Name: John Wood 97
Born: aft 1775
Place: Vermont 149
Died: bef 1830
Place: prob Clark Co OH
Buried:
Married: 20 Dec 1818
Place: Clark Co OH
This paragraph appears in JW Fisk's
memoirs:97
My grandmother [Charity (Corson) Stites] was married a
second time. It was several years after my grandfather Stites either died or
became estranged. She married a man by the name of Woods. To them were born
three children. John in 1824 or 1824 (?), I cannot recall the month; Minty
two years later; Polly sometime in the year 1827 or 1828.
"Minty" was J W's uncle Edward Fisk's wife, Araminta
Wood. Since there was a marriage between Charity Stites and John Wood
in Clark County, it seems clear that John Wood was Araminta's father.
From Clark County, Ohio Marriage Records 1818-1821, Volume 1,
compiled by Sara J Greer, 1998:
Wood, John Charity Stites 20 Dec 1818 13
Wood, William Mary Mattox 30 Mar 1820 49
Woods, Sally Chas. Maddon 9 Sep 1819 36
The 1880 and 1900 census entries for Araminta D Fisk, John's daughter,
state that her father was born in Vermont. The census records for Vermont
for 1790, 1800 and 1810 list a very large number of Wood households,
including the names Isaac (1800 and 1810, Bennington and Franklin Counties)
and Jeremiah (Rutland county, 1790-1820). In Rutledge county alone, there
are 35 Woods listed for 1800. The 1820 census for Ohio shows two Jeremiahs
(Clermont and Muskingum Counties), four Isaacs (two in Clark County,
including a Jr) and 21 Johns (including one in Clark County).
John Wood appears on the 1818 tax list for Clark county OH as a
"proprietor." The "original proprietor" is listed as Andrew Ellison.
The 1820 Clark County census index shows:
Isaac Wood Springfield Twp page 19
Isaac Wood Jr Springfield Twp page 21
John Wood Harmony Twp page 15
Thomas Wood Springfield Twp page 20
William Wood Springfield Twp page 19
The online census record (Heritage Quest) is difficult to read. This is
what I see for John:
1820 > OHIO > CLARK > HARMONY
Series: M33 Roll: 88 Page: 15
John Wood 100010 20101
All we can know about John's age from this is that he was under 45 years
old, making him born after 1775.
Daughter Araminta was not born until 1821 (in Columbiana county) so would
not be listed.3 The two youngest girls would have been Charity's
daughters from her first marriage, Julie Ann and Doindia Stites. In his
memoir, J W Fisk says that Charity and her second husband had three
children. The son listed above could be son John, who was known to be their
eldest child. It is John, the son, that J W Fisk references:
Uncle John Wood was a man of sterling worth. He together with his mother's
family moved to Iowa in 1844 and succeeded in establishing himself in later
years on a farm in Marion County, Iowa.97
In 1830, John's widow, Charity Wood, is found living next door to her
mother, Christianna Corson, in Harmony township, Clark county. That she is
named the head of the household indicates that John had died. Although
there are no males listed in her household, there is a young male in her
mother's home. We might safely assume that this was John Jr. (See the
article on Charity for details.)
We're unable to identify John's family with any of the other Wood
families in the county, which includes families from Virginia and from
England. In a rather desparate search for possible brothers, I've searched
the 1850 census for any male Wood born between 1770 and 1790 in Vermont who
were residing in Ohio. It's a short list but I don't expect it to yield
anything useful.
- Ephraim Wood, born
c1781 Vermont;
Woodville, Sandusky
- Jeremiah Wood, born
c1780 Vermont;
Carlisle, Lorain
- Elijah A Wood, born
c1786 Vermont;
Parma, Cuyahoga
- Alvan Wood, born
c1790 Vermont;
Streetsborough, Portage
John Wood (Jr)
John Jr is found in Lake Prairie Twp, Marion county Iowa, as early as the
1850 census, age 30. (Note that the 2 year-old Wyatt Earp can be found on
the same census.) Interestingly, a Lurena Wood, age 62, is living in the
household. Her place of birth isn't noted. We can be fairly certain that
she was not John's mother as all evidence points to Charity (Corson) Stites.
