George Edward Woodman

WOODMAN, THOMPSON, CLARK, HEIZER, GREENE, COLBURN, BENNETT, MILLS, MCHONE

Posted By: Deborah Gilbert (email)
Date: 9/5/2016 at 11:40:18

Book: Maxwell 1883-1983

George Edward Woodman was born in Vermont October 12, 1828. He married Laura Alvira Thompson December 16, 1854 in Illinois. Their five children were Clarence Alonzo, Emily Adele, Frank George, Charles Wilbur and Hannah Estelle. During the plague the two oldest children died in January and February 1861.

George was a wagon train master during the Gold Rush, always riding a white horse, taking a herd of cattle through to California and bringing a herd of hores back on his return trip. On his seventh and last trip, at the age of 33, he took his 27 year-old wife and his infant son Frank, 26 covered wagons and a herd of cattle. They left Illinois in early Spring to reach Stockton, California September 13, 1861. Laura had been a school teacher and kept a daily diary, which is now in the museum in Garden Grove, California, as they crossed the plains, telling of the Indians, scenery, breakdowns, sickness, deaths, traveling the desert by night and finally reaching Stockton.

On their return, a farm south of Maxwell was purchased with the assistance of a lawyer under President Abraham Lincoln. Here George became a leading feeder of cattle and hogs. Many felt he knew his business and came to him for advice. He also doctored animals, so the druggist thought nothing of his getting a large dosage of drugs, learning too late that Dr. Mudd had prescribed it for George. The druggist told him it was enough to kill a horse and to go home and prepare to die, which he did on November 16, 1886. After his death, Laura moved to Maxwell with her daughter Estelle. Due to Estelle's poor health they moved to Garden Grove, California in 1888 and bough an orange grove. Laura died here on June 21, 1905.

Their son, Frank George Woodman, born May 27, 1860 in Cane County, Illinois, accompanied his parents on that wagon train to California, taking his first steps on the open prairie in Nebraska Territory. As a small boy he lived on the farm south of Maxwell and grew to manhood there. He married Charlotte 'Lottie' Emily Clark in Des Moines, Iowa November 10, 1884. Their two children were Bessie Mae and Orville J. They lived on a farm near Corwith, Kossuth County, Iowa. Frank would go back to Maxwell and sometimes pick up six or seven head of cattle which he would herd on the prairie during the summer months. If he was needed by the neighbors to work, Lottie rode her good saddle horse and for many days would herd the cattle and several times rode in cattle stampedes. Upon the death of his father in 1886, Frank returned to the Maxwell farm where he lived until 1910. When his health failed, he built a home on Maxwell's Main Street. He helped build the Peoria Methodist Church and the Maxwell Methodist Church. Frank suffered several strokes before his death February 20, 1941. Lottie was active in the Methodist Church, playing the organ, singing alto, belonging to W.S.C.S and the Literary and Social Club. She married Charles Heizer in 1947 at Perry , Iowa. She died at home in 1952.

Lottie's mother, Lucy Jane Greene, was a descendant of the General Nathaniel Greene clan which founded the town of Medina, New York. Today monuments still stand in tribute to those founders. She was born in Millville, New York in 1839 and married Stephen Habult Clark in 1856. Their four children were Jennie, Elizabeth, Hattie May, Charlotte 'Lottie' Emily and Charles Henry. In 1867 this family moved to the barren prairie near Fremont, Nebraska and farmed until the grasshopper plague forced them to move to the Jim Colburn farm near Ames, Iowa in 1872. After Lucy's husband's death in 1877, Lucy and her remaining famiy moved to Zenorville, Iowa in 1879. Lucy married Nathaniel Bennett in 1889 and moved to Maxwell. Lucy lived alone after his death in 1914, until the last two years of her life when she lived at the home of her daughter Charlotte 'Lottie' Woodman. She died May 16, 1918, and is buried in the Peoria Cemetery.

Bessie Mae Woodman was born February 19, 1886 on a farm near Corwith, Iowa. Upon the death of her grandfather, she and her parents moved to the Maxwell farm. When she was 13 years-old, she told her father how she would like to play the piano, promised it would not be a passing fancy and that she would practice. Another family in Maxwell also wished to buy a piano, so the two pianos were brought by team and wagon from Des Moines. Bessie loved and played her Ivers and Ponds piano for 75 years. Bessie and Alva Nueton Mills were married by the groom's brother, John Mills, on August 28, 1907 at the Maxwell farm. They made their home on a farm near Greenville, Iowa and had one daughter Marjorie Estelle. Alva farmed in this community until 1937. After a trip to California, they resided in Spencer, Iowa until her mother's death in 1952. Once again they returned to Maxwell. Alva was in poor health and died October 12, 1953. Bessie lived in Maxwell until September 1965, when due to poor health she sold the Woodman home to be with her daughter in Omaha, Nebraska. She died September 26, 1974.

Orville J. Woodman was born on the Woodman farm home July 2, 1888 where he lived most of his life. He married Charlotte 'Lottie' McHone at the home of her parents John and Nettie McHone. They had five children, an infant son, Ruth, Virgil C., Lucille and Esther Jeanette. In 1934 Orvile dedicated his life to Christ, was ordained with the Evangelistic Messenger Association and he and his daughter Esther used their musical talents in this ministry. Due to failing health, the Woodmans moved to Morongo Valley, California in 1962 to be near their only living child, Lucille. Orville died May 22, 1965 and Lottie died on August 6, 1973. They are both buried in Peoria Cemetery.

Charles Wilbur Woodman was born May 10, 1867 in Cane County, Illinois and grew up on the farm near Maxwell. He spent most of his life in this area. Before Maxwell was ever a town, Charles was one of the early settlers who helped break the prairie sod, helped drive cattle 15 miles to Nevada, Iowa where they were shipped to market, spent many happy hours playing his concertina accordion for square dances or anyone who would listen and owned the first automobile in the town of Maxwell. He spent his lifetime and his wealth making friends happy. His last years were spent at the home of his sister, Estelle, where he died October 27, 1953 in Garden Grove, California.