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William (5) Woodhurst was born in Faversham in 1847 to parents William (4) Woodhurst and his wife Ann (nee Page) [Birth Index: Faversham 5 171, 1847 (Dec)].
The 1851 Census finds him at age "4" living with his parents in Sittingbourne.
In 1855 he emigrated with his mother and siblings to America.
The US 1860 Census finds him at age "12" living with his parents in South Fork township, Jackson Co. in Iowa.
The US 1870 Census finds him at age "23" still living there, apparently alone, working as a farm labourer.
He married Helen Eveline (nee) Darling in Jackson Co. on February 8th 1872 [North America Vital Records Index: FHL Film 1255477].
The US 1880 Census finds him living at Delmar township in Clinton Co., Iowa, aged "33" and occupied as a butcher. The record states that he and his parents were born in England, and that his wife Helen was born in Iowa. The only children with them were Frankie and Anna M.
With his uncle Stephen he patented lands in South Dakota during the 1880s, as shown in the Bureau of Land Management Database. Both he and Stephen appear in a list of "Early Homesteaders" in Center township in Aurora Co. extracted by the SDGENWEB Archives Project.
The US 1900 Census finds him living with his wife and three children at 305, Maquoketa township, Jackson Co. and occupied as a salesman of implements. The record states that he was born in England in October 1849 [in error] of English parents, was naturalized, had been married for 27 years and had produced 9 children of whom only 4 were still living. Helen was born in Iowa in January 1856.
The US 1910 Census finds him living with Helen and their daughter Hazel in Bloomfield township, Clinton Co. His age is cited as "65" and his birthplace as England. He was occupied as a farm labourer.
Helen died at Maquoketa on July 12th 1919; the following obituary for her was published in The Daily Times:
MAQUOKETA WOMAN DIES
MAQUOKETA, Ia., July 12. (Special)
Mrs Helen Woodhurst, wife of William Woodhurst, sr., died at her home on South Eliza street at 7:20 o'clock last night, following an illness covering the past two years. She was 68 years old at the time of her death and resided in Maquoketa practically her entire life. Although the time for the funeral has not been set interment will take place in Evergreen Cemetery at Delmar. The surviving are her husband, William Woodhurst, sr., two daughters, Mrs Anna Ellis of Davenport, and Miss Hazel, at home. One son, William Woodhurst jr., of Clinton, also survives.
The US 1930 Census finds him aged "82" living with his married daughter Hazel in Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa and with no occupation.
He died aged "83" in Davenport on January 30th 1931 and was buried in Maquoketa, Iowa [FHL: Film No. 1602667]. Obituaries for him were published in The Daily Times (Davenport) on January 31st and February 3rd.
The US 1900 Census implies that Frankie had died by June 1900. Some sources on Ancestry claim that he died on June 1st 1887.
Emma married W. A. Gage on July 6th 1903 [Index to Original Marriage Certificates: Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center, Davenport Public Library, Davenport, Iowa]. This record is currently the only one known that assigns to her a second initial "M".
One of the obituaries for William (5) indicates that his three children Grace, Pearl and Harry had all died in the space of one week in 1896 [reportedly in mid-August] from diphtheria, aged 11, 8 and 4 respectively.