The History and Genealogy of Henry and William Woody
and their Descendants
(including Wooddy, Woodie, Woddy, Woodey, Woode, de Woody, etc.)
Dedicated to the Memory of our Honored Pioneer Ancestors
Created: 1998
Hosted by Dave Woody
(A link to the Woody database and pedigree is located at the
end of the historical section below.)
The server for this site is generously supplied by:
Robert Wooddy in the Virginia Tidewater
One of the earliest chronicles of the Woody name in Virginia can be found in court records of Lower Norfolk County
which was situated in the heart of the famous Tidewater region. On
August 15, 1653, a Robert Wooddy, age about thirty-two, testified about an
incident that occurred on a ship anchored in the River on December 15, 1651.
This Robert Woody may have been the person that
claimed headright awards for two people in 1653. To encourage settlement of America, the English government awarded land grants to ship
captains and others who were responsible for the transportation of immigrants
from Europe. These rewards were termed "headrights". Several very early
land grants based on headright claims have been transcribed for the following Woodys: Anthony in 1648, Symon in 1652, Robert in 1656, John in
1674 and Henry in 1681. The images of the original documents are viewable at
the Library of Virginia
Land Office Patents and Grants/Northern Neck Grants and
Surveys. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, we
can confirm only two of the names: Robert and John. Anthony was Waddy, Symon was
most likely Waddy and Henry was
most likely Moody.
Very Early Woody Records In Virginia
From 1682-1786, the "processioning" records found in the Vestry Books of St. Peter's Parish and St. Paul's Parish mention a
succession of Woody landowners in New Kent and Hanover Counties. Property lines
where determined by an ancient and time honored surveying procedure called
"metes and bounds". The system of metes and bounds used physical features, such
as trees, creeks, rocks, roadways, etc. to describe property boundaries. Because
these features tended to change over time, it was necessary for adjoining
landowners to meet regularly to resurvey and agree on new defining features.
This process was termed processioning and was an important event in the lives of
Colonial landowners. Typically, processioning was preformed every four years
under the direction of the Parish officials. In addition to processioning
records, a very few Hanover and New Kent County property deeds and grants have
survived from this period. Images of most of the grants can be viewed at the
Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants/Northern Neck Grants and Surveys found on the Library of Virginia web
site. The wills of two Woodys from this period have survived: Simon and his only
son Moor. However, Moor Woody left no male descendants.
The Colonial Quakers were prodigious record keepers and many of their records
have survived and have been transcribed by William Hinshaw and others.
The minutes of the Henrico Monthly Meeting record the only two Woody Quakers
mentioned in Virginia. In 1722, James Woody provided funds to help build a
Meeting House. Micajah Woody of Hanover County and several of his daughters are
noted from 1739 to 1759. Although it is possible that his ancestors may have been
Quakers, there is no evidence at all to suggest that Henry Woody, of Goochland
and Franklin Counties, was a Quaker. The name Henry Woody does not occur at all
in the Quaker records. Also, the Quakers were strict pacifists and Henry was a
Revolutionary War veteran.
In the records
described above and in the court records of Goochland, Henrico, Hanover and New
Kent Counties, the given names of John, Martha, Micajah, Simon, James, Anthony,
Henry, Robert, and Samuel appear quite frequently; however, determining the
relationships of these people is extremely difficult or impossible. Birth and
marriage records are
virtually non-existent for this period, so it is left to the family historian to
first obtain and then subjectively interpret the meaning of the existing
documents.
Woody Records Effected by County Formation,
Boundary Changes and Civil War
A little knowledge of Virginia
county formation, boundary changes and Civil War record destruction is necessary to reach any reasonable conclusions based on
the meager evidence available. Woody Records
in the The Douglas Register
The Reverend William Douglas became pastor of Dover Church, St. James Northam
Parish in Goochland County, Virginia on October 12, 1750 and served until 1777, when he resigned
because of his Tory political views. As many ministers were, Rev. Douglas
was also a tutor and when Thomas Jefferson was nine he began five years of
schooling at Dover Church under Douglas. The Douglas Register, the
record of Rev. Douglas' ministry, is one of the few documents that have survived
in Virginia's "Black Hole" of
genealogy. The vast majority of the records of this area were destroyed during the Civil War.
