May 6, 1912, poem commemorates Andrew Jackson Brodhead’s 90th birthday

Andrew Jackson Brodhead

This coming Friday, May 6, is the anniversary of Andrew Jackson Brodhead‘s birth in 1822. Below is a copy of a poem his daughter Emily wrote for him to mark his 90th birthday, in 1912. By then his wife Ophelia (d. 1905) and son Calvin (d. 1907) had passed away, and she makes reference to them in her verse.

At the time, Andrew was living with his daughter Mrs. Franklin C. Burk (Charlotte) in Flemington, NJ, the town he and Ophelia had called home since 1884. Many people, including his nine remaining children, paid their respects to him that special day, whether in person or by telegram, letter, or postcard. He was very well known in the community and much admired for his positive outlook on life and cheerful demeanor.

Hillside, New Jersey, 1922: Woodruff golden wedding anniversary

From our family archives: News clipping from the Elizabeth Daily Journal, Monday 19 June 1922

Here’s a clipping about my great-grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary celebration (William Earl Woodruff & Wealthy Ann Angus), which took place on Saturday, 17 June 1922, at their home in Hillside, Union Co., NJ. The clipping, saved by my grandmother, is from the June 19, 1922, issue of the Elizabeth Daily Journal.

A photo from our family archives: Wealthy Ann Angus & William Earl Woodruff, 17 June 1922

The accompanying photograph, one of our family history treasures, brings to life the article’s description of my great-grandmother’s outfit and all the various flowers on display. Lots of roses, of course!

Conant Street farmhouse

Such articles usually offer new little clues and facts, and this one does not disappoint. For example, the Who’s Who of who was present, the name of the minister who married them, and the celebratory trip to Niagara Falls were news to me.  According to the article, they left for the Falls the next day, Sunday, 18 June. Since their actual anniversary was June 20, Tuesday, they marked the date there.

I visited Niagara Falls for the first time about 10 years ago, but had no idea that this connection with the Falls existed in my family tree. I suppose if I’d known about it at the time, it would have impacted my experience in some small way. I definitely would have paid attention to historical images from that period.

‘Dorothy Perkins’ rose, introduced in 1901 (Credit: Wikipedia)

No. 2 – Ophelia in “The Conard Star Roses,” 1924 (Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons – uploaded to Flickr by Biodiversity Heritage Library)

William and Wealthy made the trip at ages 73 and 71, respectively. It must have been a tremendously exciting and memorable moment for them, one that they could look back on happily during their remaining five years together.

Coreopsis (Credit: Wikipedia)

Niagara Falls stamp, 1922 (Credit: Wikipedia – By U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing; Designed by Clair Aubrey Houston – U.S. Post Office Smithsonian National Postal Museum; Photo image obtained/rendered by Gwillhickers, Public Domain)

Wealthy passed away on 27 May 1927. My dad, who was six at the time, distinctly remembered the emotional tumult the family experienced upon losing Wealthy and the sadness that accompanied William’s passing the following year (18 October 1928). My dad’s parents, who lived in neighboring Elizabeth, took in William and Wealthy’s dog, but the dog kept running away back to the house in Hillside, and eventually got hit my a car. My dad was heartbroken; as he described it, the last link with his Woodruff grandparents was gone.

(Sorry to end the post on such a down note, but I think all these pieces help convey how beloved William and Wealthy were to their children and grandchildren.)

Old Woodruff Family Homestead: Witness to American History

View Near Elizabethtown, N. J., oil painting by Régis François Gignoux, Honolulu Museum of Art- 1847 (Wikipedia – public domain)

The city of Elizabeth, New Jersey’s birthplace and a crossroads of the American Revolution, celebrates its 350th anniversary this year. The GoElizabethNJ website is dedicated to the city’s 2014 celebrations which appear to culminate in an historical reenactment in October. They hope to attract to their celebrations many of those whose roots hail back to that era of New Jersey’s history. There are millions of us out here, and you may be one of them!

As I read about the celebration plans, I was reminded of an article we have about the home of Timothy Woodruff (1715-1798; DAR record #A128744) whose ancestors, hailing from Fordwich, Kent Co., England, were among the city’s founders. For some reason, the house is absent from the GoElizabethNJ‘s map of county historic sites, although they do include the Woodruff House and Eaton Store Museum, which was built on land owned by John Woodruff (1637-1691), a great-grandfather of Timothy. (For a map of Elizabethtown at the time of the Revolutionary War, click here.)

The Woodruff House at 866 Salem Avenue – present day

The Timothy Woodruff house article was published in the Elizabeth Daily Journal on 21 November 1964. In the event you are a Woodruff descendant, I am including it here. Published almost 50 years ago during Elizabeth’s 300th anniversary year, the article is probably hard to dig up online. So I will save you a trip to the Elizabeth library :-), where it is no doubt available in their archives. At the time the article was written, the house had been out of the Woodruff family for four years. Its last owner, my 2nd great grandfather Francis Woodruff’s niece Carrie Woodruff (89 yrs old in 1964, daughter of Ogden Woodruff and Phebe Bonnell, and a sister of Rev. Frank Stiles Woodruff) had moved out and gone to to live in a rest home in nearby Cranford.

