Born at Ringe, N. H., in 1795, son of Francis and Relief Towne, Gardner and his brother, Luther H. Towne, came with their parents through the northern wilderness to settle in the town of Rutland in January, 1804. While fixing a tub at a corner of their house to catch the rain, Relief Towne was struck and killed by lightning the following Aug. 16, becoming the first person to die in the township.

Gardner Towne became one of Rutland’s early school teachers and in 1826, the year after he purchased the first parcel of this farm which is in the old Eames district, he was married to Dorcas, a sister of Moses Eames, Jefferson county’s noted inventor and diarist.

During his last two years in this house, Gardner Towne was Rutland supervisor in 1861-2. He was a strong temperance advocate and in 1855 was named on the Temperance party ticket for state senator of the 21st district consisting of Jefferson and Lewis counties. Endorsed by the Whigs, he was elected and served the district in 1856-7.

In November, 1862, he moved here, taking residence on Sterling street, and later served for several years as a director of the Agricultural Insurance company. In Rutland he attended the Rutland Congregational church, but after coming to Watertown became an active member of the First Presbyterian church.

As state senator he succeeded Robert L. Lansing of Watertown and was himself succeeded by Joseph A. Willard of Lowville. The one child of Gardner and Dorcas Eames Towne was Janette, who married William G. Pierce, and after Mr. and Mrs. Towne moved to Watertown Mr. and Mrs. Pierce occupied and operated this farm in Rutland. The farm then consisted of the original 63-acre parcel which Towne had bought from Daniel W. and Laura Eames, April 9, 1825; a 45----75 acre parcel bought from his brother, Luther H. Towne, Dec. 28, 1833; two parcels of 25.08 acres and 45 acres purchased from Benjamin Merriman, Oct. 27, 1862; a parcel of 67.24 acres acquired from Daniel Eames, April 28, 1845, and a parcel of 22 acres bought from John Beecher, April 27, 1847.

On March 5, 1867, Gardner and Dorcas Towne sold the above farm with this white house to John Van Slyke of Copenhagen for $12,000. Van Slyke apparently became financially involved for on Dec. 26, 1899, Attorney E. Robert Wilcox as referee in a foreclosure action brought by Jane Stanton vs. Sarah J. Van Slyke et al. sold the property to Philo T. Hammond and Orville M. Rexford.

George B. Woodruff purchased the house, barns and 140.45 acres of the big Gardner Towne Rutland farm from Philo T. and Helen R. Hammond and Orville M. and Isadore S. Rexford on Sept. 11, 1907 and, with Mrs. Woodruff, has since owned, occupied and operated it.

Mr. Woodruff is a great grandson of Benjamin Woodruff who, with a brother Simeon, came from Litchfield, Conn., with their parents, Sgt. Jonah and Mary Woodruff, to settle in the famous Woodruff settlement of the town of Watertown in 1799.

Sergeant Jonah Woodruff, born at Litchfield, Feb. 8, 1748, was a veteran of the Revolutionary war and his wife was the former Mary Olmstead. Their son, Benjamin, was in the second battle of Sackets Harbor in May, `813, and their son, Simeon, was the father of Theodore Tuttle Woodruff, inventor of the first practical sleeping car, and of -, the portrait painter from whose brush came many of the portraits of leading early Watertonians now hanging in the museum of the Jefferson County Historical Society. In that museum also are excellent paintings of Mr. and Mrs. Gardner Towne, Mr. Towne having died in this city June 20, 1879, aged 83-1/2, and wife on July 7, 1887, aged 86.

George B. Woodruff is a grandson of Clark S. and Julia Drummond Woodruff and son of the late Benjamin Bernard and Sarah A. Scidmore Woodruff and is a brother of Walter Clark Woodruff of Brownville.

The marriage of George B. Woodruff to Miss Nora Cummings took place Oct. 5, 1904, in the old Sterret stone house now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ennis in Burrville. Mr. and Mrs. Woodruff are prominent Rutland farmers and active in the affairs of the township. Furthermore they have a just pride in their home, which is now equipped with modern conveniences. They are the parents of five children: Mrs. Florence Woodruff Hassler, Gerald Woodruff, Theodore C. Woodruff, Miss Nellie Woodruff and Lloyd G. Woodruff, all of whom have been provided excellent educations. The first of their Woodruff family to settle in this country was Matthew Woodruff, a native of England, who settled in Hartford, Conn., and in 1640 moved to Farmington, Conn.