John (Woodruff) Woodruffe Jr. (1604 - 1670)

Born 8 Jun 1604 in Canterbury, Kent, England

Ancestors

Husband of Ann (Gosmer) Woodruff — married [date unknown] in Kent, England

Descendants

Died 9 May 1670 at age 65 in Southampton, Suffolk, Province of New York

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Betty Warner [send private message], Elizabeth Hargrave [send private message], and Bob Worcester [send private message]

Biography

John Woodruff jr. was born in 1604 in Canterbury, Kent, England. He was baptized at Saint Mary, Northgate, Canterbury, Kent, England. Another baptism was found: 1 Jan 1604, Sittingbourn, Kent, England.^[1]

His father died in 1611. His mother soon married John Gosmer, who adopted the seven-year-old John.

John Woodruff married Ann ______ before 1637 when their son was born, surely in county Kent, England.^[2] She may have been Ann Gosmer, his stepsister, but that is only "possibly, as has been suggested"^[3]

John Woodruff emigrated with his stepfather and his mother, and with his own wife Ann and infant son who we will call John III, arriving 1639 or 1640 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony. ^[4][3]

He died 9 May 1670, in Southampton, having written his will 4 May 1670, in Southampton, Suffolk, Province of New York John Woodruff was buried in Old Southampton Cemetery, Southampton, Suffolk, New York.

inventory of his estate was valued at £122.7.8. Will Proved 01 JUL 1670 Southold, Suffolk, New York

Two Sons John

John Jr. and Ann Woodruff had two sons named John, generally called "the elder" and "the younger". This is apparently because John Gosmer, John Jr.'s step-father, adopted the first son John and it was expected that he would take the Gosmer surname. The Woodruffs named the younger son John so that John Jr. would still have a namesake. But in 1659 Gosmer deeded all of his property to "my adopted sone John Woodruf who hath lived with me from a child". So the elder John, then 22, had retained the Woodruff name and hence the duplication.

While it has been suggested that John the younger was the adopted son,^[5] Ceylon Woodruff argues that the wording of the deed ("lived with me from a child") indicates reference to the elder: "It is unlikely that this language would have been used to describe the younger John², then only about nine years old and still a child. The deed likewise makes no mention of a guardian, who would have been appointed for a minor." Also, John the elder sold off considerable real estate in Southampton in 1665 prior to relocation to New Jersey. This was presumably property received from Gorman. And this interpretation makes sense of the fact that John the younger received the bulk of their father's estate in 1670, the elder having been previously provided for. ^[6][7]

Notes

Note N15060Will of John Woodruff, Southampton, L. I.

In his will he gave unto his "Eldest son John Woodruff of Elizabeth Town, one half crowne piece of money in full of all portions and Patrimony whatsoever, to be expected from mee, or out of any part of my estate"; and to his daughters, Anne and Elizabeth, each £20, to be paid after the widow's death. These small legacies usually indicated that the heirs concerned had already received their portions, on their marriage or their going out into the world, but the peculiar and particular wording in the case of the eldest son may perhaps mean that family friction was not entirely avoided when the younger brother was adopted as son, and made heir, by the step-grandfather. The testator further made the "wife Anne Woodruff and my youngest son John Woodruffjoynt Executors"; and left "all the rest of my Estate both land and chattels and goods and household stuffe to be to ye only proper behoofe and benefitt of my said Execs." By the Inventory attached to the will we further know that there had already been "one half of ye Land Howsings and Accommodations clearly by Deed of Gift disposed of to his son John"; obviously the younger son. (Search has failed to find the Deed.) Witnesses were Christopher Foster, John Laughton.

Note N15236John Woodruffe, baptized 1604, only son of John Woodruffe, 1574-1611, of St. Mary Northgate, having by the remarriage of his mother, Elizabeth, become the stepson of Mr. John Gosmer, of Fordwich, returned with his mother to that parish, where, at the age of 32, he served as churchwarden; but in 1637 his son (John) was baptized in the Parish of Sturry, within half a mile of Fordwich. He married Anne, who was possibly, as has been suggested, a daughter of the stepfather by a first wife; but it is also possible that when, in 1665, their son John spoke of Mr. Gosmer as his "grandfather," it was not because of his mother's parentage, but because through his father he was a step-grandson.

Thompson, on page 207, named among the settlers who arrived at Southampton, Long Island, during the first twelve months, 1640-41, a "John Gosman" (written "John Gosmer" on page 208) and a "John Woodruff"; while the pages of the Southampton Town Records show that this only one adult John Woodruff of the period in Southampton was a member of the Gosmer household. In addition, this John Woodruff had a son John and daughters Anne and Elizabeth; names of Woodruff-Gosmer parents and grandparents.