Could she have been an aunt and, therefore, a sister or sister-in-law to his
father? It's curious that most of John's daughters' names started with an
'L'. Was Lurena the inspiration?
1850 > IOWA > MARION > LAKE PRAIRIE TWP
Series: M432 Roll: 187 Page: 293
He is found on the 1860 census for Marion County, Iowa, age 38, living
next door to J W Fisk's parents, Henry C and Julia A Fiske. Julia was
John's half-sister.
1860 > IOWA > MARION > LAKE PRAIRIE TWP
Series: M653 Roll: 335 Page: 606
John is 50 years old on the 1870 census, same county. His wife is listed
as Mary A, born KY, 43 years old.
1870 > IOWA > MARION > LAKE PRAIRIE TWP
Series: M593 Roll: 409 Page: 124
The following is likely him, as John Woods, in 1880. However, the
birthplace of his parents is shown very differently from what we'd expect,
with his father born in New Jersey and mother born in Florida. Of further
interest is the fact that his sister, Polly, is living with him. I'm unable
to determine, however, her last name. It certainly isn't the expected
Turner.1 His son, Benajah, is found in a separate househould,
same page.
1880 > IOWA > CRAWFORD > IOWA
Series: T9 Roll: 335 Page: 71
We can determine at least some of John Jr's children from the census
records. Son Benajah G Wood would have been named for his maternal uncle,
Benajah Corson. (See Following the Benajahs.)
John's wife is listed as Margaret, born in Kentucky c1825.
Lusanna Wood, born c1849, Iowa
Lucinda, born c1850, Iowa
Letitia, born c1852, Iowa
William H, born c1854, Iowa
Benajah G, born c1858, Iowa
Christian, born 1860, Iowa
Lena, born c1862, Iowa
Gerold, born c1864, Iowa
John, born c1869, Iowa
The Y chromosome may one day provide leads. In other words, should a
partilineal descendant of John's provide test results, it might be possible
to compare it against the Wood
DNA Project and find a related line. With the end in mind of finding
such a person, I'm maintaining a short list of John Wood's Y
descendants.
Other early Wood families in Clark county, Ohio
- A will recorded in Clark county, Ohio (1822) for a John Wood lists wife Catherine, son Thomas,
daughter Mary Jinkins (wife of Joel) and grandaughter Ann, daughter of his
deceased daughter Elizabeth.96
- John G Wood, apparently a cabinet maker from Virgina, had three children
by his first wife: Sarah, Edward and James. From his second marriage he had
Robert I Wood, born 1830 in Virginia. Robert had sons Charles Alfred, born
1851, and William, born 1853.92
93
- Matthew (died 1830) and his wife Jane (died 1856) arrived from Kentucky to Clark
County in 1810. It is probably this man who is listed in the 1818 poll-book
as "Woods" and it may be his wife listed on the 1840 census as Jane "Woods".
A Matthew Wood was elected Justice of the Peace in 1829. A daughter, Jane G
Wood, married George W Alt, in 1845. It appears that Matthew left a will in
Clark County (book 1, p 290).91
- Benjamin Wood arrived in Clark county in 1805. He had a son Albert who
died in 1843 at the age of 35. Albert had children Mary, Benjamin, Sarah,
Juliet, Anna, Henry and Isaiah Wood, born 18 Jan 1842 in Clark county,
Ohio.94
- Isaac and Jane (Cory) Wood came to Clark county in 1812. Our John had
been long thought as a possible son but it is now clear that they had a son,
John T Wood, who died in infancy in 1810. Nevertheless, I've saved and
updated my older article about this family.
- There was another John Wood born in Clark County in 1818, the son of
Isaac and Sarah Wood of New Jersey. This family moved on to Marion County
in 1821.2
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