George Catlin Woodruff (1805-1885) was born in 1805, the oldest son of Major General Morris and Candace (Catlin) Woodruff. His brother Lewis B. Woodruff also attended the Litchfield Law School and his sister Lucy Morris Woodruff attended the Litchfield Female Academy.

Before graduating from Yale College in 1825, Woodruff attended Morris Academy. After receiving his undergraduate degree, he studied law with James Gould at the Litchfield Law School. In 1827, he was admitted to the bar and traveled to the Ohio Valley in search of a location for a new practice. Discouraged, he returned to Litchfield and opened a law office later that year.

Woodruff served in various public positions, including postmaster of Litchfield from 1832 to 1846, justice of the Peace, a grand juror, the town treasurer, the town clerk, a clerk of the Superior Court, a colonel in the Litchfield militia, and the judge of probate.

Woodruff was a member of the State House of Representatives in 1851, 1866, and 1874. While a state Congressman, he served as the chair of the judiciary committee and was a vital player in the 1875 revision of the statutes.

He was elected as a Democrat to Congress (1861-1863). He served on the committee on public lands. He lost his re-election bid in 1863 because of his affiliation with the perceived anti-war Democratic party.

Woodruff was a local historian. In 1845, he authored a history of Litchfield.

In 1829, he married Henrietta Sophronia (Seymour) Woodruff, a Litchfield Female Academy graduate and the sister of Origen S. Seymour, a Law School classmate who in turn married Woodruff's sister Lucy. Woodruff and his wife had two children, George and Henrietta. He died in Litchfield, CT in 1885 and was buried in the East Cemetery.