Richard Wood

Richard WOOD, Sr. (1756-4 Feb 1831) +

Mary Jane PRICE (~1760-1793)

Joel (~1775-1816)

Catherine (20 Feb 1776-2 May 1859) - m. David Fain on 20 Jul 1805

James (~1778-Jul 1832) - m. ???; m. Mary “Polly” Reneau on 14 Oct 1807; m. Tabitha ????

Lavinia (~1778-????) - m. James E. Warren, Jr.

William (~1780-18xx) - m. Jane Henderson on 15 Sep 1812

Hannah (~178x-18xx) - m. Thomas Ireland

Joseph P. (178x-?1826?) - m. Sally Carson on 4 Jan 1821

Richard, Jr. (~1785-????) - m. Mary ???

Elijah (~1790-????)

Richard, probable grandfather of our ancestor William Wood, was born in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. His father was variously said to be Richard or William. (Historical references to Richard as “Richard Wood, Jr.” don’t clinch the matter. Prior to the 20th century, “Junior” was used to distinguish a younger man from an older relative of the same name, whether or not they were father and son.) His mother is said to have been named either Jane or Mary.

Mary was born in England, parentage unknown.

In 1775 Richard and Mary both converted to Baptism at the same revival meeting, despite or perhaps because of the persecution Baptists faced. They married about that time also, and lived initially in Mecklenburg County. The dates and locations for their children are questionable. Richard became a preacher, and fought in the American Revolution.

In 1784 they moved to South Carolina, and in 1785 Richard arrived in Sevier County, Tennessee, where he persuaded pioneer settlers to build a church at which he later preached. However, the 1790 census showed Richard Wood and Richard Wood, Jr. side by side back east in Union County, South Carolina. The households had six and five females respectively, both had two boys under 16, and neither had slaves.

Mary died in 1793. She is buried probably on family land in Sevier County, Tennessee.

In 1795, Richard married Fanny Lybarger. They had at least one child, maybe two, although some accounts say Jonathan was Mary’s son:

Jonathan (~1795-????)

Richard, Jr. (18xx-????) - m. Margaret Inman about 1827

Richard continued his work as a traveling preacher until almost the end of his life, although afflicted by rheumatism and weight gain.

The 1830 census listed Richard Wood, Sr. and wife, both in their seventies, in Sevier County, Tennessee. Their household included a man in his thirties, probably Jonathan, and two young girls. Neighbors included son Joseph P. Wood and family, and a Richard Wood, Jr. who was in his twenties and so was probably a grandson.

Richard died in 1831. He’s buried in Providence Cemetery, Sevier County, Tennessee.

In March 1831, shortly after Richard Sr.’s death, Richard and James Wood were witnesses to a sale of land from Richard Sr.’s estate to Thomas Ireland, husband of Hannah Wood.

Children of Mary Jane

Joel Wood (~1775-1816)

Can’t find anything definite about Joel. There was a Joel Wood/Woods who married in 1810 in Jefferson County, Tennessee, and settled in Monroe County. Who knows.

Catherine Wood (1776-1859)

Catherine was reportedly born in Granville, North Carolina, indicating her parents moved there earlier than thought. She married David Fain (26 Jul 1781-8 Feb 1831) from Buncombe County, North Carolina, reportedly in 1805 in Elbert County, Georgia. They had seven children:

Charles (6 Aug 1806-15 Apr 1881) - m. Sarah Ann Rutledge

Richard Wood () - m. Elizabeth Walker

William M. C. () - m. Nancy Walker

Jane P. ()

Jesse () - died in Alabama

John (13 Oct 1813-17 Feb 1886) - m. Emily Ann Crowder on 10 Dec 1842

James ()

They lived in Bedford County, Tennessee. David died in 1831 and is buried in Enon Cemetery, Bedford County, Tennessee. Catherine died in 1859 and is buried with him.

James Wood (~1778-1832)

James was reportedly born in Virginia, before his family moved to South Carolina, which contradicts the story for Catherine. He married three times, and these are his reported children according to descendants, although it’s not always clear who their mother was:

Richard (1803-????)

Mary P. “Polly” (1805-????) - m. Robert Gaut in 1822

William T. (1807-????) - m. Jane George on 2 Jul 1831

Commodore Decatur, Sr. (~1816-3 Mar 1858) - m. Malinda Logan on 16 Jan 1840

Amanda M. (10 Apr 1820-11 Jun 1866) - m. Ellis Logan on 11 Jan 1837

Sarah

Adelia Melsena

Jackson H.

James, Jr.

Jane Elizabeth

John

Lacy

Matilda

Samuel

Isophena C.

Tabitha Leovicy (1828-1862) - m. John Wesley Atchley on 12 Dec 1849

After the death of his first wife, name unknown, he married Polly Reneau (~1783-Jul 1832) on 14 Oct 1807 in Jefferson County, Tennessee. The 1830 census showed them: a man in his fifties, a woman in her forties, and thirteen others ranging in age from twenties to under 5.