Images of the 1928
W. Mac. Jones transcription of this very important document are online at
the Ancestry.com
Stories, Memories and Histories section. John Woody in the Branches of Byrd Creek On September 16, 1740, John Woody received a land grant for 375 acres among the
branches of the Byrd Creek in Goochland County. His neighbors were James Johnson
and Francis Baker, but John already owned adjacent land, since the grant
description mentions his existing property line. His previous ownership is also
confirmed since, on February 20, 1738, he and William Martin were mentioned as
surveyors for the Mountain Road. The Mountain Road stretched from Richmond west
across the Blue Ridge and was the main east-west thoroughfare of the period. The
road was also know as the Three Notch'd Road and the Chopped Road since the
bordering trees were blazed with three hatchet marks. Small sections of this
road can still be found on modern road maps. Research done by the the staff of
the Virginia Transportation Research Council has resulted in
The Route of the Three Notch'd Road depicted on a current Virginia county map. On this map, the
upper branches of Byrd Creek are in the north-east corner of Fluvanna County
very near the Louisa and Goochland borders.
Henry Woody in a Deadly Encounter
in Bedford County In 1754, Bedford County was created from that part of Lunenburg County that was
south of Albemarle County. This event coincided with the beginning of the French
and Indian War which lasted until 1763. Although most of the significant action
took place far to the north and west of Bedford, Virginia contributed many of
the troops that participated. In 1755, a British force under the command of
General Edward Braddock attempted to capture the French Fort Duquesne (now
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). In this campaign, Virginia militia Major George
Washington, an aide to General Braddock, gained his first fame at the Battle of
the Monongahela even though the British suffered a disastrous defeat. Washington
was later commissioned commander of all the Virginia forces and, as such, he
received many communications from military officers and government officials.
One such letter came from John Blair and concerned Indian raids in 1758 Bedford and
Halifax Counties. In an attachment to this letter,
Henry Wooddy was mentioned as
participating in a deadly skirmish with Native Americans near
the Pigg River in southern Bedford County.
Henry, John, Martin & David
Woody: Signers of 1776 Petition
On November 1, 1776, Peter Martain,
Geo Martain, Chas Martain, HenryWoody, Martain Woody, John Woody
and David Woody, along with many other Revolutionary War soldiers and concerned
citizens, signed an Albemarle and Amherst County petition that demanded
disestablishm
Henrico County, an original Virginia shire created in 1634, remained intact for
over one hundred years until Goochland County was created from western Henrico
in 1728. Conversely, Hanover County was formed from western New Kent County in
1721. New Kent was formed from York County in 1654 and, in 1642, York was formed
from Charles River County, an original shire. So Goochland/Henrico were never
part of Hanover/New Kent or visa versa; however, Woody families with the same
given names seemed to have lived in both places at the same time.
In contrast to the complete geographic separation of Goochland/Henrico and
Hanover/New Kent described above, later Virginia county formation and boundary
changes resulted in locations that were in two or three different counties in
the space of a few years. A very accurate depiction of
of Virginia county formation is available at the
Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries
website. In the early 1740s,
John Woody lived in western Goochland on Byrd Creek, a tributary of the James
River. In 1744, the Byrd Creek location became part of Albemarle County when it
was formed from western Goochland and thus some post-1744 records for this
location are found in Albemarle. A further complication occurred in 1778 when
Fluvanna County was formed from eastern Albemarle and the Byrd Creek location
became part of Fluvanna. So in about thirty-five years, the Woody property was
in three different counties and the records (if any) associated with this
location and its residents are spread over these three counties. Although the records of the Woodys are found in many
Virginia counties, the families did not always move from one county to another.
