Clan William: Woodington/Munson Line: When Things Go Really, Really Wrong

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson >  Henrietta Munson > George Woodington > Clyde Woodington > Neil Woodington

Neil Woodington, right, the day he was convicted

Madison Wisconsin State Journal August 5, 1965

My 2nd great grandmother, Mary Ann Munson's sister Henrietta married Moses Woodington who had left Pennyslvania to move to Wisconsin and pioneer. Generations later, their great grandson, Neil Allen Woodington, who had such an awesome start in life, would bump up against life-changing problems.

He was born 03 Apr 1927 in Altoona, Wisconsin, to Clyde Woodington and his wife Grace Murn Bradley, Clyde was a long-time locomotive engineer of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.  Neil attended school in Eau Claire County and was a good student. In 1945, he was awarded a $200 scholarship by the Eau Claire Elks Lodge. He also won the Elks Americanism Essay contest that year.

First divorce

He attended law school at the University of Wisconsin and graduated first in his class in 1950. The guy who graduated second, Robert C. Kelly, would go on to become his business partner and co-defendant at his criminal trial.

He married his first wife, Jeanette M Hall in 10 Sep 1949 in Lamatine in Fond du Lac County; they took out a license on September 4th. Jeanette filed for divorce and it was granted in March 1963. Woodington was ordered to pay $1,100 per month in alimony and child support for their five daughters.He was also ordered to maintain life insurance to benefit the daughters.

His second wife, Betty J. Nedlose, married Woodington on 08 Apr 1963 in Miami, Florida. They had one daughter together. They divorced in 1971.

In the years 1964-1968, Woodington would face his greatest challenges. Two of the companies he ran, Madison American Guaranty Insurance Co. (MAGIC) and Allied Development Corp.found themselves under investigation for potentially filing false statements relating to a stock offering. Those companies later went into bankruptcy. The details of the trial and the ultimate conviction are located below. Woodington, as president, was found guilty of filing a false or misleading financial statement and sentenced to three years in state prison. His partner, Robert Kelly, who was reportedly portrayed by his lawyer as yet another victim of Woodington, was also convicted and sentenced to probation. Woodington stated repeatedly he thought that the investigations started by then Attorney General George Thompson before the election of 1964 was politically motivated. Thompson was a Republican and MAGIC general counsel Clarence Bylsma was a prominent Democrat. Thompson lost the election. Investors and other creditors in the companies lost about $8 million.

Woodington appealed to the State Supreme Court, and while his conviction was upheld, the Court made comment on the harshness of the sentence. Woodington's subsequent appeals failed and he was sent to Waupun State Prison in 1967, shortly thereafter being moved to Thompson Prison Farm in Cambridge. There, he was ultimately granted work release, where he worked as a "financial advisor" for a company set up by Clarence Bylsma in Madison.

Both Woodington and Kelly were disciplined by the State Bar in 1968. Woodington was disbarred for life and Kelly was suspended from practice for six months. An attorney, Jack McManus, who stated he'd provided counsel and advice to Woodington related to his disbarment proceedings, sued him in Nov 1967 for $11,500 in unpaid fees. The fallout from the original trial was significant, driving other litigation such as this regarding the players.

After his release from prison on May 9, 1968, Woodington became what his second wife called, "a promoter." He had moved to New Brighton, Minnesota and was involved with a number of interests such as the Diesel Driving School as well as restaurants co-owned with Fuzzy Thurston, former Green Bay Packer, both in Wisconsin. The restaurants were put under court control and the owners, including Neil Woodington, were barred from entering the restaurants. Woodington was accused of "wrongfully taking money from the corporation, issuing bad checks to employees and suppliers, and grossly mismanaging corporation business." Madison Wisconsin State Journal November 12, 1979

Woodington married Carole McFarland in 1976 in Reno. They divorced 29 Dec 1980. Also in 1980, Woodington moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. He had other business interests under the auspices of The Woodington Group which included such businesses as Dollars and Sense, a direct-mail publishing venture he ran in Colorado. That company would be taken over by several of his children and run into its own legal and criminal issues in the 1990s.

Woodington died on 15 Jul 1989 at his home in Scottsdale at the age of 62.

