Reverend William T. H. Woodward was born in South Carolina on October 14, 1852. Following a few decades as a merchant in Littleton, North Carolina, Woodward and his family moved to Durham. There he served as pastor of White Rock Baptist Church from 1881 to 1884, and additionally led a small private school for Black students. He died on March 3, 1918, and was interred in the Violet Park Cemetery in Durham.