Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 181 - 185

 COMMODORE WILLIAM C. WOODMAN was the pioneer banker of the Arkansas Valley, and was President of the First Arkansas Valley Bank, of Wichita.  He was first and foremost among the men of enterprise and ability who contributed so much to raise this town from a small trading village to its present condition as the  metropolis of a rich agricultural region, with varied manufacturing and other business interests common to our large American cities, and with splendid educational and religious institutions.

      The subject of this biography was born in Chester County, Pa., Oct. 27, 1816.  He was descended from an ancestry who in the early history of the colonization of Pennsylvania made their home in that State.  His parents were Abishai and Hannah (Jenkins) Woodman, both natives of Pennsylvania.  His father was born in 1792 in Valley Forge, on the very spot where Washington and his army had made their camp during one winter of the Revolutionary War.  His parents were Edward and Sarah (Stephens) Woodman, natives  respectively of England and Valley Forge.  Edward Woodman came from England to this country in 1750, and settling in Charleston, S. C., at the time of the American Revolution, gallantly cast his fortunes with his fellow colonists.  He did good service throughout the war under Washington, and at the battle of Brandywine he was wounded.  He afterward settled down in Valley Forge, and married Miss Sarah Stephens, whose family were early settlers of that town.  He engaged in farming there until his death, in 1825.  His wife lived to an advanced age, dying in 1852.  They had a family of six children.  Their son Abishai grew to manhood in the historical town of his birth.  He commenced business as a contractor and builder, and later became a merchant in Valley forge.  From there he removed to Pottsville, Pa., thence to Philadelphia, and finally to Jacksonville, Ill., where he died in 1872.  His wife died in Pennsylvania in 1835.  they were the parents of five children, namely:  William C., Sarah A., Jane C., Edward and Rebecca.  Their record is as follows: Sarah A. is Mrs. B. Hahn, of Philadelphia, Pa.; Jane died in 1870, in Jacksonville, Ill.; Edward lives in Jacksonville, Ill.; Rebecca is Mrs. Clendenen, of Los Angeles, Cal.

      William C. Woodman commenced attendance at school when he was but little over four years old, and in subsequent years attained a good practical  education.  At the age of sixteen he learned of his father the carpenter's  trade, and followed the same until of age.  Then he became a clerk in a dry-goods house in Norristown, Pa., and so efficient was his service and so rapid his promotion that at the end of a month he was placed in charge of a large department in the store, and at the end of four months he had the entire charge of the whole establishment.  His salary for the first thirty days was at the rate of $200 a year; at the end of the second month it was increased to $300, and after four months it was raised to $500 per annum.  He continued in the management of that establishment the most of the time for five years.  Subsequently he went to Philadelphia and engaged in business, though he had but limited means, and after three years closed out his business to accept a position in the wholesale establishment of James R. Smith & Co., remaining with them until 1850.  In that year he became one of the founders of the commercial house of Smith, Williams & Co.  At the end of two years he sold out his interest in that concern, having resolved to try his fortunes in the West, and removed with his family to Jacksonville, Ill., in 1858.

      Several years prior to his removal to Illinois, in 1841, Mr. Woodman had married Miss Amanda M. Twining, of Norristown, Pa.; she died at her home in Jacksonville, Ill., in 1861.  She was a devoted wife and mother, and was held in the highest respect by all who knew her.  She was the mother of six children, namely:  William, Wallace, Annie, Thomas, Harry and Edward.  Wallace and Harry are dead.  Mr. Woodman was again married during his residence in Illinois, in 1863, to Miss Elizabeth Williams, daughter of Isaac and Margaret (Reed) Williams, natives of Chester County, Pa.  There Mr. Williams was engaged in farming, and there his entire life was passed, his death occurring in 1859.  Mrs. Williams is still living in  Pennsylvania.  They had a family of twelve children, eight of whom are now living, namely:  Annie,  Elizabeth, Hannah, Kersey, Jane, George, Emma and Charles.  Hannah is now Mrs. Ray; Jane is now Mrs. Ball.

