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Henry Woodward (1611 – 1683) was a Puritan who immigrated from Lancashire, England, to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, settling first in Dorchester and then in Northampton. Henry's life story informs the study of the Black Death, the history of illegitimacy, the Puritan migration to New England, the New England colonies, historical bridge construction, women in early America, slavery in the northern states, and the history of the gristmill.

Early life
Henry Woodward was probably the person of that name who was baptized at Childwall, Lancashire, England, on 4 September 1611, son of John Woodward and an unnamed wife. Henry's father was probably the John Woodward baptized on 6 March 1589, a son of an unmarried Robert Woodward and Anne Orme. Henry associated with Richard Mather, a Puritan leader who led a group from Lancashire to Massachusetts in 1635. Henry is first recorded in Massachusetts on a list of Dorchester church congregants compiled between 23 August 1636 and 4 November 1639.

Marriage and children
In Dorchester Henry married a woman named Elizabeth, probably by November 1641. Elizabeth was probably fellow Lancashire immigrant Elizabeth Cunliffe, sister of Henry Cunliffe, who were both probably children of James and Agnes (Heye) Cunliffe of Blackburn, Lancashire. The siblings immigrated after a 1625 epidemic of bubonic plague killed several family members. Henry and Elizabeth Woodward had four children: Freedom Woodward, baptized July 1642, married Jedediah Strong; Experience Woodward, baptized 19 November 1643, married Medad Pomeroy; Thankful Woodward, born about 1646, married John Taylor; John Woodward, born between 6 October 1647 and 5 October 1648, married Anna Dewey.

Dorchester years
Henry was sworn a freeman of the Massachusetts Bay Colony on 10 May 1643. The town of Dorchester contracted with Henry to construct a bridge across the Neponset River in 1652. He was appointed a fence viewer, laid out a highway, served as a constable, and helped select a site for a school. Henry was illiterate and signed documents by mark.

Northampton life
In 1661 Henry and his family moved to the settlement of Northampton on the Connecticut River where Richard Mather's son, Eleazer Mather, led a congregation. Henry served as a trial juror, was voted a selectman seven times between 1661 and 1675, acted as quartermaster for the town's troop of horse, and served as a tithingman. Henry kept a tavern in Northampton from 1665 to 1681. Court sessions were held at the tavern, including trials of women who defied Puritan law by wearing silk. Henry signed a petition to the Massachusetts General Court in 1669 and donated flax to Harvard College in 1673. After a house fire destroyed a Northampton dwelling on 14 July 1681, Henry conducted an enslaved person charged with arson to Boston for trial. Henry died on 7 April 1683, with town records stating that "Henry Woodward was Killed at the Corn Mill." After an inventory of his estate on 7 May 1683, his possessions were divided between his wife, children, and grandchildren.

Refuted biographical claims
A recent scholarly study of Henry Woodward's life has refuted several previously accepted biographical claims.

Henry was not the son of Thomas Woodward and Elizabeth Tyrer. Emeritus Connecticut State Historian Walter Woodward showed in 1988 that this claim is not supported in the documentary record. The claim, which dates to at least 1906, was likely advanced by an early twentieth century genealogist who was embarrassed by the out-of-wedlock birth of Henry's actual father.

Henry was not a physician. No primary evidence supports an undocumented 1859 claim by Dorchester historian Ebenezer Clapp Jr. that Henry was a physician. The claim likely arose from Clapp's misreading of a particular primary record that referred to "Br." Woodward rather than "Dr." Woodward.

Henry did not marry Elizabeth Mather. An 1893 report in a genealogical journal suggesting that a Chester, England, will hinted at a connection between the Woodward and Mather families prompted a claim that Henry's wife was a Mather. The will provides no evidence for such a conclusion. Recent findings show that Henry's wife was probably Elizabeth Cunliffe.

Henry was not a miller. Henry's recorded death at the town mill is likely the source of a claim that he was the town miller. Another man was the Northampton miller, however, and primary records identify Henry only as a tavern keeper and yeoman.

Henry's cause of death is not known. An 1854 claim that Henry was killed by lightning at the mill and an 1859 statement that he was killed by the millwheel appear to be speculative, as they have no known basis in the documentary record.

Henry's middle name was not Dorchester. A misreading of a listing of "Woodward, Henry, Dorchester 1639" in an 1860 genealogical dictionary, in which the third word referred to Henry's settlement location, likely led to the claim that the immigrant had the middle name Dorchester.