U.S. Data Repository -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Woodford, Asa Wesley (1833-1922) ------------------------------------------------------------------- SOURCE: Press Reference Library, Western Edition, Notables of the West Published by International News Service, 1915 Vol. II, Page 54, Hon. Asa Wesley Woodford WOODFORD, HON. ASA WESLEY, Cattle and Ranch industry, Elsinore, California, was born two miles west of Phillippi, Barbour County, Virginia (now West Virginia), May 20th, 1833, the son of John Howe, and Nancy (Minear) Woodford. On the paternal side Col. Woodford is of English descent and traces his ancestry back to a long line of patriotic forbears, some of whom played a conspicuous part in the struggle that won for the colonies their liberties from the mother country. Generals Howe and Woodford of the Revolutionary War occupy prominent places in his family chronology. His maternal ancestors also figured conspicuously among those who served the colonies in the war for independence. They originally came from France. Col. Woodford married Miss Rebecca Cather, in Taylor County, Virginia, in 1854. She was the daughter of Jasper Cather, a Baptist minister. The living issue of the marriage are Iris Columbia, Phoebe Jane and John Howe Woodford. Flora S. N., Bruce S., and Clarkson J. Woodford, three other children born to the union, are now deceased. Mrs. Woodford passed away in 1885. The earliest recollections of Mr. Woodford's life are associated with scenes of poverty and self-denial. The only school he ever attended was in a log cabin on Pleasant Creek, near his birthplace. From his earliest childhood there was inculcated in him the qualities of thrift, courtesy and honor. None of the pioneer families of Virginia have displayed a greater degree of these qualities than has been noted throughout Col. Woodford's private life and public career. Practically without schooling he has exhibited a familiarity with a wide range of subjects. Through habits of close observation and self culture in later years he has acquired a fund of information not always possessed by graduates of educational institutions of the highest standing. When seventeen years of age he hired himself to a cattle drover at thirty-five cents per day; walked and led an ox before a drove of cattle to Philadelphia, a distance of four hundred and fifty miles. The trip was made in the winter of 1849. Anxious to save some of his valuable wages he walked all the distance back home through mud and snow. Twelve years later he traveled over the same road with six hundred head of cattle at one time, all his own, which he sold to the government to feed the army on the march to Gettysburg. He was the first to attempt to drive stock from West Virginia to the eastern market during the Civil War. He frequently supplied army headquarters at Washington with its beef. In 1863 when the Confederate generals, Jones and Imboden, swept across Virginia they took from Mr. Woodford two hundred and fifty head of cattle. They paid in Confederate money, which Mr. Woodford holds to this day as a souvenir of the war. At the beginning of the Rebellion Col. Woodford voted against the ordinance of secession and was an aspirant for the colonelcy of the regiment organized in Richie County, West Virginia, but was superseded by Col. Moses Hall. The rest of the war he continued in the cattle business. In 1868 he was elected as a Democrat to the Legislature at Wheeling, West Virginia, and helped formulate the first code of laws of the State. He was elected Sheriff of Lewis County in 1871 (and also acted as Tax Collector at the same time) and served six years. In 1882 he received the nomination for Senator of the tenth district, but was defeated by his Republican opponent. In 1892 he was a candidate for Governor of West Virginia. In April, 1892, he made a speech before the Democratic mass convention at Grafton, that evoked the praise of William J. Bryan, who was present. Col. Woodford was then in advance of his party on the financial question, and the views held by him then were adopted and became the leading plank in the national Democratic platform in 1896. Col. Woodford located at Elsinore, Riverside County, California, in 1904, where he owns one of the most beautiful homes in the city. He owned twenty-two hundred acres in Lewis and Barbour Counties, West Virginia, some of the finest land in the State. His eleven hundred- acre farm near Weston was noted for its