The Wood family of Fayette and Heard counties

After running the story about the Wood family last week, I noticed another story in the Heard County history book which had conflicting information on William Wood (born 1797), son of Richard Wood and Tabitha Glass. So, I thought I'd do a little more detail on William and let the chips fall where they may.

You will find conflicts such as these common in genealogy and some are never resolved. Researchers differ occasionally and, while each may have done a lot of research, people interpret things differently and people with the same names are often confused. I do not know where the problem occurred here, but thought it better to present the differences and hope someone will write in with the correct information and a source where it may be found.

The information here on William Wood is taken from a story done by Eleanor Wilson Parker (Story No. F553 in the Heard book). The story done by Mrs. Jenny Futral, excerpts of which were presented last week, stated that William married Martha Durbin, while Mrs. Parker says he married Martha Glass, "...who in all probability was his cousin."

Now, it could be that William was married twice and both of these ladies became his wife. However, neither story mentions a second marriage.

Mrs. Parker states that William Wood, son of Richard Wood and Tabitha Glass, was born in Greene (Clarke) County, Georgia in 1797. (Clarke is now the Athens area, for those of you who may not know Georgia geography.) He married Martha Glass and was a planter, serving in the Militia as an ensign and later as a captain (1832-1836). He and his wife had five sons and three daughters, and moved their family into Fayette County about the same time as other members of his family were moving from Fayette into Heard County.

I found William and his family in the Fayette County census in 1830, living adjacent to James H. Williams and John Brazleton, and only two farms away from Wyatt Heflin, whose children married into the Wood family. William and his wife (whoever she may be) are shown with six children, four boys and two girls, and an older female age 50-60.

William was a colonel in the Fayette Militia, according to Mrs. Parker, and was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. He also was a senator from Heard County in 1834, 1835 and 1836. This means he moved from Fayette to Heard between 1830 and 1834. It is thought that the move on into Randolph County (Alabama) was made probably in the early 1840s.An article written by J.M.P. Guinn in the "Randolph Toiler" newspaper in 1896 has the following to say about William Wood:

"William was a farmer and a stock raiser, a plain old-fashioned, homespun, round-about jeans coat, wool hat Democrat; with temperate habits; an honest and upright life; unimpeachable veracity; good sense and sound judgment.

"It was said he wore a round-about home-made coat, jeans or home-made pants, wool hat, home tanned and made shoes to the Legislature.

"Taking this family as a whole, just as they arrived in manhood and womanhood, perhaps not another could be found with more or brighter promise for their future. Their paternal tutorage was faultless, with perhaps one exception, Christianity."

I would take this to mean that Mr. Wood did not attend church.

The above is from a Randolph County history and may be found online on the Alabama GenWeb pages.

Mrs. Parker states that William and Martha Wood had eight children and she gives their birth dates and some spouses. However, some of the birth dates disagree with the 1830 census.

William and Martha's first child was William H. Wood, known as "Brister Bill." In 1851, "Brister Bill" married Josephine L.P. Guinn, who was "from one of the finest families in Alabama at that time." Josephine, no doubt, was an ancestor of the author of the above portrait of William Wood.

The second child was Jack Wood, a member of the Alabama House of Representatives and a member of the Ordinance of Secession in 1861. Jack had no family.

The third child was Alfred Campbell Wood who married Emily Pate in 1863, shortly after he resigned from the Confederate Army.

The fourth child was Richard Jackson Wood, born 24 June 1824, died 25 July 1895.

The fifth child was Winston Wood who married Lucinda Formby. He was a tax collector and a tax assessor in Alabama and, in later years, moved his wife and family to Atlanta, where he died and is buried.

The sixth child was Mary Ann Wood, born 13 Dec. 1831.

The seventh child was Martha Wood, born in 1833 and died in 1905. She married Robert T. Smith, brother of William Smith, the governor of Alabama. They had three sons and three daughters.

The eighth child was Sarah Wood, born in 1835, died 1905. She married twice, first to Tom Pate, with whom she had a son, Wyatt Pate. She married second to James Knight and had three more children, Walter, Willie and Arthur Knight.

Many of these family members are buried in the William Wood cemetery in Randolph County, Alabama. Mrs. Parker does not say where specifically (near what town) the cemetery is located.

So ... was William Wood's wife Martha Glass or Martha Durbin? Will the real Mrs. William Wood please stand up?

In doing these stories, it is so interesting to see how the families intertwine in their relationships. Once they form family and friend groups, they rarely step outside the circle for several generations. The Woods, the Pates, the Heflins and the Blakes stuck together well into the late 1800s. You will see these surnames often included in childrens' given names within these families.

How about your family? Do you have several surnames which have carried down through the years? I'd love to hear about them.

Send stories about your southside Atlanta ancestors to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; E-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!

(Judy regrets that time does not permit her to do personal research for others. She will willingly share research information on her own family lines, including collateral and allied lines.)

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