As new counties were formed, the boundary changes give the impression of
migration when none occurred.
More than any other state, Virginia has suffered the destructive effects of war
in America. Burning court houses was one of the favorite pastimes of invading
armies in the American Revolution, the War or 1812 and the Civil War. However,
in every sense, the Civil War created the most destruction to life and property
and since many of the fiercest battles occurred in the area surrounding
Richmond, the counties of Henrico, Hanover, New Kent, and Goochland were
especially effected.
The statutes of primogeniture that existed in Colonial America dictated that,
after the widow's one-third dower, the estate of a intestate deceased went to
his oldest surviving son. Of course, a will could be used to distribute an
estate, but many people of moderate means did not execute a will. The Woodys
were mostly people of moderate means and the bulk of their estates consisted of real
property (land). Deeds and court records relating to land transfers form the
major portion of the records that have survived and are available to the
researcher. A few tithe records have survived, but these are very few and far
between. Thus, our knowledge of the Woodys in Colonial America is mainly based
on those eldest sons that inherited land. Their brothers and sisters can be
virtually invisible.
The Woodys
were not wealthy or famous and many of them did not seem to
be land owners. Most were probably squatters that farmed land that was not being cultivated by the owner.
Squatting was part of the common land tradition of both the English and Gaelic
laboring people and "squatter occupancy was one of the reasons that half
of Virginia's white population in the 1770s had no recorded land."
Fortunately, they did associate with a number of relatively well known
people of the time. The family histories of most of these people have been
documented and some of the evidence presented below comes from this
documentation. This evidence is complex and, at times, difficult to follow.
We have seen a lengthy mostly
undocumented lineage published
and recopied many times on the internet that extends the Henry Woody line back to
the 1600s. Although the people named Woody are indeed found in the isolated
references provided in the lineage, none of these references give the
relationships of the people, nor do they give the exact birth dates cited for
these people. In addition, the above mentioned head right records show that
several Woodys came to Virginia during the latter half of the 17th century. Woody records for this period are quite rare; however, many more
exist than are cited in this lineage. These additional records contain
information
that is not mentioned in the lineage and suggest other relationships and
lineages. Because the frequent use of the given names of Henry and John during
the 1700s, it is very difficult to sort out the relationships. The most perplexing of these additional records are probably the
The Vestry Book of St. Paul's Parish, Hanover County,
Virginia 1706 - 1786, The Vestry Book of Henrico Parish, Virginia 1730 - 1773
and St. James Northam Parish Vestry Book, Goochland County, Virginia
1744 - 1850. Although there
are numerous mentions of Woodys in the St. Paul's Vestry Book, there is not one mention of
a Henry Woody. Henry was one of the most popular Woody given names and the
lineage in question includes three early Henry Woodys. At least as perplexing is
the complete absence of the Woody name in the Henrico and St. James Northam
Vestry Books. In an effort aimed at
substantiating as much of this lineage as possible, we have made an detailed
study of the three vestry books. The processioning records in the St. Paul's Vestry Book
were analyzed and compared with other available records of that time period. The
introductory remarks of the compiler, Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, were very
useful in this research and one very obvious reason for the absence of Henry
Woody in the record became apparent. The other two vestry books do not contain one Woody
record; however, the Woodys neighbors are known from extant land records, so the
neighbor's names were the focus of the examination of the processioning
records in these books. This examination revealed some very large differences in
the way processioning results were recorded in the three parishes. These
differences may account for the absence of the Woody name in the Henrico and St.
James Northam Vestry Books. Henry & John Woody: An Analysis of the Vestry Books of
St. Paul's, Henrico and St. James Northam Parishes is a report on this research.
The Reverend William Douglas recorded the following marriages and baptisms:
• Henry Woody married Susannah Martin, Jan 13, 1761,
• John Woodie, son of Henry & Susannah Martin Woodie; bap. Aug 28,
1765,
• Biddy Woodie, daughter of William & Lucy
Barnet Woodie, bap. Aug 28, 1765.