production of natural gas. He also bred a herd of Hereford cattle, which was noted all over the country. He built a flour mill at Weston which was a source of revenue for him for about fifteen years. He also built and owned a large brick block on the main street of Weston and owns part of it yet. He shipped several cargoes of beef cattle to London and Liverpool, many of his own breeding. Col. Woodford is a member of the Baptist church, to which he and his wife, throughout her life, were devoted. He has been identified with the Masonic order since 1864. During late years he has traveled extensively; practically in every State of the Union as well as parts of the old world. He finds no climate more agreeable than that of Elsinore with its beautiful lake and hot springs, located between the mountains: the chosen home of the twilight of his successful career. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Woodford, Asa Wesley (1833-1922) ------------------------------------------------------------------- The History of Barbour County, West Virginia, From its Earliest Exploration and Settlement to the Present Time by Hu Maxwell The Acme Publishing Company, Morgantown, W.Va., 1899 Pages 503-504 Asa Wesley Woodford, son of John Howe Woodford, was born two miles west of Philippi, May 20, 1833. In 1855, near Flemington, Taylor County, he was married to Rebecca, daughter of Rev. Jasper Cather. To them were born six children, Iris Columbia, Phoebe Jane, Flora S. N., Clarkson J., Bruce S. and John Howe. Three of them are now dead. Rebecca Woodford died in 1885, and Colonel Woodford in 1895, married as his second wife, Sabra, daughter of Rev. Flavius J. Cather, a Baptist minister, a third cousin of Rebecca Woodford. The subject of this sketch has displayed, in a remarkable degree, the traits so common to the Woodford family — energy, pluck, business ability and stability of character. He began life with small educational advantages, his only schooling being in a log house on Pleasant Creek. He began life for himself by working at thirty-five cents a day, "and no dinner," as the saying was then; for he was in the employ of a cattle drover. In the winter of 1849, when he was seventeen years old, he helped take a drove of cattle to Philadelphia, walking all the way there and back through snow and mud. The return trip from Philadelphia was made on foot in eleven days. The boy who, at the age of seventeen, was not ashamed to work for thirty-five cents a day, and not afraid to walk to Philadelphia and back, did not need to work long for wages, and in twelve years from that time, and over that same road to Philadelphia,, he drove six hundred cattle of his own and sold them to the Government to feed the army. He was the first man who attempted to drive cattle from this part of West Virginia to the eastern market during the Civil War. He did a large business in supplying the Government with beef cattle. He was always successful in these transactions; but his fortune changed in 1863 when the great Confederate raid under Jones and Imboden swept across West Virginia. General Jones carried off two hundred and fifty cattle belonging to Colonel Woodford, and they went to gladden the stomachs of Confederate veterans on the march to Gettysburg. Colonel Woodford was paid in Confederate money for his cattle, but the money was worthless. General Jones took the cattle from the James Pickens farm, on Gnatty Creek, Barbour County. Not discouraged by this heavy loss Colonel Woodford continued to ship cattle, horses and sheep to the eastern markets during the remainder of the war. He was a strong Union man, voted against the Ordinance of Secession, and when the war came he set to work, in Ritchie County, to raise a regiment for the Union army, and was to be colonel of the regiment, but he was superceded by Colonel Moses S. Hall, and for the rest of the war he devoted his energies to the cattle business. After the war he voted the Democrat ticket. In 1868 he was elected in Lewis County to the Legislature, and the next year helped to make the first code of West Virginia. He was twice elected Sheriff of Lewis County, and in 1882 received the Democratic nomination for Senator in the Tenth District, but was defeated at the polls by Captain Coburn, of Barbour County. In 1892 he was a candidate before the Democratic Convention for Governor of West Virginia. In April of that year he made a speech in Grafton before the Democratic Mass Convention, William