The next record of William is of the birth of his eldest child by Nellie (Forey) Eikenberry, in July 1872. Nellie Forey was born at Snydertown, Pennsylvania, on February, 4, 1845. Which Snydertown (of the three in that state), and who her parents were, remains unknown. She had one older child, a daughter Alice, born in Ohio on January 15, 1866, whose father was David Eikenberry. She and William may have met in Miami County, Indiana, where she and daughter Alice later lived, and where are found Eikenberry and Forrey families who moved from Pennsylvania and Ohio in the 1850s and 1860s.

The births of three children are recorded in Mansfield, Ohio:

Name: Woodmancy, Clara
Date of Birth: August 29, 1872
Place of Birth: Meadville, Crawford co., Penn.
Sex: female
Race: white
Father's Name: Wm. Woodmancy
Mother's Name: Nely Fory
Residence of parents: Mansfield, 4th Ward
Reported by: N. Woodmancy


Name: Woodmance, Flora
Date of Birth: January 19, 1874
Place of Birth: Mansfield, Richland co., Ohio
Sex: female
Race: white
Father's Name: W. H. Woodmance
Mother's Name: Nelly Forry
Residence of parents: Mansfield, 4th Ward
Reported by: W. H. Woodmance


Name: Woodmancy, William
Date of Birth: July 10, 1875
Place of Birth: Mansfield, Richland co., Ohio
Sex: male
Race: white
Father's Name: Wm. Woodmancy
Mother's Name: Nelly Forey
Residence of parents: Mansfield, 4th Ward
Reported by: N. Woodmancy

The names of these daughters as given in the birth records are curious. When the daughters were later placed in Clark County Children's Home (see below) their names were given as Flora and Nellie, respectively, and these are the names they carried their entire lives. They are also recorded on Amelia Hosbury's petition as Flora and Nellie, even though Amelia had mis-calculated their ages, confused Cincinnati for Springfield, and was not aware that they had married.

The first birth is recorded with contemporary births in the Mansfield records of the Fourth Ward; while these births are not listed in exact order in the record, all the births in the list in which Clara appears occurred between March 1872 and February 1873, and hers is listed as number 80 of 103. If William and Nellie were living in Meadville at her birth, they must have moved to Mansfield very soon afterwards. William is not listed in the 1871-72 city directory for Mansfield.

William's occupation is listed as clothes renovator, and his business address as 31 North Main Street in 1873. This was a trade closely allied to that of the tailor, and involved the repair and re-dying of clothing. Dyes were not as durable in that period as now, and rather than discard clothing that quickly faded, it was sent out to be renovated.

In 1873, the Woodmancys were living at 56 South Diamond Street. William bought a lot on the east side of South Main Street in the Spring of 1874, which, from the price ($1,900), would seem to be a house and lot. The deed does not provide sufficient information to determine the address, and no directory from his remaining years in Mansfield has survived. On July 13, 1876, their son William died, aged just over a year. William and Nellie sold their Mansfield property four days later.

From Mansfield they removed to Springfield, Ohio. William is listed as a hatter, residing at 77 Harrison Street, Springfield, in 1877. He did not stay there long; he left before 1878 and, as far as his wife Nellie and two daughters were concerned, was never heard of again.

After some period of financial difficulty, Nellie (Forey) Woodmancy visited the Clark County Childrenís Home in Springfield on August 1st, 1878, and it is recorded; "Husband deserted and lives away from her. She is unable to support the children". Her two daughters, Flora and Nellie, aged six and four, were admitted on August 26, 1878, and were later indentured to Charles House and John Lellis, respectively. Nellie Woodmancy appears in the 1879-1880 Springfield directory; no occupation is given. A granddaughter of Flora's relates the tradition that the Mumpers family of Springfield helped out the struggling family, but whatever income Nellie was able to secure, it was evidently not sufficient for her to provide properly for the children.

Nellie (Forey) Woodmancy subsequently re-married at Springfield, Ohio, on October 21, 1880, to John Keplinger. They removed to Denver, Miami County, Indiana, and had one son, Clarence E., born there on October 29, 1883. After John Keplinger's death, Nellie married for a fourth time at Peru, Indiana, on May 9, 1903, to John Jacob Johnson, and removed to Urbana, Illinois. She died there on September 3, 1927, and was interred in Mount Hope Cemetery, Urbana.