YUBA COUNTY
Biographies
EDWARDS WOODRUFF
On February 21, 1933, Mr. H. B. P. Carden addressed a seminar group which met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur de Lorimier. The topic of discussion for the evening was the life of Colonel Edwards Woodruff.
Mr. Carden, as a young man was employed by the subject and consequently is very well qualified to discuss and recall the career of this noted citizen of Marysville. The discussion included so many important incidents of our local history that it was the wish of the group that the Secretary offer the following summary for publication in the Appeal-Democrat.
Edwards Woodruff was born at St. David's near Niagara Falls, New York, December 10, 1824. He was graduated from Geneva (now called Hobart College) and then attended courses in the law department of Yale University, finishing his study of law in the offices of the firm of Freeman and Haven in Buffalo, New York. But, just as he was prepared to practice law the gold rush to California called and he crossed the plains in 1849.
Woodruff and John Q. Packard were among the earliest arrivals in Marysville in 1850. These two established the firm of Packard and Woodruff, dealing in general supplies for miners. Both of these partners were active members of the Marysville Vigilance Committee of 1851 and Woodruff served as secretary for the Committee. Also, he was active in city politics, serving as councilman during three terms from 1852 to 1857.
Packard and Woodruff disposed of their mercantile business in 1866, when they built a one-story brick business house on the northeast corner at Second and D Streets, known as the "Empire Block." They then parted, Packard going to Utah where he was to make a fortune and Woodruff returning to his native State, later to travel in Europe. It was while the latter was abroad that his friends in Marysville, without his knowledge, and using his name as the plaintiff, petitioned the Federal Courts for an injunction against hydraulic mining. Woodruff's name was used because he was at the time a citizen of New York, and by virtue of that fact eligible to use the Federal Courts, inasmuch as the defendant was a California corporation. The injunction was granted and this test case has ever since been the limiting precedent. There was a rumor to the effect that while in London, Woodruff was approached by a party and was offered a sum of money many times the value of his property in California as an inducement to withdraw the petition. Naturally, the knowledge of his refusal endeared him to his former neighbors in Marysville.
During the late eighties Woodruff returned to Marysville where he remained until his death. He and Packard razed the Empire Block and rebuilt the structure which now stands and which is known as the "Packard Building." Woodruff by this time had only sufficient money to pay the cost of one-half the first story of the building. Mr. Packard added the second story, paying the entire cost. Mr. Carden recalls that while he was serving as bookkeeper for the partners, he was instructed to keep separate accounts for the two stories, but that only a gentleman's agreement distinguished the two investments. By diverting sufficient rentals to the account of Mr. Packard, he was paid a sum equal to one half the second story cost and Woodruff became half owner in the entire building.
Those persons who remember Colonel Woodruff in the late nineties remember a picturesque character. A partial lameness, the result of an earlier stroke of paralysis, only added to his dignified carriage, which suggested a military experience. He had not taken an active part in the Civil War; however, the title of Colonel followed him from the time as a young man he had been appointed colonel of militia in New York, and later when he was a member of General Sutter's staff.
Curiously, he made little use of his training in law, although he held at the time of his death the distinction of being the only plaintiff ever to appear personally before the Supreme Court of the United States. But he was unusually studious and well-informed, being a constant user of the Marysville library, to which he was a donor as well. He is remembered as a good liver, indulging freely in whiskey and using numerous cigars. Dr. Barr recalls attempting, while serving as Woodruff's physician, to induce him to refrain from smoking cigars, the Colonel replied, "Do not imagine for a moment that I would give up what pleasure I get from smoking for what little satisfaction there is in existence."
Dr. Barr also relates that he performed a major operation on the Colonel, using no anaesthetic besides whiskey.
For some years before his death, Colonel Woodruff was president of the Marysville Water Co., but the position was largely honorary, he taking little active part in the management.
He died February 12, 1899 in Marysville at the home of Postmaster Charles Hapgood, 612 E Street. His wife had died in 1863. He was survived by an only son, Dr. Edwards H. Woodruff of San Francisco, who died a few years later in San Diego.
Mr. Richard Belcher has recently placed a photograph of Colonel Woodruff in the Marysville Library.