Name Abraham Woodruff | Cause of death Smallpox Called by Wilford Woodruff Parents Wilford Woodruff | |
 | ||
Full Name Abraham Owen Woodruff Resting place Salt Lake City Cemetery40°46′37.92″N 111°51′28.8″W / 40.7772000°N 111.858000°W / 40.7772000; -111.858000 Grandparents Beulah Thompson, Aphek Woodruff | ||
Abraham Owen Woodruff (November 23, 1872 – June 20, 1904) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was also the son of LDS Church president Wilford Woodruff. He was ordained an apostle at the relatively young age of 24, but served less than seven years until his death.
Woodruff was born just south of Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to Wilford Woodruff and Emma Smith, in a log house built by his father. He attended Latter-day Saints' College after he graduated from high school. Upon completion of his studies, Woodruff became employed in a bank at the age of 18. In 1893, at age 21, he was called to the Swiss–German Mission. While on his mission, Woodruff had to endure persecution against the missionaries and Latter-day Saints in Germany. To blend in, he dressed and acted like a common worker in the cities, and preached in secret in homes at night. He was released from his mission after three years of service in 1896.
After his mission, Woodruff returned to work at the bank. On June 30, 1896, he married Helen May Winters. The following October, in General Conference, he was called by his father as an apostle at the age of 24. He was ordained by his father on October 7, 1897. Like other apostles, he helped establish settlements and stakes throughout the area. Woodruff developed a close and very personal relationship with his father during this time as well.
Woodruff took a second wife, Eliza Avery Clark, on November 1, 1900, thus practicing plural marriage 10 years after his father's 1890 Manifesto. It is not known who sealed the marriage or where it was performed. It is possible that the marriage was performed outside of the United States. Woodruff had one child with his second wife.
In May 1904, Woodruff was called to visit the Mormon colonies in Mexico with his family. There, his wife, Helen Woodruff, contracted smallpox and died on June 7, 1904. Woodruff contracted the disease around the same time and died on June 20, 1904, in El Paso, Texas, at the age of 31; he had been an apostle for less than seven years. Woodruff was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery.