Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Woodruff, George H 
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Author: Past and Present Will County IL; 1907

GEORGE H. WOODRUFF. In the annals of Will county no name is entitled to more 
lasting remembrance than that of Mr. Woodruff, who was one of its pioneers and 
is well known as its historian. A fluent writer, he put in permanent form for 
the benefit of future generations, many incidents connected with the early 
history of the county and its brave pioneers. Among his works are "History of 
the Black Hawk War5"; "Patriotism of Will County," a record of the men from 
here who took part in the war with the south; "Will County on the Pacific 
Slopes," which gave sketches of the men who went to California during the gold 
excitement of 1849-51; and "Woodruffs History of Will County." The first home 
of the Woodruff family in America was in Connecticut, and later generations 
lived in New York. In the latter state Theor Woodruff was born and spent much 
of his life, engaging in business as a manufacturer of scythes and edged 
tools, but at an advanced age he came to this county, joining his son in 
Joliet and remaining here until his death. His son, the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Clinton, New York, August 16, 1814, and was one of three 
children, of whom the other son died in boyhood, and the daughter, Adele, wife 
of M. H. Demmond, died in New York. George H. Woodruff was educated in 
Hamilton College, at Clinton, from which he graduated at eighteen years. In 
the summer of 1834 he came to Joliet with his brother-in-law, Mr. Demmond, for 
whom he clerked in the general mercantile business. Prior to 1840 he 
established the Pioneer drug store on Bluff, between Exchange street and 
Western avenue, and afterward for many years had his place of business at the 
corner of Bluff and Exchange, continuing there until his death. He was the 
first circuit clerk and recorder of the county and also held the office of 
county judge at one time. He assisted in the organization of the First 
Presbyterian church and long held office as its treasurer. A stanch believer 
in republican principles, he voted with that party after its organization. 
After having been in poor health for three years he died November 1, 1890, 
fifty-six years after his arrival in the then frontier town of Joliet. The 
first wife of Mr. Woodruff, Hannah (Lucas) Woodruff, was born in New York and 
died in Joliet, leaving three children. The son, Henry Theor Woodruff, was 
graduated at Rush Medical College, Chicago, and died in Harvard, Illinois, in 
1900. During the Civil war he was surgeon of the One Hundredth Illinois 
Infantry and remained at the front until the close of the war, with the 
exception of the time when he was imprisoned in Libby. The daughters are Annie 
Mary, now a teacher in Mary Allen Seminary, Crockett, Texas, her home being in 
Rochester, New York; and Julia H., teacher of mathematics in the Joliet 
township high school. Mr. Woodruff's last marriage united him, in Joliet, in 
1857, with Mrs. Achsah (Wheeler) Perkins, who was born in Berkshire, 
Massachusetts, and is still living at the age of eighty-three years. Her 
father, Harry Wheeler, a native of Massachusetts, served in the war of 1812. 
Late in life he moved west to Illinois and established a lumber and nursery 
business in Aurora, from which city he came to Joliet, and died here at the 
age of ninety-two. His father, Benjamin Wheeler, was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war and a member of the Massachusetts legislature. The latter's 
wife bore the maiden name of Achsah Johnson. The mother of Mrs. Woodruff was 
Clarissa, daughter of Elisha and Alice (Freeman) Harman, the former of whom 
was a native of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and a life-long resident 
there. Mrs. Woodruff is one of three children, having two brothers: Henry, who 
died in Aurora; and Mark H., who served in a Connecticut regiment during the 
Civil war until he was killed in the storming of Port Hudson. When a girl Mrs. 
Woodruff was a student at Mount Holyoke Seminary, graduating in 1848. Soon 
afterward she became the wife of Dr. John P. Perkins, a graduate of the Albany 
Medical College. They came to Joliet in 1856, and the Doctor died in this city 
while still a young man. Afterward Mrs. Perkins was married to Mr. Woodruff, 
by whom she had two sons, namely: George F., who is associated in business 
with his brother; and Harry Wheeler, whose sketch follows this. We can not 
more appropriately close this memoir than with the presentation of "Israel's 
Prayer," by Mr. Woodruff, as it appears in "Bitter Sweet": 

Our fathers God! To Thee we come once more, 
With united voice and heart, to offer 
Thanks and prayer. Thanks for the past, whether 
Of good, or seeming ill. Thanks that we weet 
Once more beneath the old roof! Our Father! 
Forgive our sin, for sin is ours, we dare 
Not lay it at Thy door! Our Father, give 
Us humility! May we not presume 
To comprehend Thee or Thy way so full 
Of mystery! We only ask light enough 
To guide us to Thee! We ask strength that 
May overcome our weakness and resist 
Temptation, and strong grow in virtue. 
Give us faith! Faith in Thyself and in Thy 
Wisdom, power and love and holiness, 
And in Thy purposes of good to man. 
Father, in Thy Son, and in His sacrifice; 
Father in heaven and in joy eternal 
In store for all who Thy dear Son accept. 
Give us love! Love supreme and reverent 
To Thyself!—to each other tender and 
Patient, and to the world, outside Thy fold, 
Pitiful and helpful. 
And now once more 
We lie down to sleep, safe under Thy wing. 
May we wake rested and with thankful heart! 
And when we take our last deep sleep may we wake 
In heaven! We ask all in Christ's dear name. 
Amen! 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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