S. J. WOODRUFF A SUICIDE

The following clipped from an Omaha paper refers to S. J. Woodruff, formerly of Calhoun township. Mr. Woodruff was for a number of years a farmer living east of Calhoun where he owned and operated a fine farm. He became involved during these troublous times and lost his farm and apparently became somewhat deranged. The clipping follows:

S. J. Woodruff, 65, of 3846 Hamilton St., a retired farmer, leaped from the Douglas St. bridge into the Missouri river."

#2 Printed in the September 26, 1933 p. 1 Omaha World-Herald

AWAITS WITNESS ON BRIDGE, THEN LEAPS TO DEATH

S.J. WOODRUFF, OWNER OF gDYNAMITE FARMh LEAVES NOTE

gPULSEh WRITER

S. J. Woodruff, 65, formerly one of the most frequent contributors to The World-Heraldfs Public Pulse columns, committed suicide this morning by jumping from the Douglas street bridge.

The body has not been found, but Woodrufffs hat and coat and a note gto whomsoever it may concernh were found tied to the bridge rail.

To insure collection of his insurance, Woodruff waited on the bridge until a man came along to be a witness to his act. In his note he forbade gabsolutelyh any search for his body.

A retired farmer, once well-to-do, Woodruff spent most of his time in the last few years in writing letters to the newspapers and to public officials, in semi-philosophical discussions of any subject of interest to his listeners, and in composing pamphlets which he had printed himself.

gPLANTEDh DYNAMITE Four years ago he came into the public eye through his gdynamite farmh near Nathanfs lake north of Florence. He bought about five hundred pounds of dynamite and mined the three hundred acre farm from end to end. Tiny wires, almost invisible, set off charges of dynamite unexpectedly.

Washington County officers, going to the farm to investigate, were startled by gates that jumped at them when touched. They found dynamite under glass bells, under suspended hammers, in the ground. Typewritten warnings, signed gSoil Engineersh were posted at all entrances to the farm.

Woodruff, arrested for maintaining a nuisance, was fined $250, despite his plea that he had leased the farm to ggovernment soil engineersh for experimental purposes.

WROTE ATTACK ON COURTS

Officers charged that Woodruff planted the dynamite to discourage process servers seeking to serve him in a foreclosure suit.

As a result of this dispute and numerous others involving land, Woodruff wrote several pamphlets attacking the courts as corrupt. He once ran for the legislature, basing his campaign mainly on a recital of his grievances against the courts.

A fundamentalist, and an uncompromising dry, Woodruff hoped for the establishment of a gdictatorship for morals.h In his letters he recommended ruthless suppression of drinking.

When not composing letters on his typewriter, Woodruff spent a good deal of time gvisitingh around town. He was often at the police station, ready to discuss

(continued on Page 2, Col. 4) (not available)

~~~Obituary courtesy of Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Public Library, Blair, Nebraska ~~~

FindaGrave #73062143