Woodward was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on January 5, 1852.[2] Woodward married Marana S. Soule of Wales, Massachusetts on June 27, 1873. The couple had two children, a son, Herbert, and a daughter, Ella Frances.[2] Herbert attended the University of Berkeley, where he received a degree in mining engineering, and went to work for his father in 1908 as supervisor of the Iron Cap mine.[3][4] By 1886 the Woodwards had relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he was engaged in the clothing business, managing the Plymouth Clothing House.[5][6] In 1892 he moved to West Superior, Wisconsin, where he engaged in the clothing business, and was elected as the president of the chamber of commerce.[7][8][9] In 1894 he was elected mayor of West Superior.[10][11]
In 1899 he was living in Boston, Massachusetts, and was the treasurer and manager of the Chippewa Copper Mining Company.[12][13][14] In 1901 the company was formally incorporated.[15] In 1905 he was part of a group of men who incorporated the National Mining Exploration Co. (NME), headquartered in Boston, with Woodward as the secretary and treasurer.[16] In March 1906 he traveled to Globe, Arizona, to develop the Iron Cap Mine for the company.[17] The project had been brought to the attention of Woodward in late 1905, and Woodward got NME to put up the money for developing the mineral property.[16] Woodward relocated to Globe, Arizona in 1906.[18] NME also owned the Fumarole Mine, located near Kelvin, on the Gila River, which Woodward, as general manager of NME, also was in control of.[16][19]
In 1907 he was also the general manager of the Bonita Mining Company, near Safford.[20] In 1910, he was elected as president of NME.[21] In 1920 he ran for one of the two seats in the Arizona State Senate from Gila County, winning in November's general election.[22][23] Woodward ran for re-election in 1922, but lost in the general election to Democrat Alfred Kinney.[24] In 1922 he was again selected by the Republicans to run for the State Senate, but once again was defeated in the general election in November.[25][26]
By 1925, the Iron Cap mine was winding down on production.[27] Later that year, Woodward took over management of the Christmas Mine. The mine had been closed for several years, but was re-opened and a new 400-ton per day mill was constructed in 1929.[28]
Woodward was a member of the Odd Fellows.[29] He died on June 13, 1933, in his home in Globe, after an illness of approximately one year.[2]