William A. Woodside

     William A. Woodside was born on 31 March 1823 at Kentucky. He was the son of John J. Woodside and Sarah Bagby. William A. Woodside married, at age 19, Martha A. Warner, age 18, daughter of William Warner and Margaret Howard, on Thursday, 23 March 1843. William A. Woodside died in 1888 at Illinois at age 64 years.
     He From Gary R. Hawpe, ed. and Beth Perona, comp., 'William A. Woodside,' Van Bibber Pioneers E-Newsletter, Vol. 5 No. 3 (January 2002), pp. 12 - 14.

WILLIAM A. WOODSIDE

William A. Woodside, who is numbered among the honored pioneers of Jefferson County, is the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and seventy acres on section 30, Buchanan Township, where he has lived for many years. His home is situated on a natural building site, and overlooks the city of Fairfield. There, for a long period, he has watched the growth and progress of the county, in whose development he feels a deep interest, and has seen its progress in the various lines of industry, educational, moral and social growth.

Mr. Woodside is a native of Kentucky. His birth occurred on the 31st of March, 1823, and he is a son of John J. and Sarah (Bagby) Woodside, who were married in Kentucky, but removed to Tennessee during the infancy of our subject, and thence emigrated to McDonough County, Ill., when he was a lad of some six years. In early life Mr. Woodside learned the blacksmith s trade, which he made his chief occupation until his removal to Illinois, when he turned his attention to farming. His death occurred in that State at the age of Sixty-five years, and his wife died in Mahaska County, Iowa, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. Both were active church workers, and their consistent Christian lives won for them many warm friends. The generosity of Mr. Woodside led him to go security for friends who neglected or could not make payment, and he thus suffered heavy losses. In politics he was a supporter of Democratic principles.

The subject of this sketch was the eldest son and fourth child in a family numbering seven sons and three daughters, all of whom lived to mature years. He received very limited educational advantages, but experience, observation and reading have made him a well-informed man. When quite young it was his desire to learn the blacksmith s trade, but his father did not wish him to follow that occupation, and he was forced to turn his energies into some other channel. He celebrated his nineteenth birthday by his arrival in Jefferson County, and never yet has he had occasion to regret his determination to become a citizen of this community.

On the 23d of March, 1843, Mr. Woodside was united in marriage with Martha A. Warner, who was born in White County, Tenn., on the 11th of April 1824, and is a daughter of William and Margaret (Howard) Warner., the former of English extraction and the latter of Scotch-Irish descent. Her parents were natives of Virginia, but were married in White County, Tenn., whither they had removed with their respective families in childhood. Later they removed to Montgomery County, Tenn., and in 1836, in a wagon drawn by oxen, made their way to Hancock County, Ill., but after two years became residents of Iowa. They settled on Cedar Creek in Henry County, near Warner s Ford, which was named in honor of Mr. Warner, but sickness caused them to leave that home, and in the spring of 1840 we find them in Jefferson County. Mr. Warner was a stone and brick mason by trade, but entered land and engaged in farming after his settlement in the Territory of Iowa. Many hardships and trails incident to pioneer life were borne by the family, such as living for two months on potatoes and squashes, and taking their corn to mill in Hancock County, Ill. Mr. Warner was an inflexible adherent of Democratic principles, and for many years served as Justice of the Peace. He died in the sixtieth year of his age, and his wife had passed her sixtieth birthday when, in Mahaska County, she was called home.

Having married him a wife, Mr. Woodside then began preparation for making a home to which he might take his bride. Going to the woods, he cut the logs for a cabin, and splitting them in halves made a floor. In this rude dwelling they began their domestic life, but those days were among their happiest, for children came to bless their home, and friends, although widely scattered, were truly friends, and the sociability which then existed stood in place of the formality of today. Their housekeeping outfit cost but $5, yet mutual confidence and love were among the furnishings of their home and made bright the otherwise dark places in pioneer life. By industry and good management they have accumulated a handsome property. The first purchase of Mr. Woodside consisted of but eighty acres in Fairfield Township, but as before stated he now owns a well-improved farm of two hundred and seventy acres adjoining the corporation limits of the city of Fairfield.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Woodside have been born fourteen children, two of whom died in infancy, and a third at the age of sixteen years. In order birth they are as follows: John W., a resident of Fall River, Kan; William N; Robert C; a farmer of Buchanan Township, Jefferson County; Francis A., who is engaged in farming in Jefferson County; Sarah E; Mary J; Douglas M., who operates the home farm; Laura E., Alice J., Albert, a painter by trade; and Maggie.

Mr. Woodside has been a life-long Democrat, and cast his first Presidential vote for Polk. His wife is a member of the Free Methodist Church. Their home is noted for its hospitality, and the members of the household rank high in the social world.

Portrait Biographical Album of Jefferson and Van Buren Counties, Iowa -- Chicago: Lake City Publishing Co., 1890 x pgs. 546 & 547.