Biography - CHARLES T. WOODWARD

To Charles T. Woodward, of Carlinville, belongs the distinction of being at the head of a hardware business which was established fifty years ago and has been maintained without interruption during the entire period named. A native of Carlinville, he was born February 8, 1868, a son of Septimus and Elizabeth (Trumbull) Woodward, the former of whom was a native of Kentucky and the latter of Illinois. They were the parents of six children, namely: Annie, who is the wife of E. C. Barber, of Fort Madison, Iowa; Katie, Laura and May, all of whom died in childhood; Nellie M., who married J. W. O’Brien and is now deceased; and Charles T.

The father of our subject was brought by his parents to Pike county, Illinois, when he was six months old. After receiving his preliminary education he learned the tinner’s trade at Winchester. In 1856 he came to Carlinville and found employment at his trade with the firm of Keller & Fishback. In January, 1861, he opened a hardware store in his own name and continued in that line of business to the time of his death, which occurred in March, 1901, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. He was also engaged for two years in the lumber business. His wife died in 1906, at the age of seventy-three. They were both consistent members of the Methodist church. Mr. Woodward was for many years a leading citizen of Carlinville and contributed his full share toward its upbuilding. He was a man of fine business ability, exceptionable character and great public spirit. His name is inseparably connected with the history of Carlinville and his memory will ever be revered by all who had the honor of his acquaintance.

The grandfather of our subject on the paternal side was Henry Woodward. He was a native of Kentucky and was of German descent. He married a Miss Schull whose parents emigrated from Pennsylvania to Kentucky and passed the remainder of their lives in that state. She came to Illinois and took up her residence at Griggsville, in Brown county. Mr. and Mrs. Woodward had several sons who died when young and two daughters, Sophia and Kate. Sophia married William Farrell who was in partnership with Mr. Woodward at Carlinville for twenty-five or thirty years, the firm being known as Woodward & Farrell. Kate married William Shibley who engaged in wagon making at Carlinville. He was a soldier in the Civil war and is now living at the Soldiers’ Home at Quincy. The grandfather on the maternal side was William Trumbull, a native of Massachusetts, whose father at one time owned Breed’s Hill, the site of the battle of Bunker Hill. William Trumbull was a pioneer of Griggsville, Illinois, and was by trade a wagon maker. His wife was a Miss Beckford and they were the parents of fifteen children, Mrs. Woodward, the mother of our subject, being the youngest.

Charles T. Woodward was reared in Carlinville and secured his preliminary education in the public schools, later attending Blackburn University, and the Wyman Institute at Upper Alton. After leaving the institute he entered his father’s store as clerk and upon the death of his father succeeded to the business, which he has managed with excellent judgment. He has taken a prominent part in advancing the interests of hardware dealers in the state and is now serving as president of the Illinois Retail Hardware Dealers’ Association and is a member of the executive committee of the National Retail Hardware Dealers’ Association.

On December 7, 1887, Mr. Woodward was married to Miss Jennie Converse, of Greene county, Illinois, a daughter of Uriah and Minerva (Standifer) Converse. One daughter, Geraldine, has been born to this union. The father of Mrs. Woodward is a native of Vermont and came to Illinois after arriving at maturity and purchased government land in Greene county at a dollar and a quarter an acre. He is still residing at his old home and is now eighty-six years of age. Mrs. Converse is deceased. She was the mother of five children, Eugene, Dora, Harry, Jennie and Trueman. Politically Mr. Woodward is in active sympathy with the democratic party. He has never sought the emoluments of public office but served with general acceptability as alderman of the first ward. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He and his estimable wife possess genial social characteristics and have an extensive circle of friends throughout the community. He belongs to that class of energetic and honest men who give dignity to their vocation and are respected by all with whom they come into contact.

Extracted 18 Oct 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Macoupin County, Illinois: Biographical and Pictorial, by Charles A. Walker, published in 1911, Volume 2, pages 153-154.