A. E. Woodhull, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of A. E. Woodhull
COL. A. E. WOODHULL.
Came originally from Orange County, New York, his birth occurring September 11, 1840, and is a son of Richard W. and Ruth E. (Strong) Woodhull, both natives of the same county and State. Members of the Woodhull family were among the first settlers of the Empire State and became noted people of the same. They served in the Revolutionary War. The grandparents on both sides of the house passed their entire lives in that State, and the old homestead of the Woodhull family was built of lumber, and sided and roofed with cedar shingles made by hand. The nails, of wrought iron, were also made by hand, and the house, when torn down, was quite well preserved for being over one hundred years old. During the Revolutionary War the Woodhulls took their horses to the cellar in order to keep them. Indians were numerous and not very friendly, and eternal vigilance was necessary. The father of our subject is a farmer by occupation and still resides in Monroe, Orange County, New York. The mother died in 1858. They were the parents of eight children, two of whom are now living: A. E. and Mrs. Ruth Beattie, of Little Falls, New Jersey. The original of this notice was reared partly on a farm and partly in New York City, his father being engaged in the wholesale milk and cream business in that city, although he still followed farming. Young Woodhull received a liberal common school education and assisted his father in business until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he enlisted in the Ninth New York State Militia in New York City for three years' service. This was on the 30th of May, 1861, and he went direct to Washington, where he was mustered in. For seven months after this he was with Patterson through West Virginia as a private, and then, taking a leave of absence, he returned to New York, and at Plattsburg he assisted in recruiting the Ninety-sixth New York Volunteers. In March, 1862, he marched to the front as captain of Company D, and joined the Army of the Potomac at Alexandria, where they immediately embarked for the Peninsula, under Gen. McClellan. Mr. Woodhull was in the battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks and Seven Days' Fight. Peck's brigade, to which Capt. Woodhull belonged, was detached and went to Suffolk, Virginia, and on its arrival there our subject was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel of his regiment. In 1863 he resigned his position, left the service, and came West, stopping at Valparaiso, where he located and engaged in the saw-mill and lumber business, which he carried on several years. He next engaged in merchandising, and built and operated the first cheese factory in this part of the county. This business he continued successfully for some time, when he took up the butter and cheese commission in Chicago, where he remained about four years. In the year 1888 he engaged in the wholesale and retail milk and ice cream business. His place of business is in South Chicago, and he is an extensive ice cream dealer and manufacturer during the summer season. The colonel enjoys an enviable reputation for the high business principles he has pursued, and is likewise regarded as a gentleman of the soundest integrity. He owns a fine residence in Valparaiso, where, he makes his home, and he also owns a good farm of 138 acres at Wheeler and another of sixty-eight acres in Center Township, a portion of this farm lying within the city limits of Valparaiso. In the fall of 1863 he was married to Miss Eliza J. Campbell, a native of the Empire State, whose parents were pioneer settlers of Porter County, Indiana. To Colonel and Mrs. Woodhull have been born seven children: Laura F., wife of E. B. Stoddard, of Chicago; Cora L., wife of Dr. J. N. Renner, of Valparaiso; Edith G., Nellie V., wife of Grant Michener, of Valparaiso; Mabel, Ruth E., and Ross A. Mrs. Woodhull and children are members .of the Presbyterian Church. Socially, the colonel is a Mason, and politically he is a Democrat.
Source: Goodspeed Brothers. 1894. Pictorial and Biographical Record of La Porte, Porter, Lake and Starke Counties, Indiana. Chicago, Illinois: Goodspeed Brothers. 569 p.
Page(s) in Source: 76-78
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook