Submitted by Colleen Haynes Rongey Thanks Colleen!

James William Woodward was born in Georgia in 1868 to William M. Woodward and Ceclia Piercy. William M. Woodward was born July of 1828 in Yancy County, North Carolina,; he died August 8, 1911 in Snowball, Searcy County, Arkansas. William entered the Confederate Army during the Civil War on July 5, 1861 and was discharged due to illness at Richmond, Virginia on July 15, 1862. He served as a Private in D Company, 64th North Carolina Infantry. William's second wife was the widow Susanna Barnes, with whom he moved to Arkansas.

Every family has their blacksheep, and James William Woodward is one of ours. In 1900, James, who went by his middle name, William, shot and killed his step-daughter and then shot himself. He was later killed by a mob. See A Horrifying Crime for more details. James died June 9, 1900 in; is buried in an unmarked grave in Hall Cemetery, Searcy County, Arkansas.

Wife of James William Woodward was Martha Jane Taylor, born October of 1860. Martha had a daughter from a previous marriage, Lurena Thomas, it was this daughter whom her husband, James William Woodard, shot and killed on June 8, 1900. Martha Jane Taylor Woodward is buried in Witts Springs Cemetery, Searcy County, Arkansas.

Children of James William Woodward and Martha Jane Taylor are:
Celia Woodard, born April of 1889 (married a Stokes)
Gertrude Woodard, born October 11, 1890 (married Wirt Hendrix)
Barney Woodard, born September 1892
Gilbert Burnard Woodard, born August 1895
William Irving Woodard, born December 1897
David M. Woodard, born March 1898

Return to Searcy County Families® Index