(We knew about this
dual baptism connection for over fifteen
years, but it took us a very long time to connect the dots.)
Other Woodys that were recorded in the Douglas Register as being
married or baptized:
•
Mourning Woody married Alexr. Ross, Nov 6,
1772.
• Eliz. Woody married Will. Nichols, Mar 6, 1774.
• Edward Johnson, son of Jean Woodie & Townell
(Daniel?) Johnson; b. Jan 28, 1760, bap. Sep 8, 1761.
• Martha Woody, daughter of Ursley Woody, b. Mar 28,
1757, bap. Apr 26, 1761. (On Jun 15, 1761, Martha was indentured to to
Nicholas & Sisley Owen until she was 18.)
John added to his property on December 15, 1741 when he purchased 200 acres on
both sides of a large branch of Byrd Creek from Abraham Venable. This tract was
part of a 2000 acre parcel that Abraham patented on June 20 1733. Abraham
Venable owned over 10,000 acres in Virginia and most of the residents of the
Byrd Creek area purchased their land from him. In 1744, Arthur Hopkins,
Gentleman, was charged with the duty of listing the tithables on the north side
of the James River from Ballenger's Creek to Lickinghole Creek. (the upper
branches of Byrd Creek are a few miles east of Ballenger Creek in present day
Fluvanna). Included in his
list of some four hundred residents were the consecutive names of Jn Woodey,
[torn] Bankes, Wm Martin and Jn Curby. On August 8, 1748 and May 13,
1751, John sold these two plots which were by then in Albemarle County. One of the buyers was John Howard of Hanover
County. Arthur Hopkins was one of the witnesses on the
1751 deed. The deeds do not mention that John's wife relinquished her dower, so
we assume that she had died
by then. In 1755, the detailed Fry-Jefferson map of this area was
published. This map was based on the surveys of Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson, the father of President
Thomas Jefferson.
One of the first references to William Woody that we have found was June 13,
1759 when he, William Venable and Hugh Lewis Venable witnessed the deed
for a Byrd Creek, Albemarle County property sale. Hugh Lewis Venable was the son
of the above mentioned Abraham Venable. On June 14, 1757, Hugh married Mary Martin
in Dover Church. An
even more interesting event occurred on May 2, 1761, when Guy Smith sold land on
the Rivanna River, Albemarle County to William Banks. William Wooddy and John
Robertson witnessed the deed for this sale. A John Robertson was the father of
three children that married three of Henry Woody's children in Franklin County. At
the 1760 probate of the Capt. Joseph Thompson's estate in Albemarle County, one of the recorded debits was for shoemaking by William Woodie.
In 1777, William Woody was among the petitioners to the General Assembly
for the separation of Fluvanna from Albemarle County. Fluvanna County was indeed formed
that same year and on the 7th of August, William
Woody purchased 25 acres where he was living on Burke Creek from John Haden,
another of the petitioners.
Burke Creek is a tributary of the Rivanna River and is about 10/15 miles west of
Byrd Creek. William must have moved on by 1782, since he is absent from the
Fluvanna Personal Property Tax Lists which start in that year. This person was
very likely William Banks Woody, the brother of Henry Woody. He he is found in
the Henry County tax lists from 1782 through 1790.
Will Banks and Elizabeth Martin were married September 15, 1753 in Dover Church.
The probate of the estate of William Banks occurred on July 26, 1762. His widow
and executrix was Elizabeth Martin Banks and among the creditors and debtors
mentioned were Thomas Woody, John Woody, Henry Woody, William Martin and Henry
Martin.
John Woody was mentioned again as a creditor in the probate of the estate of
Arthur Hopkins on May 31, 1765. Dr. Arthur Hopkins, Gentleman, was a resident of the Byrd Creek
community, a very well know physician, a high sheriff and a justice of the
peace. He was also a witness to the sale of John Woody's property on Byrd Creek
in 1751.
