He was a patriot and soldier in the American Revolution, played host to the convention that adopted the Suffolk Resolves, and a leader of Dedham, Massachusetts.
[16] In 1768, Woodward was one of Dedham's delegates to the Massachusetts Convention of Towns, an extralegal assembly held in Boston in response to the news that British troops would soon be arriving to crack down on anti-British rioting.
[17][18][b] When Town Meeting voted in 1770 to prohibit the drinking of foreign tea in protest of the Townshend Acts, Woodward was elected to a committee to enforce the ban.
[19] A general convention of delegates from every town in Suffolk County was called for August 16, 1774, at Doty's Tavern in Stoughton (today Canton).
[20] The group agreed on the need to take a united stand against the Intolerable Acts but, since not every community was represented, it was decided to adjourn and try again with full representation.
[23][24] Woodward was also elected by the convention, along with Joseph Warren and 13 others, to meet the governor and inform him that the residents of Suffolk County were alarmed by the fortifications the British Army was making at Boston Neck.