      Mr. Woodman engaged in mercantile business with satisfactory success in his Illinois home until 1869, when he sold out, and, having disposed of his property and settled up all his affairs, he came to Kansas in 1870, and located in Wichita, and from that time steadily worked for the development of the city, his keen insight foreseeing the great future that lay before the magnificent trading village.  He took a claim of 160 acres on Cowskin Creek, and in April, 1871, purchased a stock of goods in what was then called Wichita.  A somewhat amusing incident is told in regard to this transaction, which somewhat illustrates the social condition of a new settlement where the male element predominates.  It is this:  On taking an inventory of the goods a pair of ladies' shoes was found among them.  Mr. Woodman refused to take the goods unless the shoes were thrown in, as he said they would never sell as the town was so far out West.  As if to refute his argument, the door opened, and a rustic looking woman entered and inquired if they had women's shoes for sale.  She was shown the very pair of shoes under discussion, and remarked that they were very coarse, and inquired the size.  The clerk responded.  "No. 7."  "O law!" she said, "I wear No. 5.  Can't I get any others?"  "Yes," was the reply, "100 miles from here."   "Wall, I suppose I shall have to take them."  She paid $2.50 for them and went away the happy possessor of the shoes.

      Mr. Woodman was the second merchant who established himself in business in Wichita.  In the same year he established in connection with his mercantile trade a banking exchange.  In July of that year a broker stepped into his office, and wished to borrow $500 for a friend (Curley Marshall) for one year, offering him five per cent per month interest, and good security on a farm.  Mr. Woodman loaned the money, and at the end of three days Mr. Marshall wished to pay the mortgage.  Mr. Woodman remarked that it was to run for one year.  "Wall," said Mr. Marshall, "I'm going to pay it and the interest for one year."  That was the first mortgage in the country and the commencement of five per cent per month interest.  Mr. Woodman was the first man who ever did a banking business in the Arkansas Valley, and he continued it until his death.  In 1883 he built the bank building, the finest in the city, in which the business is now conducted.  For years he made a careful study of all questions of finance, and was the author of a work on National finances, which displayed marked ability in handling the question, and obtained a wide circulation among the financiers of the country, and brought him into consideration as an eminent authority on all matters pertaining to banking and the issue of money.  He had but lately printed a second work on the same subject as his first one, but its issue has been delayed on account of his illness.  In this volume he advocates the establishment of a United States Bank to issue and keep in circulation $350,000,000, neither more nor less, which shall be legal tender with all National banks made fiscal agents for the General Government, and to be good for all debts except duties or imports.

      Our subject built the first brick store in the city, at No. 33 Main street, and afterward erected three other large store buildings.  The house which was his home was the first dwelling erected in Wichita, and the logs and casings were cut upon the premises.  It stands in the center of the city, and the grounds around it, containing about fifteen acres, are beautifully laid out in parks and orchards.  In this beautiful home, surrounded by wife and children, his lamented death occurred Dec. 26, 1887, at the age of seventy-one years and two months.  He was a man of unusually fine physique, but his iron constitution gave way before the years of unceasing labor into which he had crowded so much.  His death was not unexpected, as his health had previously given way under the long continued pressure of the demands of his business, and he had in vain sought relief by a trip through the Yellowstone country, and later to  California.  Early in the spring he was preparing for a trip to Europe, but his physicians advised against it, and suggested that he go to some watering place on the Atlantic Coast.  Accordingly he spent the summer at different points in New England, and returning early in the fall, spent a few weeks at the Hot Springs in Arkansas, but his trip failed to restore his failing energies, and he returned home only to die.  His name is indissolubly linked with that of Wichita, and his death cast a gloom over the entire community.  During the years that have passed since he came to this beautiful valley to make his home here he had endeared himself to the hearts of many who found in him a warm and trusted friend.  He left an honorable record of a well-spent life.

     His life is bright--bright without a spot it was

     And cannot cease to be.  No ominous hour

     Knocks at his door with tidings of mishap.

     Far off is he, above desire and fear.

     No more submitted to the chance and change

     Of the unsteady planets.  O! 'tis well

     With him!  But who knows what the coming hour,

     Veiled in thick darkness, brings for us?

      Mr. Woodman left a widow and eight children.  William, his eldest son by his first marriage, is  President of the Woodman Bank.  He was his father's partner, and for some years has attended to the details of the banking business.  By his last marriage our subject had four children, namely:  Clarence, bookkeeper in the bank; Grant, cashier in the bank; H. Ray and L. C.

      In politics Mr. Woodman was a stanch Republican.  In early life he had been a Whig.  He was a strong Union man, and was a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, and was especially invited to Washington to attend his funeral.

      Among the numerous portraits given in this volume, none will be more acceptable than that of Mr. Woodman.

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