BENJAMIN WOODS married Meca Boone in Wayne Co., Indiana in 1819. He was
reared in Waynesville, Warren Co.OH, and was born in KY, 1798.
He appears to be the son of SAMUEL, ANDREW or JAMES WOODS of North Carolina.
Their birthdates are: Saml.1770-75; Andr.17755-1780; & Jas.bef.1775.
These three were early pioneers and landholders in Wayne Co. The county
seat was chosen on a 65-acre tract belonging to Samuel WOODS.
"Thereupon Smith Hunt, SAMUEL WOODS, and James Brown were appointed
trustees to plat the town, while ANDREW WOODS and John Meek superin-
tended the building of a jail and estray pen." (Fox, *Memoirs of
Wayne County, Indiana*)
We believe Samuel moved out of Wayne Co. after 1830; there is no obituary
for him there.
Benjamin's son WILLIAM WOODS, born in 1820, Wayne Co.IN, studied law and
was admitted to the bar there. He and his parents relocated to Howard
Co.IN, after which we have good information on the family. However, a
large contingent of prominent WOODS remained in Wayne Co., including
another generation named Andrew and James. The WOODS were Baptists.
William WOODS married first Mahala Burgoyne, and after her death, her
sister Matilda Burgoyne, daughters of James and Mary (Minor) Burgoyne of
Dutch descent. His third wife was Mrs. Nancy A. Morris.
(Blanchard, *Memories of Tipton and Howard Counties, Indiana*, "Liberty
township," pp. 483-484.)
Yesterday we received a letter from the Wayne Co.IN Genealogical Society
in response to our query. The letter said, in part:
"The research committee has not received previous requests on the
WOODS surname."
And also: "Our Society has compiled 2 volumes of 5-generation charts,
which were check but yielded nothing. There were no WOODS individual
family histories, and the CRIMP (County Records of Indiana on Microfilm
Project) did not list an item under the WOODS name."
And: "We checked the Marcial O'Neal index of Newspaper Articles,
vols.1922-61, and the Centerville Series, and found no entries for WOODS."
However, we learned that the obituary/biographical newspaper file at the
Morrison-Reeves Library shows several WOODS items in its index, and we
have sent to this Library for copies.
We would appreciate any help from you, if you recognize this family.
Victoria Cheney
cheney(a)mail.utexas.edu