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Joseph Hershey “Joe” Woodward

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Joseph Hershey “Joe” Woodward Veteran

Birth
Ohio County, West Virginia, USA
Death
15 Dec 1917 (aged 73–74)
Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, USA
Burial
Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, USA Add to Map
Plot
Block 19, Woodward Mausoleum Island
Memorial ID
View Source
Find a Grave contributor, Bham85 (48240040)
Joseph Hersey Woodward was the chairman and president of the Woodward Iron Company and a director and vice-president of the First National Bank of Birmingham.

Joseph was the son of Stimpson Harvey and Margaret Glass Woodward. He grew up in Wheeling, Virginia where his father was partner in the La Belle Iron Works and was educated at the Lindsley Institute there. During the Civil War West Virginia was admitted as a new state of the Union, and the Lindsley Institute's building served as its first capitol. Woodward, like his fellow cadets, enlisted with the United States Army. He served for three years before being discharged due to injury.

Woodward accompanied his father to Alabama in 1869 to look over properties on Red Mountain and the Warrior Coal Field. The elder Woodward purchased thousands of acres in Jefferson County and Tuscaloosa County for investment, but did not believe that the time was right to pursue industrial development. Joseph relocated to Taylor, Texas to operate a large cattle ranch. In 1876, at his father's request, he returned to the busy Birmingham District where he observed the Eureka Experiment at Oxmoor Furnaces which demonstrated the viability of making iron from local materials.

By the time the Woodward's incorporated the Woodward Iron Company in 1881 the Birmingham District was booming. Joseph and his brother William served as secretary and president, respectively, and began work on their first ore mine near Bessemer. The company put the first of the Woodward Furnaces into blast in 1883 and grew to become one of the nation's largest pig iron producers with an annual output of over 250,000 tons. William left the business to his brother in 1886. Joseph's son, Rick Woodward, owner of the Birmingham Barons baseball team, took over as president in 1910.

Woodward died after two years of infirmity.
Find a Grave contributor, Bham85 (48240040)
Joseph Hersey Woodward was the chairman and president of the Woodward Iron Company and a director and vice-president of the First National Bank of Birmingham.

Joseph was the son of Stimpson Harvey and Margaret Glass Woodward. He grew up in Wheeling, Virginia where his father was partner in the La Belle Iron Works and was educated at the Lindsley Institute there. During the Civil War West Virginia was admitted as a new state of the Union, and the Lindsley Institute's building served as its first capitol. Woodward, like his fellow cadets, enlisted with the United States Army. He served for three years before being discharged due to injury.

Woodward accompanied his father to Alabama in 1869 to look over properties on Red Mountain and the Warrior Coal Field. The elder Woodward purchased thousands of acres in Jefferson County and Tuscaloosa County for investment, but did not believe that the time was right to pursue industrial development. Joseph relocated to Taylor, Texas to operate a large cattle ranch. In 1876, at his father's request, he returned to the busy Birmingham District where he observed the Eureka Experiment at Oxmoor Furnaces which demonstrated the viability of making iron from local materials.

By the time the Woodward's incorporated the Woodward Iron Company in 1881 the Birmingham District was booming. Joseph and his brother William served as secretary and president, respectively, and began work on their first ore mine near Bessemer. The company put the first of the Woodward Furnaces into blast in 1883 and grew to become one of the nation's largest pig iron producers with an annual output of over 250,000 tons. William left the business to his brother in 1886. Joseph's son, Rick Woodward, owner of the Birmingham Barons baseball team, took over as president in 1910.

Woodward died after two years of infirmity.


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