John C. Woodson Explained

John C. Woodson
State Delegate:Virginia
District:Rockingham County, Virginia
Term Start:October 5, 1869
Term End:December 5, 1871
Succeeded:S.A. Coffman
Alongside:Charles Grattan, John H. Hopkins
State Delegate1:Virginia
District1:Rockingham County
Term Start1:December 4, 1865
Term End1:April 29, 1867
Preceded1:John T. Harris
Succeeded1:Philo Bradley
Alongside1:W.G. Thompson, H.B. Harnsberger
Birth Date:December 25, 1823
Birth Place:Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Death Date:April 24, 1875
Death Place:Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation:Lawyer
Alma Mater:University of Virginia
Spouse:Sarah

John Chesterfield Woodson (December 25, 1823  - April 24, 1875) was a nineteenth-century American lawyer and politician from Virginia.[1]

Early and family life

Woodson was born on Christmas Day, 1823 in Richmond to Jacob Woodson and Elizabeth Brown.[2] He graduated from the University of Virginia, attending 1848–51.[3] He married Sarah E. Amiss in Highland County, Virginia on November 16, 1848, and they had children Edmund (b. 1849), Andrew Dyer (b. 1851), Katherine Elizabeth (1854-1944), Frank (b. 1857), Robert Lee (1862-1933), Thomas Chapman(b. 1868) and John H. (b. 1869)[4]

Career

In 1847, Woodson moved to Harrisonburg, Virginia, practiced law and was elected Commonwealth's Attorney there.[5]

During the American Civil War, Woodson was elected to represent Rockingham County in the House of Delegates alongside Charles Grattan and John H. Hopkins, but resigned and S.A. Coffman was elected in his place.[6] [7]

As Virginia's Presidential Reconstruction began, Rockingham County voters again elected Woodson to the General Assembly for the session from 1865 to 1867, and he served alongside W.G. Thompson and H.B. Harnsberger.[8]

In 1867, Rockingham County voters elected Conservatives Woodson and Jacob N. Liggett to represent them in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868.[9]

Death

John C. Woodson died in Harrisonburg, Virginia on April 24, 1875, and was buried in Woodbine cemetery.[10]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1978) pp. 480, 502, 506
  2. Rockingham County, Virginia death index at ancestry.com
  3. [#pulliam|Pulliam 1901, p. 146]
  4. 1860 and 1870 U.S. Census for Harrisonburg, Virginia
  5. [#pulliam|Pulliam 1901, p. 146]
  6. [#swem|Swem 1918, p. 448]
  7. Leonard p. 480 n.12
  8. [#swem|Swem 1918, p. 448]
  9. [#pulliam|Pulliam 1901, p. 141-142]
  10. [#pulliam|Pulliam 1901, p. 146]