Washington Woodberry

Washington Woodberry, deceased, formerly a lumber merchant at Ventura, was born in Hamilton, Massachusetts, in 1838, of Massachusetts ancestry. At the age of nineteen years he went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and thence to Leadville, Colorado, and prospected for a time. Then he engaged in freighting and also dealt in produce; next he was in the cattle business in Idaho, driving stock to Nevada; and in Nevada he controlled the business. While in that State he was elected Assessor of White Pine County, which position he filled for three successive terms. In 1884 he came to Ventura for a better climate and bought out the lumber firm of Saxby & Collins, and carried on the business successfully until the time of his death, January 13, 1890, of rheumatism of the heart, which was only of five days' duration. As he was a man of high character, his sudden death cast a heavy gloom over the community. He had just completed a fine residence in Ventura. He was married December 13, 1881, to Miss Ida Kilburn, in Eureka, Nevada. She was born in Nevada City, a daughter of Governor O. Kilburn, a native of St. Albans, Vermont. Mrs. Woodberry is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and has made many warm friends during her residence here.

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