After Polly’s death, James married someone named Tabitha, but it’s not clear when he had time for that because he reportedly died in 1832 in Jefferson County. The location of his grave is unknown. The 1840 census listed his widow, Tabitha, a woman in her fifties with six children: two girls age 15-19, two girls and a boy 10-14, and a girl 5-9. Haven’t traced them after that.

William Wood (1780-18xx)

William, according to his eldest child, was born in South Carolina. Like his father, he was a preacher. He married Jane Henderson (26 Aug 1793-~1860) from Tennessee on 15 Sep 1812. Their children:

Mary “Polly” (26 Jul 1813-22 Feb 1887) - m. Hezekiah Cantrell Cooke on 14 Oct 1830

Matilda (~1814-????) - m. Daniel Lewis

Commodore R. (~1817-????) - m. Alla/Alley about 1840

John Benjamin (1820-1876) - m. Mary Hicks; m. Nancy Adeline Glasebrook in 1854; m. Luticia Charleton; divorced; m. Martha Wilson

Callaway (1824-1892) - m. Caroline Mapes about 1848

Gallatin Albert (10 Jun 1824-20 Jan 1874) - m. Martha Jane Gordon in 1845

Chelnessa (1825-????) - m. John Miner about 1844

Cinderella “Cindy” (Nov 1830-Feb 1908) - m. Jesse L. Fletcher on 8 Oct 1857

Tabitha (~1831-~1860) - m. Eli F. Holt in 1852

Martha Jane (1836-1863) - m. James Madison Pryor on 1 Jan 1852

Wiley Winfield Scott (29 Jul 1838-4 Oct 1909) - m. Mary Pryor on 30 Oct 1861

In 1818, William bought 104 acres of land near what is now Knoxville from Rebecca Henderson, his mother-in-law. The 1830 census showed Jane as “Jane Woods” in Sevier County, Tennessee with eight children, four boys and four girls, no husband. Where was William? There are family accounts suggesting that he had some sort of mid-life crisis back before that was even a thing, and left his family. (The findagrave.com page for William claims he died in 1833, but there’s no supporting documentation, his actual gravesite is unknown, and what about the children born 1836 and 1838? Also, there’s a record that William was still alive in Tennessee in the mid-1840s.)

In 1833, a man named James Clendennon/Clendenen died and left property to Jane for her services as a midwife to his wife and his slaves. At some point the family moved west to Arkansas. There was a William Wood and family of the right approximate age in Illinois Township, Washington County, Arkansas in the 1840 census. If that was our William, he probably died there in the 1840s. However, there was also a Jane Woods with seven children (two boys 15-19, two girls 10-15, two girls 5-9, and one boy under 5) living in Bradley County, Tennessee in the 1840 census, and some descendants claim that was her.

The 1850 census listed Jane (56) as head of household in Prairie Township, Washington County, Arkansas, with children Cindarilla (21), Tabitha (19), Martha (16), and Wiley (12). By 1860 Prairie Township had become part of Madison County, and Jane (65) was still there with children Martha (25) and Winfield (21), and presumed grandson William (4). Jane reportedly died in 1860. As with William, she has a virtual grave on findagrave.com but her actual gravesite is unknown.

Hannah Wood (~178x-18xx)

The claims that Hannah died in 1818 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England or in 1826 in Leicestershire are confusion with different Hannah Woods. An 1831 land sale record from Sevier County, Tennessee states that Hannah, daughter of the late Richard Wood, had married one Thomas Ireland of Sevier County.

The 1830 census for Sevier County listed Thomas Ireland as a man in his fifties, with a wife in her forties and seven children: two girls age 15-19, two girls and a boy age 10-14, a girl age 5-9, and a boy under 5. They were on the same census page as the households of Richard Wood, Sr. and Richard Wood, Jr., the latter being one of the subsequent witnesses to the 1831 land sale.

Joseph P. Wood (178x-?1826?)

Joseph married Sally Carson in 1821 in Jefferson County, Tennessee. The 1830 census showed them, both in their forties, living next door to his father in Sevier County, although this conflicts with a family account that he died in 1826. Their children were a boy and girl age 5-9, and two girls and a boy under 5. In 1840, a Joseph P. Woods and wife, both in their fifties, were living in Hamilton County, Tennessee, over a hundred miles southwest of Sevier County. They had a boy and girl age 15-19, and a boy age 10-14. That could have been them, although it would imply the two younger girls had died.

Richard Wood, Jr. (~1785-????)

Richard was a preacher like his father and brother William. He married someone named Mary. The 1830 census showed a Richard Wood, Jr., but he was in his twenties, with a wife in her thirties and three young girls, so I don’t know who he was.

0000100000

Elijah Wood (~1790-????)

Elijah...

Children of Fanny

Jonathan Wood (~1795-????)

Jonathan was reportedly born in Dandridge, Jefferson County, Tennessee. Unclear who his mother was.

Richard Wood, Jr. (18xx-????)

It’s unclear whether the Reverend had one son named Richard, or two. In the 1830 census, the household of “Richard Wood, Jr.” in Sevier County, Tennessee, on the same census page as Richard Wood Sr., Joseph P. Wood, and Hannah Wood Ireland, consisted of a man in his twenties, a woman in her thirties, and three girls under age 5. The 1840 census for Jefferson County showed the household of Richard Wood as a man in his forties and a woman in her thirties with eight children: a boy and girl age 15-19, two boys and a girl 10-14, and two boys and a girl under 5. That might have been them, or not.

Grandchildren

Mary “Polly” Wood (1813-1887)

Polly, daughter of William Wood and Jane Henderson, was raised in Rutherford County, Tennessee. Some sources incorrectly claim her as the daughter of Richard Wood and Fanny Lybarger. She married Baptist preacher Hezekiah Cantrell Cooke (14 Nov 1806-24 Jan 1859) in Greenville, South Carolina on 14 Oct 1830. She appears in census records of McMinn County, Tennessee for 1850, 1860, and 1870. Their children:

William Henderson (22 Dec 1830-17 Mar 1907) - m. Mary Ann Kantz on 23 Jul 1857

John Brazelton (1832-16 May 1886) - m. Matilda H. Dunn in 186x

Robert Fielding (10 Apr 1834-20 Aug 1898) - m. Nancy Jane “Nannie” Chestnut in 1858

Mary Jane (1840-1915) - m. William Henry Kantz in 1862

Washington L. (2 Dec 1843-17 Feb 1850)

Eliza Elvira (17 Feb 1848-1 Mar 1902) - m. Jesse James Trew about 1868

Mary “Mollie” (~1852-????) - prob. died young

James Burch “Jim” (16 Oct 1853-28 May 1935) - m. Mary Clark in 187x; m. May ???

Hezekiah Cantrell, Jr. (Nov 1858-1 Feb 1929) - m. Malvina “Mallie” Green on 2 Jul 1891

Hezekiah died in 1859 in McMinn County. In the 1870s Polly moved to Texas. She died in 1887 in Bonham, Fannin County, Texas, and is buried in Carson Cemetery, Ector, Fannin County.

Links

http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/w/o/o/Yancy-D-Wood/FILE/0012page.html -- Extensive but disorganized notes and correspondence

http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/w/o/o/Yancy-D-Wood/FILE/0007page.html -- Many Wood family stories, including about Rev. Richard Wood

http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/w/o/o/Yancy-D-Wood/index.html -- Master page for the above; lots of data, family accounts, etc., still to examine

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2878384&id=I569532426 -- More about Rev. Wood

http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/d/u/n/Ray-G-Duncan/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0866.html -- Ditto

http://knoxcotn.org/old_site/tnbaptists/wood_richard.htm -- Ditto

https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/2551992 - Ditto

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wood-4573 -- Rev. Richard and his children

https://www.ancestry.com/boards/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=12338&p=surnames.wood -- James’s line

https://www.ancestry.com/boards/localities.northam.usa.states.alabama.counties.coosa/64.271.274.774.776/mb.ashx -- Ditto

https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=coosa1&id=I02783 -- Ditto

https://www.accessgenealogy.com/tennessee/mcminn-county-tennessee-deed-book-b.htm -- Mentions Hannah and her husband

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHKN-95Z -- 1790 census

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8YN-K3B -- 1807 wedding of James

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8YN-25Z -- 1812 wedding of William

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XD9L-Z47 -- 1821 wedding of Joseph

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHP4-D5X -- 1830 census; Richard, Jr. and Thomas Ireland are on the same page

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHP9-D5F -- 1830 census, James

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHP4-6ML -- 1830 census, William’s wife Jane

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7525486 -- 1831 grave of Rev. Richard Wood; links to some others

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/136621676/william-wood -- 1833 grave of William; year of death questionable

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHYG-M47 -- 1840 census, James’s widow Tabitha

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHTB-198 -- 1840 census, reportedly William’s wife Jane

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M674-J21 -- 1850 census, William’s widow Jane in Arkansas

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCD2-9ST -- 1850 census, prob. James’s daughter Polly

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18946719/catharine-fain -- 1859 grave of Catherine; lots of info; linked to parents

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M875-NS1 -- 1860 census, Jane again

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/30492877/mary-cooke -- 1887 grave of Polly Wood Cooke; links to children

Unsure

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHYL-RQX -- 1840 census, poss. Joseph

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHYG-MZR -- 1840 census, poss. Richard Jr.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHBX-LWC -- 1840 census, prob. not William in AR

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M674-Q33 -- 1850 census, a Richard Wood (1795-1862) from NC, husband of Mary Denton, living in Arkansas

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10901407 -- 1862 grave of the above Richard Wood