John E. Woodard

John Exum Woodard (May 8, 1855 – March 4, 1928) was an American politician and lawyer from North Carolina. He served as mayor of Wilson, North Carolina, in 1882. He served as a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1884 to 1885 and as a member of the North Carolina Senate, representing the 7th district from 1900 to 1904.

Early life John Exum Woodard was born on May 8, 1855, in Wilson County, North Carolina, to Winifred (née Exum) and Calvin Woodard. He was educated at the Wilson Male Academy and graduated from the Wilson Collegiate Institute in 1873. He studied for two years and graduated from the University of Virginia in 1875. He read law with his uncle James S. Woodard at his office in Wilson. He then entered the law school of Richard M. Pearson in Richmond Hill. He was licensed to practice law by the supreme court of North Carolina in 1877. He was a member of the Zeta Pi Society in college. He was elected solicitor of the inferior court in Wilson in 1877. He stayed in that role until 1882 or 1885. He married Frances Jordan of Caswell County, North Carolina, on November 4, 1917. Woodard was a vestryman of St. Timothy's Episcopal Church.

Woodard died on March 4, 1928, at his home in Wilson. He was buried at Maplewood Cemetery.