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Daniel Farris Woodhurst was born in Connecticut around 1841 to parents John (6) Woodhurst and his wife Ann Susan Russell. An uncorroborated IGI record alleges that he was born on December 9th 1841 in Hartford township, Hartford County in Connecticut.
Some official records indicate that he had a middle name beginning wih "F". This name is further rendered as Farris in two sources: the Family Tree Maker CD 'European Origins' Vol. 1 Tree #0349, and the World Family Tree CD Vol. 8, Tree #1215. These trees do not necessarily draw upon independent underlying sources and their credentials have not yet been ascertained. However, it is very plausible that Daniel did indeed inherit the maiden name of his paternal grandmother Mary Ferris/Farris.
The US 1840 Census finds him living with his parents in Connecticut in Windsor township, Hartford County.
The US 1850 Census finds him living with his parents in Oxford township, Butler County in Ohio. The record gives his age as "8" and his birthplace as Connecticut.
The US 1860 Census finds him at age "18" in Wayne township, Butler County, living in the household of a wealthy farmer whose real estate was valued at $12800. He was occupied as a labourer. However, he is also listed in the nearby household of his parents, recorded there as aged 17.
The Civil War Enlistments database records his enlistment on behalf of Ohio, giving the date as October 7th 1861 and his age as 19. His rank was private. The place where he enlisted is not recorded in this database. He is mentioned in the Civil War Muster Rolls as serving - like his brother Hazard (1) - in the 35th Ohio Cavalry, and as being ranked as a sergeant upon discharge.
Descendants report that Daniel enlisted at Hamilton in Ohio on September 7th in 'G' Company of the 35th Ohio Infantry but later transferred to 'C'; that he was wounded at Missionary Ridge (Chattanooga) in Tennessee on November 25th 1863, and that he was discharged from there on August 26th 1864. However, in his own Declaration for Pension Daniel cites August 26th 1861 for his enlistment at Hamilton, and cites September 23rd 1864 for his discharge at Chattanooga. These various discrepancies probably derive from the somewhat haphazard recording of events in the contemporary military files.
He married Laura Susan (nee) Margerum at Jacksonburg in Butler Co. in 1866; Reverend S. W. Carey officiated. The certified marriage record [Record of Marriages for Butler Co., Ohio: Volume 4, Page 81] gives the date of the marriage as February 1st but was filed on the earlier date of January 27th. The true marriage date may have been January 1st.
Descendants report that Laura Susan was born at Middle Town in Butler Co. on November 18th 1844.
The US 1870 Census finds him in Wayne township occupied as a farm labourer. With him were his wife Laura and their two children Ida and Lucina, both born in Ohio.
The US 1880 Census finds him living, with Laura and the first four children listed below, in Greenville township, Darke County. He was occupied as a farmer. The record misspells his surname as "Wordhust" and cites somewhat inaccurate ages for both him and Laura. It also records that her parents were both born in Pennsylvania. Living next door were his retired parents, their surname being similarly misspelled.
His Declaration for Pension - filed in 1911 from Richmond in Wayne County, Indiana - claims that he had moved from Ohio to Indiana in "1877". His appearance in the Ohio census in 1880 seems to contradict this. More probably, the year of the move was 1887 but was mistakenly entered as "1877" on the pension file. Contemporary official records prove that one of his children was born in Ohio in 1884 and that another was born in Indiana in 1888, implying that the move occurred between those dates.
The US 1900 Census finds him living with Laura [misentered as "Flora"] and two daughters Maud and Stella in Wayne township, Richmond City in Wayne Co., Indiana where he was occupied as a janitor.
The US 1910 Census finds him still living with Laura, but with no children, in Richmond where he was occupied as an overseer.
His Declaration for Pension - filed in 1911 from Richmond in Wayne County, Indiana - claims that he had moved from Ohio to Indiana in "1877". His appearance in the Ohio census in 1880 seems to contradict this. More probably, the year of the move was 1887 but was mistakenly entered as "1877" on the pension file. Contemporary official records prove that one of his children was born in Ohio in 1884 and that another was born in Indiana in 1888, implying that the move occurred between those dates.
