Maria Woodruff
b. circa 26 July 1796, d. 23 April 1815
- Father: Ezekiel Woodruff b. 29 July 1763, d. 7 January 1837
- Mother: Sarah Hall b. 21 May 1761, d. 26 November 1835
- Maria Woodruff was born circa 26 July 1796 in Canada based on her age at death (18 years, 8 months, 28 days).
- She married Samuel De Veaux, son of John De Voe and Eunice Blake, circa 1813.
- Maria Woodruff died on 23 April 1815.
- Samuel De Veaux became a widower at her death.
- She was interred at Myrtle Street Cemetery, Le Roy, Genesee County, New York, and rreinterred on 11 May 1963 next to her husband in the Woodruff family plot at St. Davids United Church Cemetery, Niagara County, Ontario.
- The following appeared on 4 May 1963 in the Niagara Falls Gazette: On May 11, at about 1:30 p.m., more than 148 years after she died (April 23, 1815), Mrs. Maria Woodruff DeVeaux will be buried beside her husband in the Woodruff family plot at St. Davids, Ont.
Rev. Alex Pudwell, chaplain of DeVeaux School will officiate at the special service to re-bury the body of Mrs. DeVeaux, who was buried originally in LeRoy, N.Y., near Rochester.
Mrs. DeVeaux, the first wife of Judge Samuel DeVeaux, a pioneer and one of the four founders of this city, was married during the turbulent days of the war of 1812.
At the time, the youth was a clerk in the Ft. Niagara commissary. Miss Maria Woodruff was a native of St. Davids.
After marriage, the couple moved to LeRoy, to get out of this "combat" area, where they lived in a small house on the main street. Young DeVeaux opened a general store and was, for a time, the community's postmaster. But within a short time, Mrs. DeVeaux passed away, at age 19 [sic].
Within two years of her death, Samuel DeVeaux left LeRoy and moved to Niagara Falls, N.Y., where he married Maria's widowed sister, Sarah Woodruff McCulloch.
He opened a general store here and later became a postmaster, a lawyer, and a county judge, in that order.
He was very active in the early development of the city and was interested in its growth up until his death in 1852, at which time he willed property and money for the establishement of DeVeaux School.
On April 15 DeVeaux School was 110 years old.
Judge DeVeaux was buried in the Woodruff plot in St. Davids because he had no direct descendaents.
The Saturday service will mark the anniversary of his birth on May 12, 1789 in New York City.
This year also marks the 99th anniversary of the death of Mrs. Sarah DeVeaux, the judge's second wife. She died in 1864 and was buried beside her husband. Nearby are her parents, who were United Empire Loyalists and 1789 immigrants to Southern Ontario from Connecticut.
Each year, DeVeaux School conducts a graveside service at the grave of Judge DeVeaux on May 12, attended by the senior class, administrative officials of the school, members of the Woodruff family and other residents interested in local history.
This year, the service has been moved to May 11th, so as not to conflict with the 125th anniversary celebration of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York in Buffalo on May 12.
The Saturday graveside service at St. David's is open to the public, Rev. Pudwell said. - The following appeared on 12 May 1963 in the Niagara Falls Gazette: (St. Davids, Ont.) Maria Woodruff DeVeaux, the first wife of Samuel DeVeaux, was reburied here Saturday in a special service conducted by Rev. Alec Pudwell, chaplain of DeVeaux School.
Mrs. DeVeaux was 19 [sic] when she died April 23, 1815. She was originally buried in LeRoy, a community southwest of Rochester.
Her remains were returned to the St. Davids Cemetery to rest by the side of her husband and other members of the Woodruff family.
Maria Woodruff was a resident of this community when Samuel DeVeaux, then a young clerk in the commissary at Ft. Niagara, married her in 1812 or 1813. Shortly afterward, with the War of 1812 growing violent along the Niagara Frontier, the young couple moved to LeRoy.
The cause of her death is not known, but a Canandaigua newspaper at that time spoke of "the loss of an exemplary wife and an estimable friend."
About two years later the widower moved to Niagara Falls, where he married Maria's widowed sister, Sarah Woodruff McCulloch.
In time he opened a general store here, became a postmaster, then a lawyer and county judge. He died in 1852.
In his will Judge DeVeaux left property and money for the establishment of DeVeaux School.
Because he had no nearby relatives, he was buried in the Woodruff family plot here. When Sarah DeVeaux died in 1864, she was buried beside him.
Among the 52 persons attending the 20-minute service early Saturday afternoon were present-day members of the Woodruff family from St. Catharines and Burlington as well as St. Davids.
At least three historians, Marjorie F. Williams, Niagara Falls, N. Y., city historian; Frank L. Flay, president of the Niagara Falls Historical Society; and Francis Petri, president of the Lundy's Lane Historical Society, also were present.
Three DeVeaux seniors, Barry Bedford, Alexander Curtis and Peter Cooper, placed flowers on the three graves.
Donald E. Loker, a history instructor and author of the forthcoming book, "A History of DeVeaux School, 1853-1953," spoke briefly at the reinterment.
Mr. Loker reported that Maria DeVeaux's remains were removed at the suggestion of Rev. Canon Walter Plumley of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, LeRoy, and that the body was disinterred under the direction of Gridley Funeral Home of Niagara Falls.
"Unfortunately, no rings or other jewelry, which would have helped to answer some of our questions concerning this lady, were found," Mr. Loker said. "But at the same time we were able to determine some heretofore unknown facts about her."
The original tombstone, made of Medina sandstone, was found intact and replaced at the second burial ground.
The Cornell & Daggett Funeral Home, also of Niagara Falls, handled the burial arrangements here.
The reburial and special service were arranged by the Rev. Mr. Pudwell with the sanction of Rt. Rev. Lauriston L. Scaife, Episcopal bishop of Western New York and chairman of the DeVeaux board of trustees, as well as with members of the Woodruff family.
- Last Edited: 8 Jul 2013