| Home Page | Root Page | Census Records | GRO Records | Parish Records | Names Directory |
William Henry Clay Woodhurst was born in 1859 or 1860 to parents William (12) Woodhurst and his wife Mary Adaline Rogers.
His biography on pages 161-162 in An Illustrated History of Lincoln County and her People: Vol. 2 [published by the American Historical Society, 1920 : editors Ira L. Bare and Will H. McDonald] gives his birthdate as April 17th 1860 and his birthplace as St. Joseph, Missouri. However, his headstone in the North Platte Cemetery gives his birthdate as April 17th 1859.
The US 1860 Census finds him at age "1" living with his parents at St. Joseph City in Buchanan County, Missouri.
The US 1870 Census finds him at age 10 living with his parents at North Platte township in Lincoln County, Nebraska.
The US 1880 Census finds him living with his parents as a student aged 20 at Pacific Junction township in Mills County, Iowa, just a few weeks after his family had moved there from Nebraska.
His biography [op. cit. Bare & McDonald] states that after leaving school he had been educated at the University of Nebraska and at Tabor College in Tabor, Iowa. At Pacific Junction he worked for two years as a ticket agent for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. He then undertook a commercial course at the Gem City Business College in Quincy, Illinois and, in 1886, went to Cheyenne in Wyoming as clerk to the superintendent of the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1887 he was transferred to North Platte to work as their express and baggage agent.
He married Bessie Eliza Anderson in Mills County on June 16th 1887 at the home in Glenwood of her father William H. Anderson (a banker) He was cited as aged 27 and she as aged 20 [Mills County Iowa Marriages 1886-99: Book 5 Page 6 Entry 018 - note: this source misreports William H. Anderson's middle initial as "J"]. Bessie may have been related to the John S. Anderson whose marriage in 1882 had been witnessed by William H.C.'s mother Mary.
After marrying Bessie, William H.C. worked for a year with the Des Moines & Kansas City Railway but then resumed his former position as express and baggage agent for the next four years [op. cit. Bare & McDonald].
In 1889 Bessie's mother Ella died. In October 1890 Bessie's father drew up his Will, detailing somewhat complex trust arrangements on behalf of Bessie and his other heirs.
The membership rolls of the Royal Arch Masons of Iowa name William H.C. as a member of their Mt. Gerizim Subordinate Chapter in Glenwood, and seem to indicate that he had joined in 1890; William H. Anderson appears in the same list [USGenWeb Archives Project].
On March 11th 1892 he was appointed Receiver of the U.S. Land Office at North Platte. The edition of The Rustler for May 25th 1892 reported, in the news section for Elsie township in Perkins County, Nebraska, an action undertaken by him in this capacity [Nebraska Ancestree: Vol VII, No. 1, Page 27].
Soon after this, he and Bessie divorced. Bessie remarried as "Bessie E. Woodhurst" in 1893 [North America Vital Records Index: FHL Film 1030234]. The latter source states that on December 21st 1893 she married Leroy E. Williams in Cook, Illinois, giving his age as 29 and hers as 26. The marriage is likewise recorded in the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index for 1763-1900 which additionally cites the Marriage Licence Number as 00211969. It also appears in the IGI [IGI: Batch M730865]. The wedding was described in a local newspaper [The Opinion Tribune, issue of 28 December 1893, page 2] as follows: "One of the most- beautiful and impressive ceremonies which it has been our pleasure to witness was performed at ten o'clock a. m. on Thursday, December 21, at the pleasant home of F. W. Ruffner, 3007 Ellis Park, Chicago, Ills. The contracting parties were Mr. Leroy Eustace Williams and Miss Bessie Eliza Anderson, both of Glenwood, Iowa." William H.C.'s biography makes no mention of these events, merely describing Bessie as "a woman of much culture and a valued member of the Episcopal Church" and remarking somewhat opaquely that she "passed to the higher life in 1894".
William H.C. held the Receivership post for two and a half years, following which he was appointed Deputy County Clerk. After resigning from that he entered the insurance business and became the appointed state agent of the North British Mercantile Company. In this capacity he travelled for twelve years, with responsibility for the Nebraska and Black Hill territory [op. cit. Bare & McDonald].