Interestingly, a William Wooddie was also noted in 1758 as a Private in the the
Bedford militia. This was most likely the husband of Sarah Percel and the
progenitor of a completely different line of Woodys that supposedly emigrated
from England a rather short time earlier. James Woody b. c. 1753, the son of
William and Sarah, named Bedford County, Virginia as his birthplace in his
Revolutionary War Pension Applicaton. A less likely candidate is the William
Woody that purchased 89 acres in
Bedford on Little Otter Creek in 1778 and, in 1780, added another 106 acres to
his holdings in this area. William Woody was taxed for personal property in
Bedford for the years 1782 - 1814. In 1781, he helped inventory the estate of Lynah Brown and in 1789,
he witnessed the will of James Brown, the father of William's wife Margaret
Brown. William is one of the only Woodys in this area to own land and leave a
will. His will of March 30, 1812 names his wife and his daughter Betsey, who
confusingly, had married James Brown, the son of the abovementioned Lynah, in
1794. Betsey and James Brown moved to Kanawha County, along with several
Woodys families from the surrounding counties. Many more details about this
branch are in the
The Woody Family of Old Virginia Database.
We do not
know the relationship between Henry and William Woody of 1758 Bedford County.
Although it is certainly possible that they were brothers, we think it is
very unlikely. There is much more evidence that supports our assumption that
William Banks Woody, described below, was the brother of Henry.
ent of the Church of England and religious equality as part of the
revolutionary government policy. This copy of a small section of the petition
shows their names as they appear. An exact image of the petition, as well as,
Henry, George & Thomas Woody in Amherst County
On February 23, 1770, two separate
53 acre tracts were surveyedfor Henry Woody and William Martinin the branches of Davis Creek, Amherst County.
Henry Woody obtained a land grant for this property on August
1, 1772 and William's grant is dated June 20, 1772. Henry Woody's grant
mentions Angus Forbus as a neighbor. Davis Creek is a tributary
of the Rockfish River and is now in Nelson County, about five miles north of the
county seat of Lovingston. Lovingston was named for James Loving, another Woody
neighbor. Twenty miles to the east is
Scottsville, the county seat of Albemarle County before 1761. Davis Creek,
Lovingston and Scottsville were near the Rockfish Gap and the Three Notch'd Road which
connected Staunton and Richmond. Scottsville was also was
the final home of and burial place of Dr. Arthur Hopkins, mentioned above. In
August 1782, a suit initiated by the above mentioned Angus Forbus against Henry
Woody was abated
because Angus had died. Another neighbor of the Woodys and
Martins was William Wright Sr. and his
large extended family. By 1782, Henry Woody had moved to Bedford County
where he paid personal property taxes through 1792 but, on June 7, 1784, the estate Thomas Woody was probated in
Amherst and Mary Woody and Wm Wright Jr. were bonded as administrators. The next
year, George and Mary Woody were enumerated in the Amherst census and Col.
John Hopkins (husband of Mary Martin Hopkins), a son of Dr. Arthur, was listed next to Mary.
However, we have not found out how Henry Woody disposed
of his property and, much more importantly, the land tax records of Amherst
County do not record any Woodys in Amherst County between 1782 and 1805 This evidence supports our assumption that Henry was the
heir-at-law of the estate of John Woody. In 1790, George Wooddy provided part of the Amherst County bond for the marriage of
Claiborne Howard and Salley Martin, daughter of James. Will Loving Jr. was a
witness to this bond. This was almost surely the George Woody those estate was taxed in 1798 in Amherst
County. Nelson County was formed from the northern portion of Amherst in 1807
and it was here that two of the grand daughters of
William Wright Sr., Hannah and Matilda, married George and Robert Woody. When
Hannah's father, Andrew Wright, died in 1816, she and her husband, George Woody,
inherited and sold 260 acres on Davis Creek. Along with William W.
