In the life of Wilford Woodruff there was unfolded day by day the duties and obligations that linked him with the chain of eternal life. When the new revelation of God to men in this dispensation broke in upon him he was happily prepared to enjoy the new light. To be a Latter-day Saint from the outset seemed as natural as to breathe the air of heaven. He marvelled at the purposes of God but did not wonder, and doubt did not obscure from his vision the divine truth of this dispensation while he sojourned in the flesh. The love of God had always abounded in his heart, and the divine message found him eager and willing. He was not among those who sought divine assurance and spiritual satisfaction in some one creed of the day. The Bible was his highest authority and he believed implicitly in the divinity of its teachings. He was a devoted student of Holy Writ and prayerfully sought the gifts and blessings bestowed upon the Saints of old. He was waiting for precisely that which came to him and he took up the new mission of life with a strenuous desire to serve God and to be a witness that he was the same God yesterday, to-day, and forever. The story of Wilford Woodruff's life was consistent, faithful and in harmony with scriptural examples. The dealings of God with His children in other dispensations were always before his mind as illustrations and evidences. If the Bible had been the chief consolation of his youth and the best evidence of divine purposes, it became doubly so when he became a Latter-day Saint. Nothing that God had done in former dispensations {3} was too insignificant for his earnest consideration. Henceforth he was to speak in the name of the Lord, and act by the authority of divine command. He loved the memory of the ancient Prophets and strove earnestly to emulate their example. His life, therefore, is marked by spiritual growth and a devotion to God's will that makes it an inspiration to all who knew him or who read the story of his life and teachings. He honored and magnified every office and calling conferred upon him from that of a teacher to the president of the Church. In this high station he laid down his life at the ripe age of ninety-one years. Wilford Woodruff was born March 1st, 1807 in the town of Farmington, Hartford County, Connecticut. He was the son of Aphek Woodruff. His grandfather was Captain Eldad Woodruff who was the son of Josiah Woodruff. Josiah was the son of Joseph whose father's name was John, the son of Mathew Woodruff. This is as far back as Wilford Woodruff's genealogy has been traced in America. It is claimed that John Woodruff of South Hampton, Long Island, is the first person in American history bearing the name of Woodruff. Whether he is related to Matthew Woodruff, the earliest known ancestor of Wilford in this country, has not been determined. President Woodruff says, that according to the ancient Book of Heraldry, one of his ancestors was Lord Mayor of London in 1579.