JOEL N. WOODWARD

WOODWARD

Posted By: Jake Tornholm (email)
Date: 4/20/2020 at 14:33:34

JOEL N. WOODWARD, of section 7, Grant township, was born in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, November 7,1844, a son of John and Keziah (Henry) Woodward. Joel was but two years of age when his mother died, and eight years later he was left an orphan by the death of his father. He was reared by older brothers, and was eleven years of age when taken to Mercer county, Illinois, where he grew to manhood on a farm and received his education in the public schools. During the late war he responded to his country’s call, and at the age of seventeen years enlisted in the Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Company G, and was first under fire at Farmington, near Corinth. He was with Rosecrans at Stone River, where he was wounded, having been struck in the left side of the face, near the nose; the ball was taken out at the back of his neck. He was left on the field as dead, but was afterward taken to the field hospital, remaining sixteen days, and then by ambulance to Nashville, where he suffered from
erysipelas. He was honorably discharged on account of disability, after which he returned home to Illinois; but again, June 9, 1864, re-enlisted and was assigned to the same regiment. He was at Jonesboro, the capture of Atlanta, Georgia, the Atlanta campaign, Franklin, Springfield, Nashville, and was at the grand review at Washington, District of Columbia. He returned to Louisville, Kentucky, and thence to Springfield, Illinois, where he received his final discharge.

After the war Mr. Woodward returned to Mercer county, Illinois, and in 1870 came to Grant township, Adams county, where he was among the early settlers. He bought forty acres of wild land, paying $7.50 per acre, and here he has since made his home. He now owns 200 acres of land, where he has a good frame house, stables, yards, feed lots, groves and orchards. He was married in Mercer county, March 24, 1868, to Miss Sarah Ann Pratt, who was born in that county, a daughter of John and May (Furgeson) Pratt. They have nine children: May, Jehu, Allie, Alonzo, Lewis, Frank, Homer, Ray and Edna. Allie is the wife of Harry Mitchell, of Grant township. Mr. Woodward is a Republican politically; has served as Constable, and is the present Township Trustee. lie is a member of the Presbyterian Church, in which he is one of the trustees. The great loss of his life was in the death of his wife, who died October 31, 1888. She was an affectionate wife and mother, and her death was a great loss to the community in which she resided. She was a worthy and consistent member of the Presbyterian Church.