Henry Wood, born ca. 1594 in County Surry, England, came to America before
1644 when he married Abigail Jenny from Leyden, Holland on 28 April 1644
in Plymouth, MA. They became the parents of 12 children. This
Wood family began the Wood line that produced Jabin Wood.
According to the IGI Jabin Wood was christened 28 September 1794 in the
First Congregational Church at Westmoreland, Oneida Co., NY. His
father was said to be Joseph Wood. In 1800 a Joseph Wood was included
in the Oneida County census from the area including the towns of Westmoreland,
Whitestown and Augusta. A male child under 10 was included.
There were several Joseph Woods of the right age, all descendants of Henry.
Some Josephs lived in Massachusetts, especially at Middleborough, MA.
This possibly centers on the use of one name – Clement. Jabin had
a son and grandson Clement, a rare name then and now. It seems only
one line from Henry had males named Clement. It was a name which
apparently was derived from Sarah Clemons who married 28 April 1738 in
Freetown, MA John Wood of Middleborough. Their son Clement Wood was
born on 9 June 1740, one of seven children. All the John/Sarah lines
thereafter had descendants named Clement, including Jabin. The name
may form the only thread to Jabin’s ancestors.
According to the Roster of Membership of the General Society of War of
1812, Jabin,. a private, served one year in the company of Captain
Alvin Smith. He fought at the Battle of Sackett’s Harbor. His
service also was noted in the Index of Claims of Soldiers of the War of
1812. He placed claims no. 3,734 for $34 and no. 3,311 for $26.
After the war the family removed to Mexico, Oswego Co., NY. He had
two sisters(?) Fanny and Irene Wood who also came to Mexico from Westmoreland.
By 1818 Jabin owned land in a deed for the east side of Salmon Creek.
His family became participants in the first church formed in Mexico.
It was nominally Congregational at first. Soon the members became
Presbyterians. Quickly he established himself and in 1821 he was
made an Elder, a post he held until 1830. In 1822 he was elected
a Trustee. Thereafter he was always called Deacon Wood. Many
church prayer meetings were held in his home as the church had no edifice.
Jabin was appointed to a committee to find a place to build, but the group
failed to agree.
In 1825 Jabin built a tannery
at Mexico on his lot. A tannery required the use of the bark of hemlock
trees. The entire area had a profusion of hemlocks growing along
the Salmon Creek which were cut during the summer for lumber. Then
the bark was cut off and left to dry. By winter sleighs of dried
bark were sledded to the tanneries. Hides were packed into layers
of chopped bark then submerged in water. It was a smelly, unpleasant
job.
Jabin used many of the prepared hides to make shoes. Several of his
sons were also shoemakers. It was quite usual for a tanner to be
a shoemaker. Towns needed shoemakers. Jabin eventually sold
his business to Archibald Ross.
Jabin married Melinda/Malinda. There are suggestions in LDS files
she was a Webster, but it is much more likely she was a Norton. By
1850 Jabin and his sons lived in Richland, Oswego Co., NY.
Getting a complete list of his children has been impossible. The
1830 Mexico Census enumerated 4 sons and 2 daughters. The 1850 Richland
census only listed the following:
Wood, Jabin
55 Farmer $1200 NY
Malinda 57 wife
MA
John 20 shoemaker
NY
There were 9 Wood heads of household in Richland during 1850.
Five of the families had Vermont or Rhode Island roots. Jabin and
three sons appear to be the other heads given. (The fourth son was
living in his father’s household.)
Wood, William F.
31 shoemaker NY
Elizabeth 32 wife
NY
Charlott
[sic] A. 4 daughter NY
Wood, Nathaniel 28 farmer
$3000 NY
Louisa 29 wife
NY
Martha
A. 1 daughter
NY
Wood, Norton P. 23 farmer
$250 NY
Elizabeth 21 wife
NY
Gertrude G. 2 daughter NY
Additionally the Mexico Presbyterian Church records reveal that Jabin and
Melinda Wood’s son Clement Fosdick/Furbush/Flavius (?) was baptized on
15 November 1828. As no further records can be located on this child
in Mexico or Richland, he probably died young.
By 1852 young John Wood married Esther Allen, probable daughter of Stephen
and Catherine Allen. The young couple set up residence next door
to these Allens. During 1859/60 John died.
By the 1860 Richland census the
family records as given:
Wood, Jabin 65 shoemaker
NY
Melinda
65 wife NY
Wood, Norton P. 33 farmer ``` $75
NY
Mary E 30 wife NY
Gertrude
G. 1 5 daughter NY
Phebe Mason 64(?) $1200 NY
Wood, Esther* 28 pauper
NY
Catherine 8 daughter NY
Edward 6 son
NY
Clement 1 son NY
Next door:
Allen, Stephen 56 farmer
NY
Catherine 59 wife NY
Charles son NY
Salinda 18 daughter NY
• widow of John Wood
In 1870 Richland census record:
Wood, Jabin 76
NY
Melinda 76 wife NY
Wood, Norton 44 retail
$900 NY
Mary 40 wife
NY
Later some of the family continued to reside in the county. The 1880
Pulaski census included:
Wood, William F. 63
Saloonkeeper NY
Elizabeth 63 wife
NY
In Mexico the 1880 census
listed:
Wood, Nathaniel 57 farmer
NY
Lucy K.[sic] 44 wife NY
Clara 14 daughter NY
Charlie 11 son
NY
Mary 8 daughter NY
Ladd, Julia 49 sister
NY
The 1880 Richland census
revealed:
Wood, N. P. 53 farmer
NY
Mary E. 50 wife NY
Jab. 86 father NY*
*Indicated his parents were both
born in MA.
