Dr. Henry Woodward, son of Samuel Woodward, M.D., was born in Torringford, Connecticut, in 1795. He studied medicine with his father and brother, Samuel B. Woodward, then of Wethersfield, with whom he practiced several years, when he removed to Middletown, by invitation of Dr. Tully, who was about to leave the city. He soon gained an extensive practice, and for years “his business was equal to that of any other physician in the State, both for respectability and extent.” He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Connecticut Medical Society at an earlier age than any other gentleman in the State. He was twice chosen to represent the town of Middletown in the Legislature of the State. His moral character was above reproach. He was a man of active benevolence; gave much in charity, and took hold of the great moral enterprises of the day with true zeal. He was a regular member of the Episcopal church, of which he was for some time vestryman and warden.
In the midst of his activity and usefulness he was cut down by a disease of the chest, which, in a few months, terminated his life by rapid consumption. He died in 1832, aged 37 years.
Charles Woodward, M.D., belonged to a family of physicians. He was the youngest son of Dr. Samuel Woodward, of Torringford, Connecticut, where he was born in August 1798. He studied medicine, first with his father, and afterward with his brother, Samuel B. Woodward. At the age of 24 he commenced practice at Windsor, in this State, but in 1832, on the death of his brother, Dr. Henry Woodward, of Middletown, he removed to that city, where he passed the remainder of his life.
As a practitioner he was held in high esteem by his brethren in the profession, and was greatly beloved by his patients. The goodness and benevolence which were prominent traits in his character found expression in the following extract from an address which he delivered before the State Medical Society (of which he was president), in 1868:
“There is a sentiment prevailing among the members of our profession, that as a profession we are not duly appreciated, and for our services we are not properly remunerated. This may be true to a certain extent, but who has the affections of the community about him to a greater extent than the ‘beloved physician?’ When stricken down by sickness, who has more earnest prayers for his recovery? No one should enter the profession under the expectation of having a long rent-roll, or a large file of certificates of bonds and stocks; if he does he is doomed to disappointment. We should be governed by higher motives and nobler purposes. We should feel that we have entered a field where there is an opportunity of practically carrying out the precepts and following the example of the ‘Great Physician;’ and inasmuch as we have lodged the stranger, given food and drink to the famishing, and visited the sick for the work’s sake, we have followed his example and served him.”
Dr. Woodward’s sons, Charles R. and Henry, are druggists in Middletown.
In 1841, Dr. Woodward represented the eighteenth district in the State Senate. In 1849, and in 1857, he represented Middletown in the Legislature. He was the first to move in the matter of securing the location of the insane hospital at Middletown. He died in 1870.
Source
Whittemore, Henry, History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, New York : J. B. Beers & Co., 1884.
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