Guthrie County IA Archives Biographies.....Woody, James Franklin 1859 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 9, 2007, 6:19 pm

Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1896)

JAMES FRANKLIN WOODY, Clerk of the District Court, is one of the leading and
representative citizens of Guthrie county, Iowa, where his birth occurred on the
2d of August, 1859. His parents were John W. and Clarissa C. (Henderson) Woody.
The father was born in Indiana in 1828, and enlisted in the Second Indiana
Infantry for the Mexican war, serving for one year under the command of General
Taylor. After receiving his discharge he came to Iowa, in 1848, and on the 28th
day of August, 1854, married Miss Henderson, also a native of Indiana, born in
1837, who with her parents came to Iowa in 1853, locating on a farm in Jackson
township, Guthrie county. They were the fourteenth couple married in the county
of which they are honored pioneers, and they lived on a farm in Jackson township
until within a few years, When they sold out and removed to Guthrie Center,
where they now reside. On the breaking out of the Civil war, the father again
offered his services, enlisting as a member of Company I, Twenty-ninth Iowa
Infantry, with which he served from 1862 until the close of hostilities, being
with the western army. The family consists of three sons and one daughter, of
whom James F. is the eldest. Florida E. is the wife of J. R. Morris, a farmer of
Brule county, South Dakota. Ulysses G., a mechanic, resides at home with his
parents. Charles W. is married and resides at Salida, Colorado, being an
employee of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company. The parents are* members
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics the father is a Republican.
The family traces its genealogy back to Scotland, and the founders of the family
in this country first located in North Carolina. The maternal grandfather of our
subject, James Henderson, was a Protestant Irishman, born in Tennessee.

   In the common schools and the county high school of Guthrie county, James F.
Woody received his education, and on the homestead farm was reared to manhood.
He taught school for several terms, mostly in this county, though for two terms
he followed the same occupation in Dakota. He devoted eight years of his life to
the service of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, being bill clerk in
the freight office for three years, and the remainder of the time serving as
ticket and express clerk. In 1894 he became the Republican candidate for the
office of Clerk of the District Court, and on being elected took possession of
the office on the 1st of January, 1895. He is now acceptably serving in that
capacity, giving general satisfaction.

   On the 11th of November, 1880, were united, the destinies of Mr. Woody and
Miss Tacy P. Morris, a sister of J. R. Morris, who married our subject's sister.
The lady is a daughter of J. J. and Sarah (Reynolds) Morris, natives of Ohio and
Indiana, respectively, and they now make their home in Stuart, Iowa. Eight
children were born to them, six sons and two daughters. The father was one of
the honored pioneers of Guthrie county. Three children grace the union of our
subject and his estimable wife, namely: Ivan L., Bertha and Elsie, all now
attending school.

   In his social relations, Mr. Woody is prominently connected with the Masonic
order, being a member of Token Lodge, No. 304, F. & A. M.; Damascus Chapter, No.
97, R. A. M.; and Alhambra Commandery, No. 58, K. T., the last two of Stuart. He
also holds membership with the Knights of the Maccabees, being a charter member
and Commander of Garfield Tent, No. 58; and belongs to Bower Camp, No. 1485,
Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife are faithful members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, in the work of which they take an active part; while in
politics he is an earnest Republican, taking a deep interest in political
affairs, and being a leader in the councils of his party.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

A MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF IOWA

ILLUSTRATED

"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendants."'—MACAULAY.

"Biography is by nature the must universally profitable, universally pleasant,
of all things."—CARLYLE

"History is only biography on a large scale"—LAMARTINE.

CHICAGO: THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1896


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