Woodruff branch

About the Woodruff family

The Woodruffs are Shirley Woodruff’s paternal ancestors, shown on the right side of the following bow tie chart.

Woodruff family bow tie chart

The younger generations of Woodruff descendants live either in New Jersey or California. The older generations lived on the Eastern Seaboard, in either Pennsylvania or New Jersey. They immigrated from England, Ireland, and Northern Ireland.

Shirley (Woodruff) Campbell, Nuss, Livengood, and Fay

Here are pictures of Shirley Woodruff as a child, in her high school yearbook, and as a young adult.

Shirley as a child

Shirley in highschool yearbook

Shirley as a young adult

Shirley was a talented artist. Below is an oil painting she did of hibiscus flowers.

Painting by Shirley

Shirley Woodruff, her husbands David Nuss and Robert Livengood, and her children

Shirley was married four times and had children by two of her husbands, David Berryman Nuss and Robert Hayward Livengood.

This is a photo of all four of Shirley’s children: Dana, Cherie, and Carla Nuss, and Rick Livengood.

Dana, Rick, Cherie, Carla

Shirley Woodruff and her father, Stanley

Shirley’s father was Stanley Marple Woodruff, son of Carl and Charlotte (Posnett) Woodruff. Stanley was born in Philadelphia. Both Stanley and his father worked in the shipyards in and around Philadelphia and Camden, New Jersey.

Map of Philadelphia

This is a picture of Stanley and his sister, Edith.

Stanley and Edith Woodruff

Stanley’s parents, Carl Woodruff and Charlotte Posnett

Stanley was the son of Carl Thomas Woodruff and Charlotte Elizabeth Posnett. The Woodruff ancestors were from Kent, England and Northern Ireland. The Posnett ancestors were from Leister, England.

Carl and Charlotte had six children, four of which lived to adulthood. The children pictured with their mother in the following photo are probably Edith, Stanley (or possibly Roy), and Grace.

Charlotte Posnett and children

Notable Woodruff ancestors

The Woodruff ancestors were early immigrants: many came to the United States in the 18th century or before. A number are considered Eastern Seaboard “pioneers,” and some of them fought in the Revolutionary or Civil wars. For example:

• Samuel Fleming (6th great-grandfather, 1707-1790) immigrated from Northern Ireland. He was the founder and namesake of Flemington, New Jersey. He owned a tavern on a well- traveled road in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, north of Trenton. The house he owned and occupied in Flemington is now named Samuel Fleming House Museum and Gardens, and is available for public tours.
• Thomas Lowrey (5th great-grandfather, 1737-1809), also born in Northern Ireland, was a colonel in the 3rd regiment of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, in the Revolutionary War.
• Israel Carle (4th great-grandfather, 1757-1822), born in New Jersey, was captain of a light horse militia in the Revolutionary War. The immigration history of his ancestors is unknown.
• Elias Woodruff (5th great-grandfather, 1739-1801), born in New Jersey, was an officer in charge of a commissary of military stores in the Revolutionary War. His ancestors arrived in Massachusetts in 1640 from Sturry, Kent, England.
• Thomas E Woodruff (2nd great-grandfather, 1838-1928), a descendant of both Elias Woodruff and Israel Carle, fought in the Civil War.
• Israel Carle Woodruff (3rd great uncle, 1815-1878), also a descendant of both Elias Woodruff and Israel Carle, was a brigadier general in the Civil War.
• Thomas Mayhew Woodruff (1st cousin 3x removed) attended West Point and was an army officer. He died of yellow fever in Santiago, Cuba, in 1899 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Following is an application for membership in Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) based on the applicant’s relationship to Israel Carle.

SSons of the American Revolution application

The following photo, taken in 2019, is the Samuel Fleming house in Flemington, New Jersey.

Samuel Fleming house

The following image is the Arlington National Cemetery burial card for Thomas Mayhew Woodruff.

Thomas Woodruff barial record

For more information