This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/JW.2ADE/7784 Message Board Post: Dr. S. W. WOODY from the Kern County Biographies - California GenWeb Project http://cagenweb.com/archives/Biographies/kern/index.htm There area very few of the early settlers of Kern County who have seen more of pioneer life, both prior to and after location in California, than the venerable Dr. S. W. Woody. He is a native of Franklin County, Virginia, born near Rocky Mount, March 10, 1826. His father, Henry Woody, was a farmer by occupation, and was principally engaged in the production and manufacture of tobacco, living as he did in the renowned tobacco-producing belt of the Old Dominion State. He descended from English ancestors, and married Miss Catharine, daughter of Reese Hughes, a resident of Franklin County, and of the same neighborhood. He was of Irish parentage and a planter. The Hughes families were owners of large numbers of slaves and were of the staid old Virginia stock They left Virginia and located with their families in Callaway County, Missouri, in 1833, bringing their slaves with them, and continued the production of tobacco. Henry Woody had a family of seven children, all of whom attai! ned their majority, and Sparrell W., the subject of this sketch, was the first-born. The family continued their residence in Callaway County about three years and finally located in Osage County, about fourteen miles due east from Jefferson City, the capital. It was there that the family was reared and educated, and hereon the old Missouri homestead the mother spent the sunset of her busy and faithful life, passing away in February, 1843. The family then broke up and the subject of this sketch left home, returned to Callaway County and commenced the study of medicine, under Dr. W. E. Dillard, an eminent physician of Williamsburg. The years 1845 to 1848 inclusive were spent in the study of medicine, the winters being spent in attending medical lectures in St. Louis. He graduated in the medical department of the University of Missouri, in the class of 1848. This was a class of about twenty young men, among whom were Dr. Hodgins, of Illinois, and Dr. Winthrop H. Hopson, the la! tter of whom became an eminent divine and and a leader in the Christia n Church, doing wonderful work for the cause in some of the leading cities of the Western and Southern States. Dr. Woody practiced medicine one year in Missouri , and finding it not a congenial pursuit started, in 1849, for California, and reached Sacramento in September of that year. He then proceeded to Auburn, Placer County, and engaged in mining for about three years, with fair success, and then engaged in the hotel and livery business. In 1858 he left and spent one year in the Sandwich Islands, a portion of which time he spent in the Government custom house in Honolulu. He returned in 1850, spent a few years in San Francisco , later one year at Visalia, and then located near the present site of the city of Bakersfield, in Kern County, in the fall of 1860. Here he met Miss Sarah, daughter of Christian and Orpheus (Green) Bohna, whom he married May 20, 1861. Mr. Bohna was a German by birth, a blacksmith by trade, and emigrated to America in 1832. He located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and raised a family of eleven children, all born in the United States. Mrs. Woody was born near Warsaw, Missouri, June 13, 1845. The great freshet of 1862 flooded the entire country now known as Kern Island, and Dr. Woody removed to his present home, then 160 acres of Government land, section 24, town 25 south, range 29 east. Here he has lived and reared his family, consisting of the following: Eugenie L., now at home; Nettie L., now Mrs. N. W. Howard, whose husband is a farmer of Tulare County; Victoria V., now Mrs. Clark G. Greene, same place; Stonewall A., and Elmer W. Dr. Woody is a man of sterling traits of character, an influential citizen, and commands the highest respect of those who know him; is a kind and indulgent husband and father. The Woody voting precinct, and Woody post office have both been given his name as a mark of the confidence and esteem in which he is held by the public at large. He is unostentatious and courteous in his manners, and is hospitable to all who visit the Woody home. Dr. and Mrs. Woody and three daughters are members of the Christian Church of Glennville. He is a liberal and consistent Democrat, and in every way an honored and valuable Citizen. Memorial and Biographical History of the counties of Fresno, Tulare and Kern, California Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1892 pp 406-407 Transcribed by Carolyn Feroben California GenWeb Biographies Project http://cagenweb.com/archives/Biographies/