For the benefit of my immediate family members who may read this, our descent from Timothy is as follows:

1-Timothy Woodruff b. 1715, d. 26 Apr 1798, Elizabethtown, NJ, bur. First Presbyterian Church yard of Elizabeth, NJ +Elizabeth Parsons b. 1712, East Hampton, Long Island, NY, d. 16 Sep 1776, Elizabethtown, NJ, bur. First Presbyterian Church yard of Elizabeth, NJ

2-Enos Woodruff b. 1749, Elizabethtown, NJ, d. 5 Dec 1821, Elizabethtown, NJ, bur. Stone 0599 (missing), First Presbyterian Church yard of Elizabeth, NJ +Charity Ogden b. 19 Aug 1753, d. 5 Sep 1828, Elizabethtown, NJ, bur. Stone 0598 (missing), First Presbyterian Church yard of Elizabeth, NJ

3-John Woodruff b. 27 Feb 1795, Elizabethtown, NJ, d. 6 Aug 1857 +Mary Ogden Earl b. 3 Jan 1794, Connecticut Farm, NJ, d. 24 Jul 1878

Francis Woodruff

Mary Jane Trowbridge Woodruff

4-Francis Woodruff b. 30 Oct 1820, Elizabethtown, NJ, d. 8 Aug 1883, Conant Street, Elizabeth, Union Co., NJ, bur. 10 Aug 1883, Evergreen Cemetery, Hillside, NJ +Mary Jane Trowbridge b. 20 Sep 1821, New Providence, Essex Co., NJ, d. 27 Feb 1883, Lyons Farms, Elizabeth, Union Co., NJ, bur. 1 Mar 1883, Evergreen Cemetery, Hillside, Union Co., NJ

Wm Earl Woodruff & Wealthy Ann Angus

5-William Earl Woodruff b. 4 Oct 1848, Elizabeth, NJ, d. 18 Oct 1928, Elizabeth, NJ, bur. Evergreen Cemetery, Hillside, Union, NJ
+Wealthy Ann Angus b. 5 Aug 1850, d. 27 May 1927, bur. Evergreen Cemetery, Hillside, Union Co., NJ

It goes without saying that there is much to glean from an article like this. I hope you will find it of interest, and if you have anything to add or share, please do. (For some links to online material pertaining to the Woodruffs, visit my Links page and scroll down to the bottom.) Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

The Daily Journal, Elizabeth, NJ, 21 November 1964, p. 1.

The Daily Journal, Elizabeth, NJ, 21 November 1964, p. 1.

The Daily Journal, Elizabeth, NJ, 21 November 1964, p. 1.

The Daily Journal, Elizabeth, NJ, 21 November 1964, p. 1.

The Daily Journal, Elizabeth, NJ, 21 November 1964, p. 1.

Mary Martha Angus Knowles (1846-1922)

Lawrence D. Knowles

Newspaper clippings on weddings, anniversaries, engagements, and funerals can contain a goldmine of family information. Here’s one we’ve kept all these years about the 50th wedding anniversary of Mary Martha Angus (fourth child of James Winans Angus and Wealthy Ann Jaques) and Austin F. Knowles. The article is not dated but it must have been from 4 September 1917, which would have been 50 years from their wedding day.

Marie Gertrude Knowles married Edward Chamberlain

I’ve already mentioned some of Mary Martha’s siblings in this blog: James Winans Angus Jr., Wealthy Ann Angus (my great grandmother), Charles Dujah Angus, Job Winans Angus, Lavinia P. Angus, and Walter P. Angus. (There were 11 children in all). Both Martha (b. 1846) and her older brother Jacob (died in 1850 at age 6, buried in First Presbyterian Church of Elizabeth churchyard) were born in Pueblo, Mexico, while their father was working there, handing supplies for the troops taking part in the Mexican-American War. Their mom Wealthy was quite a pistol and had her share of adventures in that city. More on them both in an upcoming post.

A long news item outlining Mary Martha’s life and activities appeared in the Elizabeth Daily Journal on 17 January 1922, the day after passed away. Unfortunately, I don’t have that article, but if I get hold of it at some point I will post it here.

The Knowles had six children: William H. Knowles, James A. Knowles, Austin F. Knowles Jr., Watts T. R. Knowles (initial T. may be incorrect, another source says it’s ‘J.’),  Marie Gertrude Knowles (married Edward Chamberlain) and Lawrence D. Knowles.  Photos of Marie Gertrude and Lawrence as children are shown here. I’ll let you read the article; if you are an Angus/Knowles descendant, perhaps, you’ll find out something new! As always, corrections, additions, updates, etc. always welcome.

Knowles’ 50th Wedding Anniversary, probably clipped from the Elizabeth Daily Journal, September 1917