Sources:
Marriage Licenses; Madison Wisconsin State Journal September 4, 1949
News Notes: Birth of Daughter, Madison Wisconsin State Journal October 5, 1950
Woodington is Divorced; to Pay $1,100 a Month; Madison Capital Times, March 28, 1963
Woodington Given 3 Years; Kelly Placed on Probation, by James D Selk, Madison Wisconsin State Journal August 5, 1965
Appeals to Knowles; Woodington Seeks Reduced Sentence; Madison Capital Times December 31, 1966
Outside Work Permit Granted; Woodington Denied New Trial; Madison Wisconsin State Journal October 19, 1967
In State; Journal: Libel Trial Bylsma Says He Didn't Know of MAGIC Moves; Madison Capital Times February 12, 1968
Woodington Wins Parole on May 9; Madison Wisconsin State Journal May 2, 1968

Five Describe Loans in Atty Bylsma Case; Madison Wisconsin State Journal October 16, 1968
25 Years Ago, Eau Claire Leader Telegram July 17, 1970

Wife Seeks Divorce from Woodington; Madison Capital Times July 8, 1971

McManus Sues: Asks Big Woodington Fee; Madison Capital Times September 11, 1973
Salesman Wanted; Classified Section, Eau Claire Leader Telegram, February 16, 1978

Restaurants Under Court Control; Madison Wisconsin State Journal November 12, 1979

Business News: Dollars and Sense of Colorado...; Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph June 20, 1982
40 Years Ago, Eau Claire Leader Telegram October 16, 1985
Obituary: Woodington, Neil Allen; Madison Wisconsin State Journal July 19, 1989
Daughters Follow in Dad's Crooked Footsteps; Madison Capital Times May 7, 1997

Wisconsin Divorce Index, 1965-1984

Nevada Marriage Index, 1956-2005
Florida Marriage Index, 1822-1875 and 1927-2001

Side Road: Harry H Woodington, Longtime Employee of The Celery King

Orange County Celery Field

Harry H. Woodington was the youngest of three sons born, along with two younger girls, to George Woodington and Margaret Alice "Alice" Neal in Elizabeth, Woodbine Township, Jo Daviess County, Illinois in about 1874. He moved with his family to Westminster Township, in what was then Los Angeles County, in the late 1870s. You can read about George & Alice here.

Harry married Rella M Clemens on 07 Jul 1898 in Orange County. She is the daughter of Isaac and Isabelle Clemens who came from Canada. They resided in Michigan, where Rella was born, before moving on to Rapid City, South Dakota, where she was reared and then Wintersburg, California when she was 11.The Woodington's had two sons: Russell L Woodington and Donald Earle Woodington. Russell died at age 13 in 1913. Donald farmed in Bolsa, California.

Harry was educated in Westminster, but had a lifelong passion for farming. He worked on various ranches near his home even in after-school hours. As a young man, he met Daniel Everett (D. E.) Smeltzer, known through the produce world as "The Celery King" and operated Golden West Celery and Produce Company.  An extremely wealthy man, he not only introduced celery as a business to the So California ag community, he built his business up to impressive heights. Mr. Smeltzer hired young Harry, who worked his way up to foreman of the ranch. For many years, he toiled along with The Celery King at their work on the 400-acre celery farm in the peatlands of Orange County. Twenty rail cars per day; 1,200 per growing season went out of the Smeltzer, CA train station with his produce. The Wintersburg/Smeltzer area also became home to many Japanese, many of whom worked the fields. The village of Wintersburg, now devoured by Huntington Beach, is of historic importance to the Japanese-Americans who toiled to make the land a success.

Smeltzer also owned other business interests in Kansas. Unfortunately, 49-year-old Smeltzer overworked to such a degree, he had three complete breakdowns physically and mentally over the course of a year. He died at age 49 very, very wealthy, but overworked.

The company incorporated after Smeltzer's death and Harry was promoted again to the position of superintendent. Under his leadership, he further increased productivity. The apex of the celery market came in 1910-1912. It was downhill from there due to blight and pests and demand for other more marketable produce. On the upswing were lima beans and sugar beets, which were quickly overrunning former celery producing land.

Golden West Produce Co.20-ton Caterpillar Dredger

Woodington remained on with Golden West until the company sold out to the Anaheim Sugar
Company in 1919. Seeing the writing on the wall, Harry finally took the leap to buy land in 1918, purchasing his home place of 40 acres in Huntington Beach Township, which were used to grow Lima beans. In 1920, he also rented 60 acres, planting all 100 acres in Lima beans.

