Jabez Woodard was born in an ivy-covered cottage on the estate of Sir Hugh Dobyrimple, Baronet at Hebrew in the Parrish of Alderhem in the county of Hartfordshire, England, October 7, 1821. His father was the gardener on this estate and he also became the gardener.
Ann Granger Woodard was a ladies maid on this same estate. Jabez and Ann met and were married. Jabez was very interested in the Mormon religion and when he read of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, he felt sure this was the church to which he wanted to belong. He was baptized August 20, 1849, and a few months later Ann too, was baptized.
In 1850 Jabez was called on a mission to help Lorenzo Snow open up the Italian Mission. Jabez spoke German, Spanish, and some Italian. The mission was very rewarding and Jabez returned in 1854 and prepared to take his family to Utah. By this time Ann had given birth to two daughters; Eleanor and Harriet. Harriet contracted Cholera at the Kansas Camping Grounds and died; she is buried there. They reached Utah in the fall of 1854, and lived in West Jordon.
As Jabez spoke German, he was sent by Brigham Young to help Lorenzo Snow with the Swiss-German Mission. David Wilson Woodward was born October 15, 1856 in West Jordon, and in 1857 Jabez left for the Swiss-German Mission, leaving Ann to manage the best she could with her family. Ann was an excellent seamstress and often sewed clothes by hand for other people, as there were no sewing machines. Ann accepted produce for her labors, which produce, helped to feed her family. Eleanor was old enough to learn to milk cows, which she did to get milk for the family.
Jabez returned from his Swiss-German Mission in the spring of 1861, and in the fall of the same year, the family was called to help with Dixie and the Muddy Missions. While in Dixie another baby, John was born. The family suffered many hardships while living in Dixie and nearly starved to death.
In 1869 Jabez left Dixie to go north and find work. He went to Morgan County to feed cattle for Bishop Thurston. While working one day, he became very ill and died March 2, 1870. Ann did not get work of his death until after Jabez was buried in Milton, near Morgan, in Bishop Thurston’s burial grounds.
When her son Wilson was sixteen years old, Ann moved with her family to Kanosh. They lived in a small log house. Ann was a faithful Latter-day Saint and worked in the Relief Society for many years. She always urged the ladies to read good books and improve their minds.
She died at the home of her daughter Eleanor Woodward Rappleye, in Kanosh December 3, 1885, and is buried in the Kanosh Cemetery. Her son John was drowned in the Warm Springs about ten miles northwest of Kanosh, and is buried beside his mother