J. Bryan, then a member of Congress, being present and commending the speech very highly. Colonel Woodford was then in advance of his party on the financial question, and the views held by him then were adopted and became the leading plank in the National Democratic platform of 1896. Colonel Woodford has large land interests in Barbour, owning part of the old homestead where he was raised. His home is in Lewis County, where he owns a magnificent farm of more than one thousand acres, lying on the West Fork River between Janelew and Weston. This farm is stocked with Herford cattle, and he was the first man in West Virginia to ship cattle to the markets of London and Liverpool. He did not find that business profitable because of the sharp competition, and "because of the difficulty of bucking against the English bull and the cattle monopoly in the English trade." His farm in Lewis County is noted for its influence in improving the cattle of the country. A peculiarity of it is that a natural gas tire burns in his field, round which his Herford cattle gather to enjoy the warmth. In addition to other business enterprises to which he has given his attention, he built a large flour mill at Weston several years ago. Mrs. Woodford is an accomplished artist; her work has received the praise of competent critics. Colonel Woodford has traveled extensively, for business and pleasure, visiting all the principal portions of the United States and Europe. ------------------------------------------------------------------- ADDITIONAL SOURCES: ------------------------------------------------------------------- VITAL RECORDS ------------------------------------------------------------------- From Death Certificate, Lewis County, WV #3490 FULL-NAME: Col. A. W. Woodford BIRTH-DATE: May 20, 1833 BIRTH-PLACE: West Va. DEATH-DATE: March 15, 1922 DEATH-PLACE: State Hospital, Weston, Lewis County, WV MARITAL-STATUS: Widowed OCCUPATION: Cattle Dealer CAUSE-OF-DEATH: Gen. Arterio sclerosis BURIAL: Machpelah Death Register, Lewis County WV, 1885, Page 153, Line 58 WOODFORD, Rebecca died 23-Oct-1885 at age 50-2-13 daughter of J. & S. Cather, born in Taylor County WV wife of A. W. Woodford ------------------------------------------------------------------- U. S. Federal Census ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1850 Census, Barbour County WV hw-page 192-193, Stamped Page #96b, 97a Lines 40-42 & 1-7, Enum-Dw #1312, Enum-Fam #1312 WOODFORD, John H., 53, Farmer $29,000, Va ", Nancy, 50 children: Adam 24, Mary 21, Hannah 18, Alsy W 17, Riley 14, Clifton D 13, Cyntha A 11, Martha 9 1860 Census, Gilmer County WV PO: Cox's Mills; hw-page 9 Lines 8-15, Enum-Dwelling #61, Enum-Family #59 WOODFORD, Asa W., 27, Farmer, $5000/$3000, Randolph Co. Va ", Rebeca, 24, Harrison Co. Va children: Iris C 4, Phebe Jane 3, Barbour Co. Va Flora S. V. 1, Gilmer Co. Va NICHOLASON, William, 21, Serving, unknown ALEXANDER, James C. 14, Serving, Lewis Co. Va ", Mary Virginia, 12, Serving, Lewis Co. Va 1870 Census, Lewis County WV Jane Lew Township, Page No. 8-9 Lines 36-40 & 1-5, Enum-Dwelling #53, Enum-Family #53 WOODFORD, A. W., 37, Farmer of Drover, $30,000/$10,000, Va ", Rebecca, 35, at home, Va children: Iras C. 15, Phebe J. 14, Flora 11, John H. 5 MARKS, William, 18, Farm Hand, Va CLAYTON, Catharine, 52, Domestic Servant, Va ", Summers, 18, Farm Hand, Va ", William, 6, WVa 1880 Census, Lewis County WV Hackers Creek Dist, ED:133, Page No. 42 Lines 31-35, Enum-Dwelling #359, Enum-Family #374 WOODFORD, A. W., 47, Farmer, WVa-Va-WVa ", Rabecka, 45, Wife, Keeping house, WVa-WVa-WVa ", Flora, 21, dau, at home, WVa-WVa-WVa ", J. Howe, 15, son, Student, WVa-WVa-WVa DUKE, Emma, 24, Servant, Housekeeper, WVa-Va-Va 1900 Census, Lewis County WV Hackers Creek District, ED:63, Sheet 9B Lines 68-76, Enum-Dwelling #161, Enum-Family #169 WOODFORD, Asa W. (head) May-1833, 67, M-5yrs, WV-Va-Va, Farmer ", Sabra, (wife) Sep-1860, 39, 0-children, WV-WV-Mass CATHER, Flora, Sister-IL, Nov-1863, 36, WV-WV-Mass BURR, Columbia, Servant, unknown, 34, WV-WV-WV BUTCHER, Kate, Servant, Jun-1860, 39, WV-WV-WV ", Opal, child-of-Kate, Oct-1888, 11, WV-WV-WV METCALF, Mary, Servant, Nov-1861, 48, Wd, WV-WV-WV BUTCHER, Charles, Servant, Apr-1870, 33, WV-WV-WV ", Doane, Servant, Mar-1872, 28, WV-WV-WV ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Barbour County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/barbour/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------