#1 Published in the Enterprise February 10, 1927

Grandpa Woods Is Called-Ft. Calhoun’s Historian Is Called To Last Reward. Known For His Kindness And Love. Put His Town On Map of Publicity-Came In Early Seventies

William Henry Woods, familiarly know to his large list of friends as “Grandad” Woods, passed away on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 8 at this home in Calhoun at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years.

Deceased was born in Leeds, England, September 28, 1839 and came to this country, settling with his mother in Peoria, Illinois when but ten years of age. Here he grew to manhood and in August 1861 he was married to Miss Margaret Eliza McBurney and the same month he enlisted in Company B of the 10th Missouri. He served his country for three years and was given an honorable discharge August 4, 1864 at Keokuk, Iowa where he served as a nurse in the general hospital.

In 1869 he came to Omaha where he made his home for a time and where he served as the first secretary of the Y.M.C. A. in Nebraska. Three years later in 1872 he came to Calhoun where he made his permanent home. From the start he was interested in the civic and moral welfare of his community. For forty-five years he was a member of the Sunday school. He was a life member of the State Historical Society and in this capacity gathered much valuable material on the early history and settlements of Calhoun and vicinity. He was also life historian of the Pioneer and Old Settlers’ Association of Washington County.

It was Mr. Woods who, three years ago, took a leading part in replanting one of the “centennial trees” of Fort Calhoun in the city park there, said to be the oldest park in Nebraska. The tree was one of a grove of black locusts planted more than 100 years ago by soldiers who garrisoned the then lonely Fort Calhoun, at that time known as Fort Atkinson.

Dearest to the heart of Grandpa Woods was Fort Atkinson, where, between 1819 and 1827, a band of United States soldiers quartered. Only sunken squares in a plowed cornfield mark the site today, but from it, Grandpa Woods grubbed up a graphic story of relics of the ill-fated stay of the troopers.

It had been his hope that the government would some day purchase old Fort Atkinson and form a national cemetery of the 300 graves of men who died there during its existence.

In his later years, “Grandpa” Woods lived alone in a little house by the side of the road. From his front porch vantage point on a warm day he waved to all who passed on the road to the river or, when visitors stopped, he sat and chatted of the crops twenty years ago or possibilities of new finds on the Fort Atkinson site.

When Calhoun celebrated the centennial of Fort Atkinson’s founding, Grandpa Wood was master of ceremonies and the center of interest apart from the fort site cornfield was Grandpa Woods’ home filled with relics of the past.

Although he was the father of eleven children, through choice he lived alone. His was a life of high thought and plain living and about his little home were many mottoes that would tend to lift one out of the sordid things of life and into a higher plane of living.

Calhoun will miss him. He lived for Calhoun, always a booster and never a knocker, he died endowed with a wealth of affection from all who knew him. He lived his own life and did his bit for his community and for mankind.

His sickness was of short duration, stricken on Sunday he died Tuesday. Peacefully slept while life slipped away.

The funeral is to be held this afternoon at 2:30 at the Presbyterian Church in Calhoun where Rev. Underwood of Blair assisted by Rev. Kurtz of Calhoun will have charge of the ceremony and interment will be made in the Calhoun Cemetery.

He leaves to mourn his loss a sister, Mrs. Mary Tripp of Peoria, Ill., also a half-sister, Mrs. Sarah Spencer of Grand Island, Nebr., and his children: Mrs. Henry Fleege of Tekamah; James T. Woods of Bancroft; Mrs. Alice Wade, Omaha; Mrs. G. M. Reser. Kansas City, Kansas; Ralph G. Woods, Endicott, Nebr.; Mrs. John Aronson, Blair; Mrs. E. E. Blackman, Lincoln and Mrs. Perry Talbot of Eula, Arkansas.

#2 Published in the February 10, 1927 Tribune, Blair, Nebraska

W. H. WOODS IS DEAD AT FT. CALHOUN HOME

Dies Following Short Illness From Kidney Trouble and Complications Due to Advanced Age

WELL KNOWN OVER COUNTY

Resident of County for Over Half a Century

Word reached Blair Tuesday afternoon that W. H. Woods had passed away at 3:45 o’clock following a short illness from kidney trouble and a general breakdown due to advanced age. His daughter, Mr.s J. E. Aronson, was called to his bedside Sunday from her farm home near Blair to administer to his comfort, and phoned The Tribune on Monday that her father’s condition was very critical.

Mr. Woods was probably one of the best known characters in Washington county, and his death will be regretted by a host of friends and acquaintances. He had for years been the Ft. Calhoun correspondent for both Blair and Omaha newspapers, and had done more than any one man to keep his town before the public. It has been due to his efforts that Ft. Calhoun has been recognized as one of Nebraska’s greatest historical spots, the site of a Lewis and Clark camp and later as a location of an early day fort.

An archeologist of recognized ability, he has located many valuable bones of prehistoric animals as well as Indian utensils in the bluffs and ravines of the Calhoun neighborhood, and many of the more important things have, for years, been on exhibition in various museums of the country.

For years Mr. Woods has been the Ft. Calhoun correspondent for The Tribune, and many of our older subscribers have been constant readers of his column. He was over 87 years of age, and came to Washington county in 1871.

Readers of The Tribune are quite familiar with his life’s history and hundreds of them knew him personally. Calhoun had no demonstration of a public nature that Mr. Woods was not mingling among the visitors and extending a hearty welcome to the city. He never tired in detailing his city’s good points, and was ever ready to recount its history. In his passing Ft. Calhoun loses its most valuable citizen.

Mr. Woods was born in Leeds, England September 28, 1839, and was a volunteer in Company B, Tenth Missouri infantry during the Civil War. He came to Washington county in 1871, following a stay in Omaha where he had been the first secretary of the Omaha Y. M. C. A. Locating in Ft. Calhoun, he held many positions of trust in the community, and was at one time township assessor. At the time of his death, he was historian for the Washington County Old Settlers’ association, a position he held since its organization. Mrs. Woods died a great many years ago, since which time Mr. Woods has lived alone, doing his own cooking and housework, surrounded by relics from old Fort Atkinson, fossils and bones of prehistoric animals, Indian relics, etc. In fact, his home was a museum, and a most interesting place to spend a few hours. Visitors were always welcome.

With Mr. Woods, at the time of his death, were three of his daughters, Mrs. John Aronson of Blair, Mrs. Henry Fleege of Tekamah, and Mrs. E. E. Blackman of Lincoln. He is also survived by three other daughters, Mrs. George Reser, Kansas City; Mrs Perry Talbot, Eula, Ark., and Mrs. Alice Wade, Omaha; two sons, James, Bancroft, Nebr., and Ralph, Endicott, Nebr.

Funeral services were held this afternoon at 2:30 from the Presbyterian church at Calhoun and interment was made in the Ft. Calhoun cemetery. The G. A. R. post of Blair, of which Mr. Woods was a member, and the W. R. C. had charge of the services.

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair, Nebraska Public Library ~~~