It is, therefore, only reasonable to presume that it was the John Woodruff born in 1604 who accompanied his mother. Elizabeth, and his stepfather on their journey to Lynn and Southampton in 1639-40, and so became the immigrant ancestor of the New Jersey Woodruffs. With him came his wife Anne and the baby John, destined to later become one of the founders of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, so that the baby's descendants enjoy the distinction of having two immigrant ancestors.

For years after the founding of Southampton, although the land was "honorably purchased of its original owners, yet the settlers never saw a moment's rest for fear of their dreaded neighbors. In the field a guard was kept; at night none knew at what hour the alarm would sound; to meeting, on the Lord's Day, they went as men prepared for instant war; every male, from 16 years of age to 60 was enrolled in the ranks." Under such circumstances it might be expected that the stepson and his wife would live with their parents, both no longer young, and the belief is confirmed by Mr. Gosmer's statement (in the deed that was his will) that their younger son, John, born in Southampton, whom he adopted, "hath lived with me from a child." In those patriarchal days, even more than now, as a member of Mr. Gosmer's household John Woodruff would not have been considered one of the "heads of families," and, therefore, would not appear in the List of May, 1649. There seems, indeed, to have been no opportunity in the town records until on April 30, 1657 (when he was 53 years of age), he is named among the arms-bearing men to whom gunpowder was served out because of an Indian attack on the town.

On Sept. 17th of the same year Mr. Gosmer "bought an hundred pound lot of John Topping with the housing and fences and all his accommodations, with all the privileges there unto belonging in Southampton," which he handed over to his stepson; possibly to qualify him as his successor in the whaling squadron, which he became the same year. In that year also (but probably later than the above) John Woodruff is on the list of the representatives of the town houses, while Mr. Gosmer's name is omitted; and he is recorded in the Plan as having, in 1659, succeeded the latter in the Gosmer homestead. In 1659, also, he is for the first time mentioned as exchanging land. On Feb. 20, 1660-61, the 1657 gift of house and land to him was registered by Mr. Gosmer, after which the name of Gosmer disappeared from the records. Apparently, therefore, John Gosmer, who had retired from active work in 1657, died in 1661; and John Woodruff, then 57 years of age, reigned in his stead. In 1661 and 1662 he was only recorded as a successful plaintiff, as on an important jury, as giving in his "ear-mark," and as dealing in land. In 1663, at the town meeting of May 1st, when new rules were established regarding the keeping up of fences to prevent the trespassing of "cattell, sheepe, goats and hoggs" that had been breeding quarrels and lawsuits, he was elected and "sworne impounder."

In 1664 the times suddenly changed. At its foundation a little republic in itself, Southampton soon entered "into combinacon with the Jurisdiction of Connecticote." The relation continued practically unchanged until on March 12, 1664, Charles II granted Long Island (and other territories) to his brother James, Duke of York; and, against the wish of its people. Suffolk county, with its chief town Southampton, became a part of the Province of New York. In the following year, under the "Duke's Laws," promulgated at the Hempstead convention in March, 1665, Suffolk county was made the "East Biding (court district) of Yorkshire." Townsmen and General Courts (Town Meetings) ceased to exist, and a new tribunal was established called the "Court of the Constable and Overseers." "All the evils anticipated by the people were to be fully realized. All complaints were met in the manner that might be expected from those who considered that they were commissioned by Heaven to rule and that the people were born to obey. Gov. Nicholls was succeeded by Gov. Lovelace, whose character as a ruler may be learned from his remark, that the only way to keep the people quiet was to lay such taxes upon them as should leave no time for thinking of anything else than how to pay them."

Many good men went into opposition, and perhaps John Woodruff was among them. For, excepting such mention in land matters as would be expected for a large proprietor, he does not appear in the records until the final entry of Feb. 22, 1669, when he joined in signing a petition to "our honorable Governor Gen'l Lovelace" that they might not be deprived of "those our privilidges which at great rate wee have procured with much dificulty and danger wee have soe many years possessed." Possibly, also, his absence from public life was, at least in part, due to his having grown older than his years; for he was "weak in Body" when, on May 4, 1670, he made the will that was proved on June 1st. He had died on May 9th, in the 66th year of his age.

