John (2) Woodhurst

Brief biography

John (2) Woodhurst was born in 1842 in Buckland, a few miles north-west of Dover, to parents William (3) Woodhurst and his first wife Mary [Birth Index: Dover 5 102, 1842 (Sept)]. A descendant reports that he was born (or christened) on September 12th 1842.

The 1861 Census finds him boarding at the Plantation in Faversham in a household headed by an oyster dredger named Frederick Arnold. He was aged "18" and occupied as a cooper (barrel-maker), possibly in the local gunpowder mills. He had begun this trade as an apprentice when he was aged about 14, as evidenced by this record [Faversham Apprentices' Register (Fa / RA14), Centre for Kentish Studies, Maidstone]:

John Woodhurst, son of William Woodhurst, Faversham, Contractor,
[apprenticed] to Mr. Henry Ambrose Page, Faversham, Cooper, for 7 years. Indenture dated 12 Aug 1856.

The person to whom he was apprenticed was probably the "Henry Page" living in Preston Street, Faversham at the time of the 1841 Census, aged about 25 and occupied as a cooper.

It is suspected that later in 1861 he followed his brothers William (4) and Stephen to America. He appears to have enlisted at New York for the Civil War as a private in the Union Army on November 27th 1861. The record in the Civil War Enlistments cites his age then as 20.

Anecdotal evidence from descendants in America of his brother Daniel suggest that he may have been taken prisoner during the Civil War and have died at the notorious Libby Prison in Virginia. However, there exists a record of a John A. Woodhurst who enlisted as a private with K Company in the 138th Pennsylvania Infantry on September 29th 1862, and who was mustered out - still as a private - on June 23rd 1865. It is possible that this was John (2) with an informally-adopted middle name, and that he transferred to this regiment nearly a year after his first enlistment in 1861. In any event, he has not been found in any of the US Censuses and nothing more is currently known of him.