As we move forward in time through the Woodruff generations, we need to take a step sideways for a moment to identify the Woodruff families who left the mid-Atlantic states for a new Southern life.

Two of my husband’s Woodruff descents are Nathaniel Woodruff, born c1719, with his unknown wife, who was the son of Joseph and Hannah (MNU) Woodruff and Moses Woodruff, born c1739, who married (1) Phebe (MNU) and (2) Elizabeth Collins. Moses was the son of John Woodruff and Eleanor Donnington.

It also happens that Nathaniel and Moses were uncle and nephew and it was these two families who migrated to Surry County, North Carolina.

However, it was Nathaniel Woodruff’s family that led the way, as Nathaniel Woodruff Senior, Thomas and Nathaniel Woodruff Jr. all appear on the 1771 tax list of Surry County, North Carolina. Thomas and Nathaniel Jr. are taxed one poll, while Nathaniel Sr. is taxed for 2 polls. The second poll is probably his son Joseph, who is found on the 1777 tax list.

By 1777, “Nethanil Woodruf”, “Nat Woodroff,” Joseph and Moses Woodruff are found in Jabez Jarvis’s district.

Nathaniel Woodruff received a grant of 390 acres on the south side of the Yadkin River, issued on 24 October 1782. The land was entered on 4 February 1779, at which time, DAR records note that Nathaniel gave the Oath of Allegiance, making him a patriot of the American Revolution.

On 7 April 1786, Nathaniel sold to Samuel Woodruff, “for love and affection of my son” and for £10 100 acres, “part of the trace where I now live [on the south side of the Yadkin River.]

Furthermore, Nathaniel was paid £1.10 for claims on 10 May 1787 in Surry County, North Carolina, which qualifies as patriotic service during the war in hereditary societies.

What became of Thomas is not known. He may have died or moved elsewhere because no land grants are entered in his name and he appears in no other Surry County records. However, it is also possible that this Thomas was the brother of Nathaniel, born c1722. Nothing much is known of that man either.

Exactly when did Nathaniel Woodruff arrive in North Carolina? That question has no answer right now. Surry County was formed in 1771 from Rowan County, but no trace of Nathaniel has been found there, but there is a gap in Rowan’s tax lists between 1768 and 1771. It’s possible that Nathaniel arrived in the area at that time.

Nathaniel Woodruff doesn’t appear in the records of Elizabethtown or Westfield, New Jersey, where the Woodruffs were living in the early to mid-1700s.

Nathaniel Woodruff sold off his remaining land on 5 February 1788 to William Cook, described as 200 acres on the south side of the Yadkin River. The witness was Jabez jarvis.

Moses Woodruff, on the other hand, can be placed in Westfield until 4 April 1772, when his son, Moses, was christened at the Westfield Presbyterian Church.

That would indicate that Nathaniel Woodruff arrived in North Carolina first, appearing by 1771, while Moses arrived sometime between April 1772 and 1777, when he, too, appears on the Surry County tax list.

It is certain that Moses in Westfield until 1772 is the same man as Moses in Surry County because he left a will in Surry County, naming his wife and children – children whose names match up with his children baptized in Westfield.

One Moses Woodruff died before 1804, when his estate was settled. He was married and had at least two children – Sarah and Gideon, as named in the early probate records.

This Moses was likely the son who was mentioned in Moses Sr.’s 1816 will, proved in November 1817, in which Moses Sr. left a bequest to the children of his son, Moses.

Moses married (1) Phebe (MNU) and (2) Elizabeth Collins, 29 June 1806, Surry County, North Carolina. Children named in his will were John Allen Woodruff, Mary McBride (perhaps married to John McBride, on of Moses’s executors), Moses, Gideon Woodruff, Jennet Woodruff (married to Samuel Woodruff), Lydia Pace (married to Burrell/Burwell Pace), Hannah Moore (perhaps married to Obadiah Martin, one of Moses’ executors) and Phebe Bryan.

Gideon Woodruff didn’t long outlive his father, as his will was proved in November 1817. Gideon’s son, John, left a will dated November 1812 in which he named his father and left his estate to siblings Abner, Cornelius, Micajah, Phebe and Moses.

Gideon’s will name wife Prudence and children Abner, Cronelius, Mary McMickle, Samuel, David, Elizabeth Nicholson, Phebe Burch, Moses, the estate of son John, Micajah, and youngest son Allen plus youngest daughters Rebeckah and Lucinda.

There is another piece of the puzzle that is only partly known concerning the Woodruffs. They had a very close relationship with John Allen of Surry County. The problem is there is more than one John Allen.

First, the land that Nathaniel sold to his son Samuel is noted in the description to border that of John Allen’s property.

Second, notice that Moses Woodruff named a son ‘John Allen Woodruff.’

Third, on 11 May 1784 Joseph Woodruff sold 400 acres of the south side of the Yadkin River to John Allen for £50.

Fourth, it is thought that John Allen was born c1743, so a contemporary of Moses Woodruff.

One John Allen left a will dated 1 December 1800 in Surry County, but left all to his wife, Jane. Jane died a few years later and her heirs were named. There were multiple children, but no daughters named Mary Woodruff.

That is important because John Allen who married Elizabeth Lindsey died on 8 December 1822 in Woodruff, Spartanburg, South Carolina and among his heirs is daughter Mary Woodruff.

The Allens, Lindseys and Woodruffs were a tightly knit fan club as the moved from North Carolina to South Carolina and then to Kentucky with all three surnames appearing together in multiple records through the years.

The Allen surname is very, very common and I haven’t been able to determine the origins of John Allen, born c1743. However, there are Allens in the Westfield church records and, given their continued ties in the Carolinas, it’s possible that John Allen was known to the Woodruffs back in New Jersey.

Sometime between February 1788 and the 1790 census, Nathaniel Woodruff and his immediate family moved on to Spartanburg County, South Carolina where Nathaniel, Joseph, Samuel, Samuel Jr. and Thomas were all enumerated. They are the only Woodruffs found in South Carolina.

Nathaniel’s household had only one male over 16 and one female, so his sons and any possible daughters were married and in their own adult households.

The Woodruffs are all enumerated on the same page. A couple of other familiar names are also on that page – Burwell Pace, who married Moses’ daughter, Lydia, and there is a John ‘Allin’ also in the same neighborhood.

The 1790 census of Surry County, North Carolina shows only Moses and Gideon Woodruff. In fact, they are the only Woodruffs enumerated in North Carolina so the two families went their separate ways in the post-Revolutionary War years.

Perhaps future researchers will be able to piece together more of the John Allen story.

Knowing how these puzzle pieces fit together will clarify how connections were made in the next few parts of the Woodruff story.