52 Ancestors: #9, Uriah Sawyer Woodward

Uriah Sawyer Woodward, my great great grandfather, was born circa 1846-47¹ in Danville, Caledonia County, Vermont,² the seventh of eight children of Royal Woodward³ and Mary Hawley Sawyer. He first appears as 4-year-old "Uri" in the 1850 census,⁴ and again at 13 in 1860 (not shown).⁵

1850 U.S. Census, Danville, Caledonia, Vermont, Royal Woodward household

 He appears to have lied about his age, claiming to be 18 – he would actually have been only about 16, or at most 17 – when he enlisted as a private in the Vermont Third Battery Light Artillery on 28 Oct 1863. He mustered in on 1 Jan 1864, and mustered out on 15 Jun 1865.⁶ Eventually, on 1 May 1886, his widow would file for a pension based on his Civil War service.⁷

Excerpt from the Roster of Volunteers, Report of the Adjutant & Inspector General of the State of Vermont, 1863-1866

Pension index card for Uriah S. Woodward

Uriah was a farmer, first in Holland, Orleans County, Vermont,⁸ and later in Dummer, Coös County, New Hampshire.⁹ He married Mary A. (Washburn) Yates in Morgan, Orleans, Vermont, on 12 Apr 1867.¹⁰ (Although the date on the card appears to be 1869, the bride index card clearly says 1867 – and given the birth dates of the two oldest children, below, we will hope that 1867 is correct.)

Groom index card for marriage of Uriah S. Woodward and Mary Yates, 1867

They had six children:

1. Edward S. Woodward, b. ca 1868
2. Flora A. Woodward, b. 13 Apr 1869
3. Eva May "Evie" Woodward, b. 27 Jan 1871
4. George W. Woodward, b. 21 Apr 1873
5. Charles W. Woodward, b. 2 Nov 1874
6. Fred Uriah Woodward, b. 9 Oct 1876

1870 U.S. Census, Holland, Orleans, Vermont, Uriah Woodard household

1880 U.S. Census, Dummer, Coös, New Hampshire, Uriah Woodward household

Application for disinterment
of Uriah S. Woodward, 1908

Although still residing in Dummer in 1880, Uriah died in Holland, Vermont, on 7 Mar 1881. Nevertheless, he was buried in New Hampshire – twice. He was originally interred in the Willis Cemetery in Dummer, but in 1908, his youngest son, Fred, had his father exhumed¹¹ and reburied in a Woodward-Yates family plot in Hillcrest Cemetery in Milan.¹²

The cause of death on the disinterment record is hard to make out (due to both poor handwriting and, apparently, worse spelling), but appears to be "Earsiplas on the [Bone? Face?]" – at a guess, this might be erysipelas.

My descent from Uriah S. Woodward:

• Uriah Sawyer Woodward + Mary Washburn
• Eva May Woodward + Peter Louis Rabideau
• Glenna Marie Rabideau + William George Murphy (my maternal grandparents)

  

Uriah S. Woodward grave marker

  

Woodward side of Woodward-Yates monument,
Hillside Cemetery, Milan, New Hampshire

(Note: This post is in response to Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" challenge at No Story Too Small.)

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SOURCES

1. This is based on his given age in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses, and on his marriage record; the 1859 census places his birth year at 1846, and the other three sources at 1847. I find it hard to credit the implied birth in 1842 (from 1880 census) or 1843 (from his disinterment record and grave marker), when his age was given so consistently in the early censuses. See footnotes below for details of these sources.  
2. “Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-1954,” index and digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 1 Apr 2012), groom index card for Uriah S Woodward-Mary Yates marriage, 1867; citing Secretary of State, Vermont vital records, State Capitol Building, Montpelier, Vermont.
3. Ibid.
4. 1850 U.S. Census, Caledonia County, Vermont, Walden, p. 579 (penned), p. 289 (stamped), dwelling 457, family 453, Royal Woodward household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 2 May 2012).
5. 1860 U.S. Census, Caledonia County, Vermont, Walden, p. 65, dwelling 1, family 1, Royal Woodward household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 2 May 2012).
6. Report of the Adjutant & Inspector General of the State of Vermont, From Oct. 1, 1864, to Oct. 1, 1865 (Montpelier, Vt.: Walton's Steam Printing Establishment, 1865), Appendix D, Roster of Vermont Volunteers, p. 393; "Report of the Adjutant & Inspector General of the State of Vermont, 1863-1866," database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Mar 2014), image 841.
7. “Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934,” database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 28 Feb 2014), Uriah S. Woodward, filed 1 May 1886; citing NARA publication T288.
8. 1870 U.S. Census, Orleans County, Vermont, Holland, p. 8, dwelling 57, family 62, Uriah "Woodard" household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 2 May 2012).
9. 1880 U.S. Census, Coos County, New Hampshire, Dummer, ED 38, p. 4 (penned) D (printed), dwelling 32, family 33, Uriah Woodward household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 2 May 2012).
10. “Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-1954”, groom index card for Uriah S Woodward-Mary Yates marriage, 1867.
11. “New Hampshire, Death and Disinterment Records, 1754-1947,” database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : accessed 28 Feb 2014), application for disinterment of Uriah S. Woodward, 1908 (death 1881).
12. Hillcrest Cemetery, Milan, Coos County, New Hampshire, Uriah S. Woodward marker and Woodward-Yates monument, read and photographed by the author, 11 Oct 2013.