Horace G. Woodworth Family
"His name is Woodworth. He has consumption, and
came out here to take the prairie-climate cure.
He's been living on his claim all summer and was
going to stay all winter." -By the
Shores of Silver Lake, Chapter 15, "The Last Man Out"
Horace Gideon Woodworth was born in 1827 in Ohio, son of John Woodworth and Chloe Bridgman. Horace Woodworth became a Baptist minister while living at Hudson, Michigan, and he served as Chaplain of the 96th Illinois Infantry during the Civil War. He was married to Frances Jane Jurney, and the couple had eleven children. The eighth and ninth children were James and Benjamin; they were the characters "Jim and Ben Woodworth" in the De Smet "Little House"® books.
In the summer of 1879, Horace Woodworth came to Dakota Territory from Lafayette County, Wisconsin. In July, he first filed on a homestead, the NW 26-111-56. This is less than a mile northeast of where the Surveyors' House stood; it is hard to believe that Charles Ingalls wouldn't have known of Rev. Woodworth's existence or noticed his claim shanty, especially if he had been living in it all summer. It is not known if Rev. Woodworth ever suffered from consumption.
The Woodworth family didn't remain in De Smet after final homestead proof in 1883. This final proof was less than five years from first filing because Woodworth could apply time served in the Union Army against his residency requirement. The Woodworths moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Here, Reverend Woodworth died in 1899.
Jim Woodworth
Then footsteps came springing up the stairs, and Jim came breezing in. He looked around at them
all, and gravely asked, "Are you playing Quaker
meeting?" -Little Town on the Prairie, Chapter 20, "The Birthday Party"
James Grant Woodworth was born in 1864 in Hillsdale, Michigan. Jim began his long career working for the railroad in 1879 when he served as office boy in the freight department of the Chicago & NorthWestern Railroad. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote that Jim Woodworth was the telegraph operator in De Smet, but he actually also served as the first Depot Agent. The job was listed in his father's name because - at age 16 - Jim was considered too young for the job. Prior to the Depot being built, Jim worked the telegraph on open ground before being given an empty boxcar to operate from.
Jim left De Smet in March 1883 to become a railroad agent in Chicago. Through his long career, he worked for the railroad in Dakota Territory, Illinois, Oregon, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota, rising to Vice President of the Northern Pacific Railroad. He married Helen Burnside in 1895; the couple had no children. They settled in St. Paul, Minnesota. Here, Helen Woodworth died in 1937; Jim Woodworth died in 1952.
Ben Woodworth
Laura ... could not answer his "Good evening." He was wearing his Sunday suit and stiff white
collar. His hair was damp and carefully combed. He
added, "Mother's upstairs." -Little Town on
the Prairie, Chapter 20, "The Birthday Party"
Benjamin Holland Woodworth was born July 8, 1867 in Illinois. Prior to moving to De Smet, he lived with his family in Darlington, Wisconsin. Although Laura Ingalls Wilder suggests in Little Town on the Prairie that Ben's 1882 party (see Chapter 20, "The Birthday Party") was a birthday party based on the title and presence of a "white frosted birthday cake," Ben's birthday was actually in July, not January (the month of the supper in De Smet). Laura's original handwritten invitation is on display at the Laura Ingalls Wilder / Rose Wilder Lane Home and Museum in Mansfield, Missouri. It reads:
Ben H. Woodworth
requests the pleasure of your company at his home
Saturday Evening
January 28"
Supper at Eight O' Clock
Ben moved to Minneapolis with his family the following year. He worked for the Interior (grain) Elevator Company, eventually becoming the successful president of his own grain elevator company. He married Elizabeth Cushman in 1896; the couple had two sons, Benjamin and Robert. Ben Woodworth died in 1943 in Minneapolis; Elizabeth Woodworth died in 1967.
Woodworth family
