Family and Home

Despite the deprivations of war, Woodworth's greatest concerns often laid hundreds of miles away, at his home in East Varick. Despite his absence, work on the farm needed to continue and debts still came due. Planting, sowing, harvesting, threshing, and caring for horses and cattle not only needed to be done, but also on time, to pay the mortgage, and purchase necessaries for his family and his farm. Phebe assumed certain farm and business duties, but neighbors assumed many of the chores. Neighbor Charley White often tended the field. James Warne, the owner of the adjoining farm assisted with haying and cared for a calf birthed by Woodworth's cow. Phebe's brother, Daniel, cared for Frank, his favorite Bay Horse, who was a little temperamental, and too difficult for his wife to handle. Ralph Roberts, the country store owner at the bottom of the hill, not only extended the Woodworth's the usual credit, but granted them extra latitude to repay certain purchases, including a reaper. ⁽¹⁾

Despite the aid of Thomas Burroughs, the help of the neighbors, and the revenues generated by the harvests, the family was often short of money. Woodworth sent money home whenever possible, but the regiment often went several months between pay musters. With pay of $13 each month, he almost certainly did not enter the service for any financial benefit, having a new family, and a new, well-situated, fertile farm still producing today, located on a hill overlooking Cayuga Lake in the heart of wine country. But to make ends meet, Woodworth orchestrated the sale of some of his wagons and horses, selling them to Charley White for $200. ⁽²⁾

Woodworth showed both his devotion and his concern toward his family and their welfare, and apologized for past indiscretions and ignorance. Shortly after first arriving in Virginia in late October 1862, he learned that a broken ankle caused by a jump from a runaway wagon immobilized his wife. The anguished soldier, helpless from such a great distance, could offer no more than written encouragement and prayer while family and friends took over almost all her farm and domestic duties, including care for little Frankie. ⁽³⁾

Woodworth displayed his love for his wife throughout his letters to her, only berating her for when he letters were short or infrequent. He often wished he could be home to be with her, but never wished her to come to Virginia. His heart longed for her, always looking forward to the great reunion at the end of the war. He urged her to continue to socialize, that he already suffered enough for both of them. His love for her grew "stronger and purer" every day as he eliminated his "wicked" nature that prevented him from being able to "lavish upon you the love that now burns within me." If God allowed them to reunite on earth, Woodworth promised a "rapturous joy" and the "dawning of a new love." He discovered that their separation had given him a "purer, higher, nobler love." ⁽⁴⁾

And how he missed little Frankie, "flax" haired and "plump," only two years old in early 1863, just beginning to learn to talk as his father left for war. His earliest words included "Soldier Pa" after seeing a photo of his father taken in Albany. Woodworth expressed a great interest in his son's actions, the games he played, and the words he learned. What frightened Woodworth, probably more than any battle, was a scarlet fever epidemic that attacked Seneca County. Heightening this anxiety, he soon discovered in a letter of his son's fever, along with chronic soreness in his ears, eyes, and mouths. Offering much prayer, hope, and encouragement from his distant location, danger soon passed, and young Frankie soon chattered to his mother for hours, telling her his stories, and eagerly writing letters to his Uncle Sidney. Frankie survived this epidemic and others, and affirmed his father's sacrifice to protect prosperity for the future. ⁽⁵⁾

By April 1863, confronting traumatic conditions far beyond one's wildest imagination for nearly nine months, more than a third of his son's young life, Woodworth confessed to his wife that he had forgotten his son's appearance. It disturbed him, convincing him to ask for a picture of her and Frankie to carry as he begged forgiveness for his forgetfulness. Even her description of his hair and other features failed to revive the memory of one rapidly growing and altering in appearance. ⁽⁶⁾

The photos he received of his son and wife served as but one of many physical connections Woodworth used to combat homesickness and to restore his belief in his cause. The loss of a gold pen, once belonging to his father and played with by Frankie, on the battlefield at Chancellorsville devastated Woodworth. His socks, darned by his wife, allowed him fond memories of home. Even the whistling of the train and Seneca County names imprinted on the cans and bags received in packages from home, made him homesick. When he visited a plantation in Pine View, Virginia in early June 1863, the owner's young daughter, about the same age as Frankie, peaked Woodworth's interest, and served as perhaps the closest connection of him to his son, outside of his son's own "letters." In the brief time spent with her, he imagined being home with his son, remembering coming home from working the fields, and his son dashing out the door to greet his father. Though forgetting his appearance, he still strongly remembered the situations, which all came back during one brief respite from the war. ⁽⁷⁾

Woodworth received other items from home, in addition to letters. He frequently received the Seneca Falls Courier, a local newspaper, from his wife, allowing him to connect back to his local community and gain an outsider's perspective on the progress of the war. In the papers, he often received little presents such as tobacco, writing paper, and stamped envelopes, all necessities for the soldier. All were available from the sutlers around the camps, but the high prices and the disappearance of the sutlers during marches and campaigns, made it practical to have them sent from home. To supplement the often meager army rations, individuals or whole communities joined together to prepare large boxes. The best boxes arrived with canned fruits and vegetables, preserved meats, tobacco, tea, and several letters, and weighed in excess of a hundred pounds. ⁽⁸⁾

1. Woodworth Papers, James Woodworth to Phebe Woodworth, December 25, 1862, January 12, 1863, March 2, 1863, May 27, 1863.

2. Woodworth Papers, James Woodworth to Phebe Woodworth, January 28, 1863, March 8, 1863.

3. Woodworth Papers, James Woodworth to Phebe Woodworth, November 13, 1862, November 15, 1862.

4. Woodworth Papers, James Woodworth to Phebe Woodworth, September 16, 1862, December 10, 1862, February 5, 1863.

5. Woodworth Papers, James Woodworth to Phebe Woodworth, November 15, 1862, November 16, 1862, February 13, 1863, April 8, 1863, August 6, 1863; Woodworth Papers, Phebe Woodworth to James Woodworth, March 20, 1863.

6. Woodworth Papers, James Woodworth to Phebe Woodworth, April 17, 1863.

7. Woodworth Papers, James Woodworth to Phebe Woodworth, December 10, 1862, December 19, 1862, January 16, 1863, March 12, 1863, May 27, 1863, June 7, 1863.

8. Woodworth Papers, James Woodworth to Phebe Woodworth, December 8, 1862, January 16, 1863.

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