E. H. Woodring

E. H. Woodring, now living retired at Calhan, was born in Horton county. Kentucky, August 1, 1845. His parents, Benjamin and Elizabeth (Doharty) Woodring, were also natives of the Blue Grass state and when their son, E. H., was three years of age they removed with their family to Missouri, settling in Gentry county, where he acquired a common school education while spending his youthful days upon the home farm. After putting aside his textbooks he continued to assist his father in the further development of the place for a few years and ultimately began farming on his own account, purchasing a tract of land which he cultivated until 1880. He then sold that property and took his family to Spokane, Washington, where he remained for a year, after which he returned to Missouri and again spent a year in that state. He next removed to Colorado, spending a winter at Colorado Springs, after which he made his way to Calhan and homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres on which the village of Calhan now stands. With the exception of one block which he sold to a real estate dealer he has sold nearly two hundred different tracts of land or all but about fifteen acres of his original quarter section.

Soon after his removal to Calhan, Mr. Woodring's wife died, leaving him with six children. It was on the 30th of December, 1869, that he had wedded Lucy Nance, a daughter of Whit and Pruitt Nance, of Daviess county, Missouri. Six children were born of this marriage. James Edward, born December 19, 1871, died in 1916. Mary C., born April 11, 1875, became the wife of George Bess and resides at Alamosa, Colorado. David G., born October 14, 1876, married Dora Corley and resides on a ranch near Pueblo, Colorado. Lon H., born December 17, 1878, married Edith Wilson and makes his home on a ranch near Canon City with his wife and three children: Ethel, Hazel Stella and Rex Woodrow. Lucy G., born April 19, 1881, married Richard Wilson, a garage owner of Calhan, and they have a daughter, Serilda. William V., born August 19, 1884, is in the government service. On the 27th of October, 1910, in Colorado Springs, Mr. Woodring was again married, his second union being with Miss Addie Crow, a daughter of Clark Z. and Adalie (Holland) Crow, who were natives of Georgia and Tennessee respectively. Mrs, Woodring was born in Martin county, Indiana, and acquired her education in Oklahoma.  

In his political views Mr. Woodring is a democrat but not an office seeker. Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Lodge No. 115 at Calhan. About the close of the Civil war he enlisted with the Confederate army and was in several guerrilla skirmishes in Missouri. This constitutes his military experience. While in the service he was wounded in the leg. His religious belief is indicated by his support of the Methodist church. He is numbered among the pioneer settlers of Colorado and for three years after his arrival in Calhan he lived in a tent. He has watched the entire growth and development of this section of the state and has borne an active and helpful part in promoting its progress and improvement. He stands at all times most loyally for the welfare of the community in which he lives and his support can ever be counted upon to aid those interests which are of civic worth.

by Stone, Wilbur Fiske, History of Colorado, Volume III.  Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1918.