Biography of Judge James Woodruff (ca 1789-1867) [GA>AL>MS] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with the USGenWeb policy of providing free information on the Internet, this data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other gain. Copying of the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged. ALGenWeb File Manager - Lygia Dawkins Cutts ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Contributed by Tribble Dorothy J Maj AFLMA APR 1999 Biography of Judge James Woodruff (ca 1789-1867) [GA>AL>MS] Caldwell Woodruff's Sketch of Col. Joseph Woodruff, Revolutionary Soldier, of Broro Neck, McIntosh County, Georgia, with list of his descendants, published in 1917, contains the following biography of James Woodruff (Sketch: 71-72) "JAMES WOODRUFF, the third son of Col. Joseph and Mary (Forrester) Woodruff, was born on the Woodruff Plantation, Broro Neck, McIntosh County, Georgia, about January 1789, and his next oldest brother, Joseph, was only a little less than a year his senior. He was graduated from the University of Georgia, at Athens, class of 1808, with a degree in A.B. He then read law, and afterwards located at Montecello, Jasper County, Georgia, where he practiced his profession. There he was married about the year 1812 to Agatha Medlock, daughter of George and Feribee (Smith) Medlock, of Hancock County, Georgia. The Medlock homestead was at what is now Jewel, Hancock County, Georgia, on the Ogeechee River, and it was there that Agatha Medlock was born about 1796. He taught school in Fayette County, Georgia for a short time, and about 1826 removed with his family to Shelby County, Alabama, where Agatha's mother, Feribee (Smith) Medlock, was then living. In the year 1834 James Woodruff was elected Judge of the Probate Court of Shelby County, Alabama. His son Joseph was married nearby in Bibb County, to Bodecia Ann Hill. In the year 1844 Judge Woodruff, as he was known in Alabama, joined his son Joseph in Itawamba County, Miss., where he, Joseph, had gone a few years previously. James Woodruff was Deputy Clerk of the Circuit Court of Itawamba County for a time, and it was here that his youngest daughter, Sarah Medlock, was married to Neil McDuffie, of Saltillo, Miss. At the same period Joseph Woodruff was Sheriff of Itawamba County for several terms. While on his way from Mississippi to visit his daughter, Mary Ann, at Montevallo, Alabama, he was injured in a railway accident at Marion Junction, Alabama, on the 9th day of February 1867. He was carried to the home of his daughter and died there on the 14th day of February 1867, in the 79th year of his age, (just past 78 years old). He was buried in Montevallo Cemetery. His wife Agatha Medlock survived him only a few months dying at the home of her son Joseph in Itawamba County, Miss. She was buried at Mantachie, Miss." SOURCE: Woodruff, Caldwell, Sketch of Col. Joseph Woodruff, Revolutionary Soldier, of Broro Neck, McIntosh County, Georgia, with list of his descendants, Hyattsville, MD, 1917. CS71.W887 1917, LCCN: 17020877. Copy located in Library of Congress, Washington DC.