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Gard's Grassroots Genealogy: Woodards
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    This is my start on Woodard Genealogy.  If you see anybody you recognize and/or want to know more then let me know and I'll divert my attention to this page.

    My father's paternal g'ma was Manila WOODARD  b. 3 May 1834 in Denmark, Watertown, New York by family records.  She  m. on 12 Jun 1862 George  Washington "Wash" MEDDAUGH (we refer to him as G.W.)     b.14 Nov 1836 Blenheim Twp., Kent Co., Ontario.  In the last few years of her life she lived in Lake Co. Calif. and d. 16 Oct 1905 and she and her husband are buried at Hartly Cemetery in Lakeport.
 
    George and Manila's children were:
    Oscar Edson (O.E.) MEDDAUGH b. 6   Feb. 1863
    Mary E. MEDDAUGH b. 1   Oct.  1867
    Emeline R. MEDDAUGH b. 11 Oct,  1875
    Alwilda MEDDAUGH b. 26 Dec. 1872
  "Our baby; just a line on the stone"

    They were all born in Norwich Twp. near Tillsonburg Ontario and, except for Oscar, all died in a dyptheria epidemic in the winter of 1878/9.
 

    Manila (my father said "Meh-neye'-luh") was the daughter of Rutsey (Jr.) WOODARD b. 28 Jan 1811 in Champion, Jefferson Co., N.Y. who m. Mary SHEPARD b. 26 Jul 1808 in Copenhagen, Lewis Co., N.Y.  He was known as "Uncle Rutsy" around Springford.  I have further information on the Shepherds.

    Rutsey was killed at the age of 88 by a "stump puller" a locally made device consisting of a tripod of shafts of the customer's choosing supporting a cap with an ACME threaded shaft.  The threaded shaft ran vertically and was connected to a long shaft typically tied to the saddlehorn of a saddle on a horse.  One circuit of the horse (maybe 100') would raise the vertical shaft hence the stump about 2" which is a mechanical advantage of 600:1.  A 33# force applied by the horse would produce a lifting effort of 20,000#.  If something went wrong, you shouldn't be too close; unfortunatly, Rutsey was.  The local history book, "South of Sodom" [no, I'm not going to explain the name] refers to him as "Uncle Rutsey Woodard".
 
    Rutsey and Mary's children were:
    Emeline WOODARD  b. 19 Mar,   1829
    George Washington WOODARD b. 02 Jan.,  1830
    Manila WOODARD b. 03 May,  1834
    Lucius WOODARD b. 15 Feb., 1839
    Milo WOODARD b. 20 Aug., 1846

there is quite a bit of information about all of the above in the S. Norwich area.

    Many of these names can be found in the [Springford Cemetery index] on the web.

    I have quite a bit of info on the Shepard side from Gene Shepard.  Mary was the son of Obediah Shephard and Mary Yeomans.  Obed would have lived in his father's house in Old Marlboro, Mass.; I have a picture of the house.

    Rutsey was the son of Rutsey and "Annis" b. 1769 and 1765 in Vermont.  I've been told she might well be Mary "Anna" Annis.  I do have his children's names.  Unfortunately, I've not been able to get more information than this on this family.
 
 
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28 Nov.,'01