Melinda died 29 September 1875 at age 83. Jabin followed her in death
on 18 October 1893 at age 99. They were buried in the Willis Cemetery,
Fernwood, NY. The stone for Melinda has been slightly eroded making
it hard to read her first name which was transcribed by the DAR as Urelinda.
Nathaniel Wood, born in 1823, died 1895 according to his tombstone in the
Maple View Cemetery, Maple View, NY. His wife Lucy J. (Ladd) Wood, daughter
of Denison and Sophia Edgerton (Eggleston) Ladd, was born in 1835 and died
in 1904. Their daughter Clara, born in 1866, died unmarried in 1932.
Now interred near her parents.
Charles Wood, son of Nathaniel, resided in Parish, Oswego Co., NY.
In the 1920 Parish census there was the following:
Wood, Charles O. 51
farmer NY
Bessie S. 45 wife NY
Donald S. 10 son NY
Robert C. 7 son
NY
Bessie, born in 1876, died in 1955. Charles, born in 1867, expired
in 1958. Son Robert, born in 1912, died in 1871. Son Donald,
born in 1910, died in 1973. All of this family were buried in the
Maple View Cemetery.
John Wood’s widow moved her family west. Their son Edward A. Wood,
at age 75 born in 1854, in 1930 census resided in Reading, Hillsdale Co.,
MI. He was a widower who had been married for 24 years, then
living alone.
John and Esther’s next son, Clement H, in 1904 resided in River Forest,
Cook Co. IL. He married Andrea Hansen from Horsen, Denmark.
They had four children. According to a family researcher, Ralph Walton
Wood was born 24 August 1904 in River Forest, IL. He died 24 August
1988 in Billings, MT. He married Florence Geneva Atkinson born 17
March 1908 in Castle, ND. She died on 20 April 1997 in Whitefish,
MT. They had three children. In 1930 the couple resided in
District 2, Sunburst, Toole Co., MT. Clement’s other children were Edward
Allen Woods, born 24 January 1884; Lola Esthek Wood, born 10 December 1886
and Mabel Catherine Wood born 8 January 1888.
The youngest son of John and Esther was called Carley as a child.
His full name was Carlton E. Wood. In the 1930 census he resided
in District 6, Camden, Hillsdale Co., MI. A farmer, age 70, he had
wed Anna B., age 69, born in Michigan.
SOURCES:
Burgess, A. Parke. The
Old Pratham Church. Syracuse: 1877.
Cemetery Census of the Town
of Mexico, Oswego County, New York. Mexico: The Mexico Historical
Society, 1984.
First Presbyterian Church
in Mexico, N.Y. Available [online] https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nyoswego/towns/mexico/1st
prebychurch.html 10 November 2003.
General Society of War of
1812. Roster of Members. Mendenhall: 1989.
International Genealogical
Index. Available [online] http://familysearch.org
11 November 2003.
New York. Adjutant General’s
Office. Index of Claims of Soldiers of the War of 1812. Baltimore:
Genealogical Publishing, 1969.
Recommendations, Dismissals
& Other Mexico Presbyterians 1827-40, Mexico, NY. Available [online]
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nyoswego
12 November 2003.
Simpson, Elizabeth.
Mexico: Mother of Towns. Buffalo: Clement, 1949.
U.S. Census, Camden, Hillsdale
Co., MI 1930.
U.S. Census, Reading,
Hillsdale Co., MI 1930.
U.S. Census, Sunburst,
Toole Co., MT 1930.
U.S. Census, Westmoreland,
Whitestown, Augusta, Oneida Co., NY 1800.
U.S. Census, Hastings,
Oswego Co., NY 1870.
U.S. Census, Mexico,
Oswego Co., NY 1820, 1830 & 1880.
U.S. Census, Parish,
Oswego Co., NY 1920.
U.S. Census, Pulaski,
Oswego Co., NY 1880.
U.S. Census, Richland,
Oswego Co., NY 1850, 1860, 1870, & 1880.
Willis Cemetery, Fernwood,
NY. Available [online] https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nyoswego/towns/richland/williscem.html
10 November 2003.
Wood, Nora Bethel et al. Henry
Wood of Middleborough, Mass. Unpublished manuscript, 1945.
The Wood Tree. Available
[online] http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cai?…:186342&id
10 November 2003.
WorldConnect Project.
Available [online] http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com
17 November 2003.