wilford woodruff in new york
DESCRIPTION
Jennifer Mackley's 2012 discovery of 1832 Woodruff home site in Richland Township New York - with photographs by Richard LambertTRANSCRIPT
The life of
WILFORD WOODRUFF
New YorkV
Born in Avon, Connecticut on March 1, 1807
Baptized in Richland Township, New York on December 29, 1833
Home where Wilford Woodruff was born and raised. 1892 photo by Junius F. Wells
Farmington Mill of Cowles, Deming & Camp where Wilford worked in the 1820s.
PalmyraRichland
Fayette
Toronto, Canada
Mendon Spafford
Why did the Woodruff brothers leave Connecticut to buy a mill and farm in New York?
200 years of family roots in Connecticut where generations of Woodruffs had owned mills
The spiritual answer is evident in the towns surrounding Richland …
and the events that took place in the area in the 1820s-1830s.
John Taylor
Toronto
Wilford Woodruff
Joseph Smith Richland
Palmyra Martin Harris
Mendon Spafford
Brigham Young Zerah Pulsipher
Fayette
Peter Whitmer
The physical evidence of their path begins with Ozem Thompson Woodruff leaving CT
In 1819 to help build the Erie Canal (1817-1825). Then settling in the Daysville area in
Richland Township, NY and inviting his brothers to join him.
Daysville Station on the NY Central Railroad (photo taken 2009)
1829 Map of Oswego County showing townships, roads and mills!
Richland Township
May 3, 1832
Willford Woodruff
paid $1,000 to Constant
and Lucene Soul
for 50 acres of Lot #57
Note: The words Azmon
Woodruff and Ozem
Woodruff erased
on the 4th line.
June 15, 1832 Willford, Azmon, and Ozem T. Woodruff purchased 67 acres of Lot #70
from Rudolph and Elizabeth Bunner. Lot 70 included the mill shown on the 1829 map.
Purchase price $264. 57
Dated
June 15th, 1832
67 and 34/100
acres
Enlarged portion of
1829 map showing
Richland Township
with lots 57 and 70
outlined in red.
The Woodruffs
purchased
portions of lots 57
and 70, where the
“x” marks the spot
of their mill on
Grindstone Creek.
In the 1832 deeds the Woodruffs bought:
50 acres of Lot 57 (a rectangle) covering 5/8 of the lot starting at
the SW corner 27 chains and 27 links x 18 chains and 31 links x 27
chains and 27 links to S edge x 18 chains and 31 links along S edge
back to beginning at SW corner
and 67 1/3 acres of Lot 70 (an Idaho shaped piece) starting at
the NW corner 36 chains to the SW corner x 36 chains and 75 links to
the SE corner x 2 chains and 88 links up the E edge x 4 chains and 52
links to the Hiway x 16 chains along the Hiway x 9 chains and 50 links
N x 1 chain and 18 links W to center of Grindstone Creek x follow the
“windings and turnings” of the Creek x ? chains 10 links to N edge x 1
chain 7 links to beginning at NW corner
XX
The portions of Lots 57 and 70 which the Woodruffs purchased outlined on the
1829 map 2012 map
Current NY Dept of Ecology
map of the same area
along Grindstone Creek
Outlining both Lot 57 and
70 and the junction
of County Route 28 and
Salisbury Road where their
Home and the mill were
Located.
Richard and Ron’s August 2012 route … retracing the December 1833 path
of missionaries Zerah Pulsipher and Elijah Cheney
A – Spafford (home of Zerah Pulsipher)
B – Fabius (home of Elijah Cheney
C – Daysville (home of Woodruff brothers)
A
C
B
Spafford Hollow Cemetery where Nelson Pulsipher’s headstone is found
Nelson Pulsiper died May 7, 1824 age 4 years
Hill east of Spafford Corners where Zerah helped build the Freewill Baptist Church in 1828.
John Gould served as pastor. He, along with the Pulsiphers, Roundys, and Cheneys, were
among the hundreds converted to the restored gospel in the 1830s.
They left the Spafford area to join the Saints in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, in what became
known as the “Mormon Exodus.”
Mary Brown and Zerah Pulsipher
Spafford, Onondaga County, New York
In December 1833, when Zerah
announced God wanted him to preach the
gospel, his wife Mary asked where he was
going and when he would return. He
answered, “I don’t know, only that I am
going to preach the Gospel. The Lord will
show me where to go. I am going where
He guides me.”
Zerah and his friend Elijah walked
over 60 miles before Zerah felt impressed
to stop at the Woodruff’s home.
Zerah Pulsipher’s home in Spafford Elijah Cheney’s home in Scott
Woodruffs home in Richland
http://www.old-maps.com/NY/ny-state/NY_1832_Burr_web.jpg
Grindstone Creek/Richland area 2012 … 180 years later
Junction of
County Rt 28 and
Salisbury Road
Creasy’s
portion of
Lot 70
Looking East - Grindstone Creek is across the road behind the car
Municipality of Richland Property Records
Legal Property Description: 9 acres of Lot 70 111-001-000 Deed Book: 2009 Page: 7754
New Owners: Troy and Shelley Creasy building their new house on the portion of Lot 70 once
owned by Wilford, Thompson and Azmon Woodruff
Tom Creasy with Richard Lambert standing in front of pieces of the foundation of the
building on Lot 70 discovered when the Creaseys began constructing their house.
Looking north on Grindstone Creek at the spot
where Wilford and Azmon Woodruff were baptized December 31, 1833.
Looking south on Grindstone Creek at what might have been the millpond
Example of another mill on Grindstone Creek with the mill pond.
Baptism of Wilford Woodruff
as pictured in the movie “The
Great Apostasy.”
Of his baptism
Wilford Woodruff
wrote, "The snow
was about three feet
deep, the day was
cold, and the water
was mixed with ice
and snow, yet I did
not feel the cold."
Zerah Pulsipher
Born June 24 1789 in Roddingham, VT
Married Polly Randall in 1810 (d. 1812)
Married Mary Brown 1815 (1799-1886)
Baptized January 11, 1832 in Spafford, NY
Baptized Wilford and Azmon Woodruff
December 31, 1833
Moved to Kirtland, Ohio 1835
A President of 1st Quorum of 70 1838
Moved to Far West, Missouri 1838
Moved to Nauvoo, Illinois 1840
Endowed in Nauvoo Temple 1845
Captain of 100 in exodus to Utah 1848
Ordained a patriarch
Died January 1, 1872 in Hebron, Utah
Daughter Sarah Ann Pulsipher Alger
helped complete temple work
for Eminent Women in St. George Temple
Elijah Cheney
Born September 14, 1785 in Barrington, MA
Moved to New York in 1795
Married Achsa Thompson March 14, 1811
Served in the War of 1812
Moved to Scott, NY in 1821
Baptized February 1, 1832 by Jared Carter
Ordained an Elder in 1833
Preached gospel to Wilford Woodruff in 1833
Moved to Kirtland in 1835
Moved to Far West in 1839
Moved to Mason, Illinois in 1840
Endowed in Nauvoo Temple February 1846
Reached Utah in June 1849
Died November 3, 1863 in Centerville, Utah
From 1815-1819, Elijah’s brother Zacheus Cheney,
a cloth maker, was master to apprentice Millard Fillmore,
future President of the United States.
Born in Avon, Connecticut March 1, 1807
Died in San Francisco, California September 2, 1898
Boston, Massachusetts 1839 Salt Lake City, Utah 1894