Once he had moved to Indiana he appears to have remained in Richmond. Descendants report that Laura Susan died at Richmond on February 26th 1918 and was buried there. Daniel then retired to Florida.
Daniel then partnered or remarried to "Flora Conrad". It appears that she was born as Flora Elizabeth (nee) Deamo in New York of French-Canadian parents, that she married into the Conrad surname and that she was herself a widow when she married Daniel. The National Archives (NA) hold a pension file [Certificate No. 447324] for a John Barcume, associated with which is an affidavit dated June 26th 1920 by "Flora Elizabeth Woodhurst", then aged "71" and residing in St. Cloud City in Osceola Co., Florida. In this affidavit she declares that she had been a bridesmaid at the wedding of this John (whose wife was named Rachel), and also that her oldest sister had married John's brother Nelson. Other related NA files establish that Nelson Barcume's first and only wife had been Salina "Ellen" (nee) Deamo, born at Rigo in Canada on September 18th 1839.
The US 1920 Census finds him living with Flora in St. Cloud City. He was now unoccupied.
Descendants report that Daniel died at St. Cloud City on October 3rd 1925.
National Archives documents relating to Daniel's pension name all these children except Gurtie,
who appears to have died in early childhood.
See also the note below concerning "Fred" Woodhurst.
Descendants report that Ida was born in Franklin township in Warren County, Ohio in 1868 and married James E. Miller at Greenville in Darke County, Ohio on February 24th 1885. They produced at least one child, Pearl Miller. A Rootsweb record states that James was born to parents Lewis C. Miller and Elisabeth Geil [sic] Sites.
Descendants report that Lucina was born at Greenville in 1869 and married Joseph W. Palmer at Richmond in Wayne County, Indiana on December 15th 1887.
Dora Edith was born in Wayne township, Butler County in Ohio on October 6th 1870 [IGI: Batch C002396]. This birth record appears among the original Records of Birth, Marriage and Death for 1817-1911 of the Ohio Probate Court for Darke County. Descendants report that Dora Edith married Harry E. Burris at Richmond on December 31st 1895.
Gurtie (a girl) was born in Franklin, Warren County on March 17th 1876 [IGI: Batch C868828]. This birth record appears among the original Records of Birth for 1867-1908 of the Ohio Probate Court for Warren County, deposited in that county's courthouse in Lebanon township. Gurtie was not recorded with the family in the 1880 Census, and had probably died in infancy.
The US 1900 Census finds a "Fred" Woodhurst in Hamilton City Prison, Butler County (but does not state explicitly that he was a prisoner). His birthdate is cited as May 1876, his birthplace as Ohio and his occupation as moulder. His parents are cited as born in Germany, but this does not necessarily refer to his biological parents. It may be that his father was a Woodhurst and that his mother remarried to a German; or, it may be that his father was a German and that his mother remarried to a Woodhurst. Another possibility, given that the person entered above him in the census schedule was also ascribed German parents, is that this detail was erroneously copied down into Fred's entry. It is suspected that he was related in some way to Daniel's family.
Maud was born on October 4th 1884 [IGI: Batch C004153]. This record appears, like that for Dora Edith, among the original Records of Birth, Marriage and Death for 1817-1911 of the Ohio Probate Court for Darke County, and cites her birthplace simply as Darke County. Descendants report that Maud married Omer M. Thompson on May 12th 1903.
There exists a record [Index to Birth Records for Wayne County 1882-1920: Volume III, Letters P-Z, Book H-2, page 49: publ. Indiana Work Projects Administration, 1941] of the birth on December 21st 1888 of an unnamed daughter to "Dan. F. Woodhurst and ... Margerum". This clearly refers to the daughter subsequently named Stella. Descendants report that Stella was born at Ritter Farm in Wayne County and that she married William Kuhlman at Richmond on March 28th 1905.