To augment his income, he started a bean threshing business with a 36-horsepower traction engine and a 36 x 60 separator.He did his work in Smeltzer and on the San Joaquin ranch.

Harry died at the relatively young age of 63 on 07 Jul 1937, his 39th wedding anniversary. His wife Rella lived until 1959, dying at age 77; and son Donald died in 1980; all dying in Orange County.

Sideroad: George Woodington Heads to California

Gabrielino Indians who settled on land taken by the
Spanish and then by US pioneers. They were
nearly decimated by disease.

Johnathan Woodington (abt 1800 and Sarah Ann Wayman (abt 1818) had a very large family and lived primarily in the Philadelphia area for much of their lives. One son, Moses, married Henrietta Munson - the younger sister of my 2nd great grandmother, Mary Ann Munson, who moved with her family to the Eastern District of Wisconsin in the 1840s from Trumbull County, Ohio.

Moses' oldest brother George, left Pennsylvania as well. He headed down to the Woodbine in Jo Daviess County area of Illinois, near the great Mississippi River sometime after 1860 from Elizabeth in Bensalem Township, Bucks County where he had been living with a cousin's family and working as a day laborer.

A ranch in Los Angeles/Orange County in the 1880s

On 26 Jan 1865, he married Margaret Alice "Alice" Neal in Jo Daviess County. Three children would be born to them there: Edwin, William Wallace, and Harry. B. In 1870, he visited California for the first time. His dream became to move there permanently. In the meantime, the boys were born and he farmed.

It appears his westward migration to southern most Los Angeles County came before 1877, for his next child, Lulu Maus, was born in Westminster Township in 1877. Daughter Mabel would come along in 1880.Westminster Township is comprised of the entirety of Rancho Los Alamitos consisting of over 28,000 acres. Westminster and Westminster Township later became part of Orange County in 1889.

Spanish Ranchos

Over 8,000 years ago, the earliest known settler here were the Oak Grove people. They abandoned the area when food sources dwindled and the temps became too dry. According to the Westminster website:

"The area remained uninhabited until the Gabrieleno Indians moved in from the desert to this area and numbered over 200,000. Diseases such as measles, smallpox and diphtheria reduced the Indian population.

The next recorded history of the North Orange County area dates to 1492, when Pope Alexander IV decreed that all unclaimed land in the North American continent belonged to the King of Spain. Large land grants called ranchos were awarded by the King to induce colonization of the continent. The Spaniards cleared, surveyed and mapped their new land. In 1784 the Spanish Governor of California honored Manuel Nieto with a 21 mile square concession of land to be called the Rancho Las Bolsas. It covered most of what we know today as west Orange County. The Rancho prospered with large crops and fine herds, however, after Nieto’s death in 1804 his heirs quarreled and the Rancho was partitioned in 1834.

During the 1850’s with California’s admission to the Union, the U.S. Land Commission was set up to review claims that rose from original Spanish land grants. An American named Abel Stearns saw this as an opportunity to buy up shares from the disputing factions of the Rancho Las Bolsas. With the Commission’s acceptance, Stearns became the sole owner of the rancho changing the name to Stearns Rancho."

Westminster was set up in about 1870 as a "temperance colony" by a Presbyterian minister who purchased 6,000 acres. This is a community that prohibited the sale or use of alcohol. By 1872, the first school had opened and by 1874, the first general store. It was a brutal agricultural terrain (part of the reason many Indians left the area long before) with swamps, tulles, and flooding due to the lack of irrigation. By 1881, with the passage of the Irrigation Act, thousands of acres were turned into usable ag land. He had been engaged in farming the greater part of his life and during the fourteen years of his residence in California, he worked as a farm laborer in many quarters, most extensively on the Bixby Ranch and later raised grain on the San Joaquin (Irvine) ranch - two of the largest ranches in California. He never worked his own land while in California, beyond family sustenance.

George lived here until his death in 1905. Alamitos Cemetery would later become Magnolia Memorial Cemetery. His wife, Alice, would live on until 1920. His son Harry would stay on in the area and will be the subject of the next post (along with info on his long relationship with "The Celery King."