An article published in the North Platte Telegraph on April 27th 1895 under the heading "Scrap-Iron From the U.P." mentioned, giving no other context, that "F.E. Bullard and W.H.C. Woodhurst returned from Omaha Wednesday morning". The heading refers to the Union Pacific Railroad which was used extensively in that period for transporting scrap iron.
On December 19th 1895 William H.C. remarried in North Platte to Martha Drusilla Donehower, known familiarly as Mattie. The marriage was officiated by Geo.[?] A. Beecher, the Rector of the Church of Our Saviour. The witnesses were Sam Donehower and Mrs. William Stuart. The affidavit for the license had been sworn earlier that day in front of James McRay, County Judge for Lincoln. It gives William H.C.'s age as 35 and Mattie's as 22.
The marriage was reported in the North Platte Telegraph on December 21st, but without naming the bride.
In September 1896 the same newspaper announced the birth of their first son.
Details of Mattie's own origins appear in a Donehower Family Bible that was offered for auction on eBay in January 2004 by a seller (having no family connection) in Greensboro, North Carolina [eBay Item No. 3582290641, Category 29220]. This Bible, having a decorative tooled leather cover, was published by the American Bible Society in 1871, and the inscription inside its cover reads "Samuel H. Donehower February 24 '79 A Present from his Father and Mother". It records that Mattie was born on January 15th 1874 to parents George C. Donehower (born October 25th 1833) and his wife Martha ("Mattie") Ann Kunsman (born January 11th 1848), who had married on December 5th 1866. These details are consistent with the family's record in the US 1880 Census, which finds them living in Hannibal, Marion County in Missouri. George C. and his wife Martha Ann were subsequently both buried in North Platte.
The US 1900 Census finds William H.C. living with Mattie and the two children listed below at 2nd Street in North Platte. He is described as born in April 1860 in (mistakenly) New York and occupied as an insurance agent. Mattie is described as born in Missouri of parents who were born in Pennsylvania. Her age is given correctly as 26 but her birthdate as January "1834" instead of 1874. They had been married for 4 years and had produced just 2 children.
After his long spell with the North British Mercantile Company he was appointed again as Receiver of the U.S. Land Office and held this position for four years before returning to his insurance business [op. cit. Bare & McDonald].
By 1915 he was serving as a State Representative representing Dawson, Keith and Lincoln Counties, as recorded in an article later published in The Farmer-Labor Herald for North Platte on October 17th 1924.
In 1917 he was listed as an insurance agent in North Platte in Volume XVI of The Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory.
Nebraska State records refer to William H.C. as residing in North Platte when serving as a Member of the Nebraska Bicameral Legislature during the period 1915-17.
In February 1918 he was appointed County Judge and was formally elected to that position in November 1919 [op. cit. Bare & McDonald].
By this time he was a member of the Free and Accepted Order of Masons, being a "Knight Templar and member of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine" [op. cit. Bare & McDonald].
The US 1920 Census finds Mattie lodging with her son Thurston in North Platte, described as (still) married. Meanwhile, her husband was lodging elsewhere - the full record for him has not yet been extracted but describes him as a judge aged 59 and born in Missouri. It is possible that they had separated.
He was still serving as a County Judge for Lincoln County later in the 1920s [Nebraska Blue Book: Roster of County Officials, 1921-22].
The records of the North Platte Cemetery, where he is buried, give the date of his death at age "63" as March 27th 1923. He was buried on March 29th. His grave reference is Section AD, Lot 999, Space 1. An obituary for him was published on Thursday March 29th 1923 in the Evening State Journal and Lincoln Daily News.
The US 1930 Census finds Mattie at age "50" living with her widowed mother Martha Donehower aged "84" at 18, Ash Street in North Platte. She was occupied as a librarian at the City Library.
Her mother Martha died on or about October 1st 1936 aged "90" at her home "after a lingering illness", as reported in The Daily Bulletin on October 3rd.
The US 1940 Census finds Mattie at age "65" living with her son Thurston at 371, North Jeffers Street in North Platte. She was occupied as an assistant librarian at the Public Library. Nothing more is known of her.