I.N. Woods, Woodburn Postmaster

(Thanks to great-great grandaughter Julie Bradley (Woods) Garrett for the photos and poem).
I.N. was postmaster from at least 1899-1906.

(The reference to Pike in this poem is thought to be a letter he was waiting for from his Civil War friend, William Ford). 

     Isaac Newell "I.N." Woods was born in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, on May 29, 1841, to John Sears and Mary Ann “Polly” (Hazen) Woods. He came to Pike County, Illinois, with his parents in 1843, where he grew to manhood. I.N. enlisted in the Civil War in 1861 in Company I, 28th Illinois Volunteers. He was later promoted to Corporal of Co.B, then Lieutenant of Co.F. He was wounded in the Battle of Shiloh in April, 1862, and mustered out of service on April 6, 1866.

     I.N. settled on a farm in Lucas County, Iowa, in 1868. He married Augusta A. Miller on March 24, 1869. She was born in Brown County, Ohio, in 1841 and came to Iowa with her parents in 1853, settling on a farm in Lucas County where she grew to womanhood. They had six children, and Augusta passed away on February 7, 1989. Augusta united with the M.E. Church over twenty years before her death. She is buried at the Woodburn Cemetery.

     For many years, I.N. was engaged in the hardware and implement business at Woodburn, and was also a postmaster there for several years. After leaving Woodburn, he traveled to Ohio for some time, and later made his home with his sons, F.M. Woods of Ottumwa and J.L. Woods of Cedar Rapids. He spent his winters in Florida. I.N. died at his son’s home in Ottumwa on May 12, 1912, and was laid to rest in the Woodburn Cemetery with Masonic honors.

  (from Woodburn, Iowa: Life in a Railroad Town)