Woody, both of
these families moved to Madison County, Alabama by 1840 and William W. later
moved on to Mississippi. These events demonstrate the close association that existed between the Woodys, Martins,
Lovings, Hopkins, Howards and Wrights. The Woody and Hopkin's connection continued until at least
1850 when Thomas and Mary Woody were enumerated in Nelson County living beside
Dr. Arthur Hopkins, the grandson of Dr. James and Ann Sparks Martin Hopkins and
the great grandson of the above mention Dr. Arthur Hopkins. This Thomas Woody
was born about 1775 and in 1801 he married Molly Loving Bradshaw, the sister of
the James Loving mentioned above and the widow of John Bradshaw. Thomas lived to be at least eighty-six and was likely the son of
the Thomas Woody that died in 1784. John, Henry and William Woody were surely
very closely related to Thomas and George Woody; however, the exact
relationships can only be postulated and theorized.
Ninety-seven
Woodys were enumerated in the 1930 Nelson County, Virginia census. In addition, some
130 other Woodys were enumerated in Albemarle, Amherst, Bedford, Fluvanna,
Franklin, Goochland and Henry counties. Many of these folks were undoubtedly
related the Woodys that migrated from Goochland and Henrico counties to the Blue
Ridge region of Western Virginia. Male descendants of these 1930 western Virginia Woodys should
seriously consider participating in the Woody DNA Project discussed below. This
participation could help extend this Woody line and add to the Woody heritage.
Henry Woody in Bedford & Franklin Counties
In 1784 and 1785, Henry Woody purchased a total 233 acres on Camp Branch in
Bedford County from the 16,000 acre inheritance of Robert and Thomas Pleasants.
Henry and Susanna sold this property to Benjamin Bird in 1791 and, on June
20, 1792, Henry paid £200 to Edward Choat, Sr. for the Franklin County property
that would be his final home. This 517 acre farm was in the branches of Doe Run and on, January 9, 1797,
Henry Woody added to his holdings with a 127
acre land grant. Henry Woody was enumerated in the Franklin County Personal Tax Lists from 1793 through 1807. Henry's
sons, Martin and John, preceded Henry to Franklin since they were first taxed there in 1787.
This small
section of the 1786-1886 Franklin County settlement map shows the farm of Hen
ry Woody, which was located about two miles southeast of
Rocky Mount. The map was created by cartographer J. R. Hildebrand for the Franklin County Historical Society in conjunction with
the Roanoke Valley Historical Society.
Historical researchers for the map were Gertrude C.
Mann and George A. Keglay. Copies of the settlement map may still be available
from the Franklin County Historical Society. The graves of Henry, Susannah
and Martin are maintained by the present owners of the property.
The will of Henry Woody was dated November 11, 1807 and proved on December 7,
1807. His estate was inventoried on December 28, 1807. In his will, Henry names
his wife Susannah and the following children:
•
Martin Woody, b. Mar 31, 1762, Goochland
Co., Virginia, d. Dec 6, 1846, Franklin Co., Virginia, m. Oct 27, 1785, Henry
Co., Virginia, Susannah Robertson, b. ca. 1771, Virginia, d. Jul 15, 1852,
Franklin Co., Virginia,
•
John Woody, b. Mar 12, 1764, Goochland Co.,
Virginia, d. 1844, Gasconade Co, Missouri, m. ca. 1793, Prudence ?,
•
Randolph Woody, b. ca. 1770, Virginia, d. Nov 23, 1845, Franklin Co., Virginia, m. Nov 23,
1792, Bedford Co., Virginia, Patience Morgan, b. ca. 1775, Bedford Co.,
Virginia, d. Aug 2, 1854,
• Wyatt Woody, b. 1774, Virginia, d. ca. 1850, Yancey Co., North
Carolina, m. Aug 22, 1799, Franklin Co., Virginia, Mary Emily Roberson, b. 1780,
Virginia, d. 1850, North Carolina,
•
Judy (Judith) Davis, b. Virginia,
m. Dec 19, 1796, Franklin Co., Virginia, William Davis
• Susannah Robertson, b. 1780, Virginia d. 1867, Yancey Co., North Carolina,
m. Nov, 1798, Franklin Co., Virginia, George Robertson, b. 1776, Jamestown,
Virginia, d. July 7, 1856, Yancey Co., North Carolina,
• Rebecca Whitworth, b. ca. 1782 Virginia,
m. Feb 4, 1801, Franklin Co., Virginia,
Philmer/Philemon Whitworth,
b. Feb 17, 1778,
• Polly (Mary) Bozzel), b. ca. 1782
Virginia, d. ca. 1860, Appanoose Co., Iowa, m. Dec 10, 1803, Stokes Co.,
NC, Thomas Bozzel, b. ca. 1785, d. 1843, Mason Co.,
Virginia and
• Henry Woody, b. ca. 1784, Bedford Co.,
Virginia, d. Apr, 1876 Franklin Co., Virginia, m. Nov 6, 1806, Franklin Co.,
Virginia, Judith Webb, b. ca. 1786, d. a. 1860.
