Woodlock, John Joseph

The following data is extracted from Biography and Genealogy of Western Massachusetts, 1639-1925.

JOHN JOSEPH WOODLOCK - Long associated with the furniture and undertaking business in Greenfield, and enjoying that desirable reputation for a thorough understanding of the requirements of his calling that his father had won in his own business activities before him, Mr. Woodlock represents his profession most satisfactorily to this community and a large surrounding district. During the forty years that he has been a citizen of Greenfield Mr. Woodlock has won a host of friends for his broad comprehension and sympathies, and that he stands at the head of his vocation in this part of the State is due largely to the fact that he regards the performance of his duties in the light of sacred interest and obligation. His funeral directing headquarters have present-day equipment and methods; and the wishes and concern of his patrons are uppermost in his plan and thought. He is of a race well proven in industry and good citizenship. The first Woodlocks, so it is recorded, were found in Ireland when the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, was in power. The great-grandparents of John Joseph Woodlock were John and Bridget (Ryan) Woodlock, who lived and died in Ireland, and their son, John Woodlock, a farmer was born in Ireland. and died in Liverpool, England. His first wife was Heffernan, by whom he had a son, John. He married (second) Margaret Hayes, and they had Cornelius, of whom further; Matthew, who died young; David, Bridget, Thomas, Michael, Margaret, Mary, Johanna, Matthew.

Cornelius Woodlock was born May 11, 1835, in Schanballyduff, County Tipperary, Ireland, and resides in Greenfield. He was a farmer in Ireland, and he removed to Canada in 1883, and to the United States in 1884, and at once located in Greenfield, where for many years he was a stone mason and contractor. He had a partner a few years, a Mr. Alexander, and the business was carried on under the firm name of Woodlock & Alexander. Mr. Woodlock has been retired for some fifteen years, but while in active association with his business, lay the foundations and the stone work of many of the houses in Greenfield He married, May 2, 1860, Mary Hickey, who was born in 1835, in County Tipperary, Ireland, and died August 19, 1887, in Greenfield Their children: Bridget, who married James Grogan; John J., of whom further; Philip Francis; David; Catherine, who married John Bulman; Margaret, dietitian at the Franklin County Hospital; Mary, who married Michael W. Lynch; Ellen M.; Anne, who married William Gorey; Josephine.

John Joseph Woodlock was born March 1, 1864, in Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland, where he attended the public schools, and for a time was employed as a salesman in a hardware store. In 1883 he removed to Canada, where he remained a year, and while there he sent for his parents, removing with them to Greenfield in 1884. There he was employed for ten years as a machinist with the firm of Wiley, Russell Company, after which he became associated with the firm of E. E. Pierce, furniture dealers and undertakers, where he remained four years, after which he went with Green Vosburg, in the same line. Mr. Woodstock later established his own furniture and undertaking business, under the firm name of J. J. Woodlock & Company, and at the same headquarters that he now occupies in the old Odd Fellows' Building on Main Street, now owned by Nims & Thompson.

As a young man Mr. Woodlock was greatly interested in athletics, and had the distinction of holding the world's record for amateur high and broad jump. He is a member of the Kiwanis Club, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Mr. Woodlock married, October 17, 1900, Mary A. Bulman, daughter of Cornelius and Margaret (Casey) Bulman, and they are the parents of: i. Marion Elizabeth, graduate of Boston University and Simmons College, and engaged in welfare work in Boston. 2. John C, graduate of the College of Embalming, and associated with his father in business. 3. Paul Bulman, at present a student at Dean Academy, Franklin, Massachusetts.

Source: Biography and Genealogy of Western Massachusetts, 1639-1925

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