John Woodruff's inventory, when compared with others of the place and period, shows that, for his times, he was a man of wealth and refinement; and a study of the other too scanty information within reach has given the impression that had he less unselfishly sacrificed himself to the interests of his parents, his family, and his town, the man who was Churchwarden at would have taken up more room in the records. The little there is, however, is to his honor; and from the requirements of the at that time important and difficult post of "impounder," to which he was elected, it may be inferred that he was upright, of tact and sound judgment, and, generally, of a character and standing that commanded the confidence and respect of all, both high and low, in the community. Doubtless he, too, like John Gosmer, lies with the other founders of Southampton, in the old South End burying-ground, and his tombstone has crumbled into dust; but, more fortunate than his stepfather, there are ever increasing generations of direct descendants to keep his name before the eyes of men.

- The Woodruffs of New Jersey who came from Fordwich, Kent, England, by way of Lynn, Massachusetts, and Southampton, Long Island. 1909. p. 13-17.

Why Two Sons Named John? 

• The giving of the name John to a younger brother while an elder brother John still lived in the same household, was very unusual. It is supposed that Mr. Gosmer, upon the 1650 death of his only son, Richard, named this youngest step-grandson when he adopted him and made him his heir. The boy was not included in the 1657 list of arms-bearing men, evidence that he was then not 16 years old. As well, by matching many other dates of persons named in wills, the legal transfer of an earmark, etc., it has been determined that the youngest boy was born about 1650.

Woodruff Family Research

John Woodruffe married Ann Warde in Nonington, Kent on 8 Oct 1627^[8] John would have been age 23. At least one Family Search genealogy has linked this marriage to our John Woodruffe.

Thomas Woodruff of Fordwich, carpenter, born about 1591, was licensed to marry the widow Mary Mussared, of Hoath, in Canterbury on 10 Jan 1619.^[9] Fordwich then was, as it now is, a very small town. Perhaps Thomas was John's elder brother?

Sources

1. ↑ England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Father John Woodruff, Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. FHL Film Number: 1752160 Reference ID 33 Accessed at Ancestry.com.
2. ↑ Torrey, Clarence A., New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Page 838. Ancestry.com
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Woodruff, Francis E., The Woodruffs of New Jersey who came from Fordwich, Kent, England, by way of Lynn, Massachusetts, and Southampton, Long Island., The Grafton Press, New York, New York, 1909, p. 13
4. ↑ Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s Filby P. William, ed, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2010 from VIRKUS, FREDERICK A., editor. Immigrant Ancestors: A List of 2,500 Immigrants to America before 1750. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1964. 75p. Repr 1986. Accessed at Ancestry.com.
5. ↑ Francis E. Woodruff, Woodruffs of New Jersey (New York: Grafton Press: 1909), p. 17. Archive.org.
6. ↑ Ceylon Newton Woodruff, Woodruff chronicles: a genealogy: the Long Island-New Jersey family of John Woodruffe, the immigrant ancestor to America (Glendale, CA: A.H. Clark: 1967 ) pp. 36-38. Free by-the-hour access on Archive.org.
7. ↑ "Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate's Office, City of New York", Collections of the New York Historical Society for the Year 1892 (Vol. 25; New York: The Society: 1893), p. 17 HathiTrust.org.
8. ↑ ["England Marriages, 1538–1973 ", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NKLR-7LX : 13 March 2020), John Woodruffe, 1627.]
9. ↑ Cowper, J. Meadows, Canterbury Marriage Licences, p. 1098

• England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Father John Woodruff, Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. FHL Film Number: 1752160 Reference ID 33 Accessed at Ancestry.com.

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/77536412/john-woodruff

• Woodruff, Francis E. The Woodruffs of New Jersey who came from Fordwich, Kent, England, by way of Lynn, Massachusetts, and Southampton, Long Island. The Grafton Press, New York, New York, 1909

• Woodruff, Ceylon Newton, Woodruff Chronicles Publication: Arthur H. Clark Company; Location: Glendale, California; 1967;

• Lee, Francis Bazley, Genealogical and Memorial History of the State of New Jersey. Lewis Historical Publishing Company; New York; Date: 1910.

• Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s Filby P. William, ed, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2010 from VIRKUS, FREDERICK A., editor. Immigrant Ancestors: A List of 2,500 Immigrants to America before 1750. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1964. 75p. Repr 1986. Accessed at Ancestry.com

Acknowledgments

WikiTree profile Woodruffe-13 created through the import of Ancestors of Ellis Downing.ged on Jan 16, 2013 by Cheryl Rothwell.

• WikiTree profile Woodruff-335 created through the import of WORCESTER_2012-07-31.ged on Jul 31, 2012 by Bob Worcester.
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/77536412/john-woodruff