traveled to
Missouri.
After we had pitched our tents in Clay county (our numbers being 205) and many of the
brethren had taken sick, and some had died,
Joseph requested the camp to disperse, except
enough to take care of the sick; all who had
teams were required to leave the ground and
go among the brethren. I went to br. Lyman Wight's, in company with Heman Hyde
and Milton Holmes. Shortly, Joseph called
the brethren together at Lyman Wight's, and
told them if they would humble themselves before the Lord, and covenant to keep His commandments and obey His counsel, the plague
should be stayed from that hour, and there
should not be another case of cholera in the
camp. The brethren covenanted to do do this
and the plague was stayed and there was not
another case in camp.
Prest. Joseph Smith returned to Kirtland
with many of the brethren, I remained with
Lyman Wight, laboring with my hands till the
following winter.
I had a great desire to preach the gospel,
which I did not name to my brethren, but one
Sunday evening I retired into the woods alone,
and called upon the Lord in earnest prayer to
open my way to go and preach the gospel to
the inhabitants of the earth; the spirit of the
Lord bore witness that my prayer was heard,
and should be answered. I arose from my
knees happy, and walked some forty rods and
met Elias Higbee, a High Priest, with whom
I had staid a number of months. As I approached him, he said "Br. Wilford, the Spirit
of the Lord tells me that you should be ordained and go on a mission." I replied, "I
am ready."
At a meeting of the High Council at Lyman
Wight's, Clay county, Missouri, , I was
ordained a Priest by Elder Simeon Carter;
Stephen Winchester and Heman T. Hyde were
also ordained Priests.
Column 4
could find any body who had faith enough to
go with me, for it would be a dangerous country to travel in, in consequence of the Missouri persecution, to take him. I told him I was
as ready to go South as any where; and asked
if I should go through Jackson county, as it
lay in our route. He replied, it would be at
the risk of life, and he had not faith enough
to undertake it; if I had, I might try it. I also
asked him, if I went through Jackson county,
if I should start without purse or scrip according to the law of God. He answered, that he
had not got faith enough to start on a mission
through Jackson county without money, and
if I did it, I must do it on my own faith. I
felt strenuous to keep the commandments, so
I started without money. I called upon Elder
Harry Brown, and asked him to accompany
me; he consented, and Bishop Partridge appointed him to go with me.
—I received an honorable discharge from Lyman Wight, certifying that I
had faithfully performed my duties in Zion's
camp.
I took my valise in hand, weighing 15lbs,
mostly books of Mormon, and started in company with Elder Harry Brown, crossed the
river into Jackson county, and felt thankful.
We bowed our knees, and prayed that God
might protect us from the mob while going
through the country, and that His judgments
might rest upon the wicked who had shed the
blood of the Saints in that land, that the land
might be cleansed from sin. I had a petition
to the Governor of Missouri, for redress of
wrongs perpetrated upon us in Jackson county,
for the purpose of obtaining signatures. We
bent our way south, through Jackson county,
without any molestation; yet, in one instance,
we were preserved from a mob of about sixty,
assembled at a grog shop which we had to
pass.
—We called at the Harmony mission and had an interview with the President,
a Presbyterian minister. Although it was
near sundown he would neither give us anything to eat, nor lodge us, because we were
Mormons. It was fifteen miles to the nearest
house, which was Jerrew's Indian trading
house. We asked the minister to direct us
there. He gave us directions, but the Spirit
said to me he was deceiving us. I asked him
three times, and he declared he was telling us
the truth. We followed his directions and we
came to the Osage river swamp, where we
were lost in darkness of the night. We
followed the river, but as it is very crooked,
we made but little progress. After traveling
through mud and water for one hour, we concluded to go out on the open prairie and lie
down in the grass until morning, but when we
got out into the prairie we heard the Osage Indians' drum and shout at the trading house
as they were having a pow-wow. As we approached, we were met by a dozen large savage
looking dogs; they smelt us in a friendly manner, but did not attempt to bite nor bark. We
arrived about midnight, covered with mud,
hungry and weary, and were kindly received
and entertained for the remainder of the night
by Mr. Jerrew, who had an Osage squaw for
a wife; she prepared us a good supper, but
marvelled that we did not drink coffee. She
proffered us their best bed, which was highly
ornamented, but we declined her kind offer, as
we were wet and muddy; she made us a good
bed of mackinaw blankets before a large fire,
and we slept comfortably. May the Lord reward both Mr. Jerrew and wife, and the Presbyterian minister according to their deserts.
——Mr. Jerrew gave us a good breakfast,
put us across the Osage river in a canoe, and
we started upon our long day's walk, it being
sixty miles to the nearest house; we had not
anything with us to eat. Most of our travels
through the day was through prairie; before
dark we entered timbered land; as we approached the timber a large black bear met
us; we had no weapons. When the bear got
within about six rods of us, he rose upon his
hind feet and examined us a short time, and
went off. We were soon enveloped in such page folded
