William Francis Wood

William Francis Wood was born July 4th, 1828 in Tennessee, (he maintains on all census records that his place of birth was TN). I have never been able to find out who William F. Wood’s parents were. I did locate a William and Nancy Wood in the household of William J. Wilson in Austin County, TX on the 1850 census. This William Wood could be the correct age to be William F. Wood’s father, he is aged 50 years and what is even more interesting is that he maintains he was born in S. Carolina – which matches what William Francis Wood always maintained – that his parents were born in South Carolina. Nancy is shown as being 34 years old, which is a little young to be William F. Wood’s mother, but could have been his sister or step-mother. There is absolutely no proof that these folks are related to William F. Wood, but it is possible….

I first find William F. Wood by name in that same 1850 census, in the household of Samuel P. Shelburne in the community of Pecan Grove in Austin County, TX, aged 22 years. It has long been speculated by other family researchers (distant cousins) I have met over the years that William F. Wood migrated to Texas with the Shelburne family. He is the same exact age of their son, Henry, who could have been his best friend. Indeed he and Henry both served in the 20 Texas Infantry, Elmore’s Regiment (W.F. Wood was the Drummer for the regiment) in the Civil War. Samuel Shelburne was born in Virginia and lived for some time in Lauderdale County, AL, where most, if not all of his children were born, (I am not descended from the marriage of WF Wood to Mary Ann Shelburne, so have not done extensive research on that family). It is believed that even though WF Wood was born in TN, his family may have migrated to Alabama shortly thereafter and been neighbors of the Shelburnes, if not related to them by marriage. There are several Wood and Woods families living in Lauderdale County, AL in 1820, 1830 & 1840 census’.

On December 19th, 1850 William F. Wood married Samuel’s daughter, Mary Ann Shelburne. To their union were born Samuel Thomas in 1852, Robert M. in 1853, Francis Marion in 1856, Nancy Lucinda in 1858 and William Henry in 1862. Their family shows up in the 1860 census still living in the Pecan Grove community with their respective children at that point in Austin County, TX.

Mary Ann Wood died at the young age of 30 years in October of 1865, it is assumed, at the birth of another of their children, but that is not known. It is possible that Mary Ann could have been ill – many were suffering from the effects of the Civil War.

On November 28th, 1869, William F. Wood married Sarah L. Armstrong in Washington County. The 1870 census shows the William F. Wood & Sarah L. Armstrong Wood household in the community of Industry (I believe that is the same as the previous Pecan Grove community, but am not sure).

William F. Wood & Sarah L. Wood had the following children: my great-grandmother, Mary Ann, born September 18th, 1870, James Gideon born 1871, Martha Delilah, born 1874 and Alex Levi, born 1879. Sarah L. Wood passed away giving birth to Alex Levi Wood. She died at the same young age of WF Wood’s first wife – 30 years…..

Little is known about my great-great grandmother Sarah L. Wood, but one thing all researchers, including myself have been told that she was a full-blood Cherokee. I was shown a photo of my great-grandmother, her daughter, Mary Ann Wood Phears with her husband, William Henry Phears by my grandmother, Katie West Phears. Mary Ann Wood could have passed for a full-blood Cherokee and my grandmother and father both had very strong Native American features.

One researcher, not descended from the 2nd marriage of WF Wood, took artistic license on a publication for the TX Genealogical Society and gave my g-g grandmother a very “Native American sounding” middle name – “Lucah”. In fact – there is no documentation anywhere, as this researcher later admitted, that shows proof of that. To date, the only documentation Sarah L. Armstrong Wood shows up on is her marriage license to WF Wood where she is shown as “Sarah L. Armstrong” and the 1870 Austin County census.

Being Native American back in those days was akin to being a person of color – a white person marrying a Native American was akin to marrying a person of color back then, so it is probable that Sarah and her family did not own property and steered clear of governmental officials.

She is a great mystery to all researchers as neither she nor any person that could be a member of her family can be found prior to her marriage to WF Wood in 1869, or afterward.

Soon after Sarah’s death, WF Wood sold his property in Austin County and listed himself on the deed of sale as a “Widower”. He packed up all but two of his oldest children and moved to the community of Dime Box in Lee County, TX. He purchased 640 acres from G. Bryan that was a part of a grant of the Stephen F. Austin League, situated near the Old San Antonio Road & Yequa Creek. He lived there until his death in 1901.

The 1880 Lee County, TX census enumerates his household as WF Wood as the head of the household with Francis M., age 25, Nancy L., age 21, William H., age 17, Mary A., age 11, James G., age 9, Martha D., age 6 and Alex L., age 1.

In 1881, WF Wood sold 56 acres of his land to his oldest son, Samuel Thomas Wood for the sum of $1.

The 1890 census is unavailable to genealogists, so we move on to the 1900 census, where we find that Samuel Thomas and his family now live on the land his father sold him, and we find WF Wood, still as head of his household, with daughter Martha and her husband Frank Ramsey and their 3 children.

In 1901, a terrible pneumonia epidemic ravaged the area and William Francis Wood was one of its casualties – he died March 27th, 1901 and was quickly followed by his caretaker – his daughter, my great-grandmother Mary Ann Wood Phears, who died on April 1st, 1901. Guess how old she was? 30 years……..

William F. Wood’s Last Will & Testament was a source of much dissension amongst his children and their descendants. My g-grandfather, William Henry Phears and Nancy Lucinda Wood Whitsel's, husband, Archie were the executors of his will. The first legal document was in April of 1901 and has them demanding an inventory of WF Wood's estate, as it said all of his property real and personal was seized and possessed and was in the approximate amount of $10,000 (a great deal of $'s back then). It does not clarify to whom he was seized and possessed.....

Then in June of 1901 they have the inventory (which lists livestock, farm equipment, buggies, a watch, a clock, furniture, etc.) and they probated the will, which includes the land, house and furnishings, livestock, etc.).

Here is where the other children and some of their descendants were stunned… W.F. Wood left everything in an undivided interest between the following children ONLY: Nancy Lucinda, Mary Ann, Martha Delilah and Alex Levi. He is VERY explicit that no one but those 4 children are to receive anything, and that if those 4 children did not survive him, only the natural children of those 4 children could inherit their portion.

It is a mystery as to why he stipulated this, but I can only assume that these children were the closest to him and had cared for him during his last few years.

William Francis Wood is buried in the Scott Cemetery in the community of Old Dime Box, TX in Lee County, TX, next to my great-grandmother, Mary Ann Wood Phears and my great-grandfather, William Henry Phears in a lovely, ornate privately fenced family plot of the cemetery. I tend their graves when I am in that area at my family farm just a few miles south of Dime Box, TX.

Notes:
My research of William Francis Wood is based on marriage licenses, census records as cited, land deeds and his Last Will & Testament, as found in the Austin County courthouse in Bellville, TX and the Lee County courthouse in Giddings, TX. I have copies of all of these documents.

I have no photos of William F. Wood, Mary Ann Shelburne Wood, Sarah L. Armstrong Wood or Mary Ann Wood Phears. The photograph of Mary Ann Wood Phears and William Henry Phears that my grandmother showed me when I was a little girl was lost when she died and her property was divvied up by local family and sold at an estate auction. If anyone who reads this has any additional documents, whether legal, letters, from family Bibles or photographs, I would be thrilled if you could contact me and share what you have!