About 1805, Wyatt Woody and Susannah Woody Robertson
moved to western North Carolina with their father-in-l
aw John Robertson.
Unfortunately, the will of Wyatt Woody names only his wife.
When he was sixty-eight, John Sparrell and Prudence Woody migrated to Gasconade County, Missouri
in about 1832.
Accompanying them were their sons and their families, including Henry V., his wife Catherine Hughes
and their oldest son John Sparrell Woody. To
the left is a photo of Henry V. Woody (1802-1878). We know of no earlier photo
of a descendant of Henry Woody and Susannah Woody. Our thanks go to Inez Louisa
Carver, Hannah L. Biggs Smith, Dorothy Van Orman and Cheri Van Orman for providing this wonderful
photo. In 1849, Dr. Sparrell Woody and his brother Tazewell Woody were probably the
first descendants of Henry Sr. to reach the West Coast. Martin, Randolph and Henry Jr. remained in Franklin County as did
many of their descendants, but as family farming became increasing unprofitable, some migrated
to the coal fields of western Virginia and West Virginia. About the time of the
Civil War, Texas attracted Woodys from Virginia and Missouri. The Woody name is
still common in Franklin and Henry Counties in Virginia and very common in
Yancey and Mitchell Counties in North Carolina.
William Woody in Henry County, Virginia
& Lincoln County, Tennessee
Adjacent to Franklin County, the home of Henry
Woody, is Henry County and it is here that William Woody was enumerated on the
Personal Property Tax Lists from 1782 through 1789. Patrick County was
formed from part of Henry in 1790 and on September 14, 1793, William Woody
deeded property in Patrick to Hugh Anes. On December 16, 1783, William married
Jane Small in Henry and, in 1786, two of William and Lucy Barnet Woody's
daughters were also married in Henry: Biddy Woody to James Huff and Sarah Woody
to Edward Hilton. Before these marriages, on March 7, 1761, Matthew Small, the
father of Jane purchased land in the branches of the Rockfish River, the
location Henry Woody's property in 1770. We have long thought that William and
Biddy were the same people found in Goochland County in 1765 but, until
recently, we were never able to locate them again. Volume IV of the 1981 Boone County (Arkansas) Historian
contains an extensive article, authored by Roger V. Logan, Jr., entitled "John
Wooddy, Veteran, Battle of New Orleans". This well written article relates that
John was the son of William and Jane Wooddy
of Virginia and Lincoln Co., Tennessee. Roger acknowledged the assistance of T.
J. White, Marilyn Metz, Joyce Lindsey, William C. Capps, Jewell Patrick, Ron
Patrick, Ottis Green, Vernon Jones and Lee Flood Jones. In his research, Roger
found the July 16, 1814 will of William
Woody and included a transcription in his article; however, if Tara Painter
had not included this transcription on her website, we might never have found it.
The work of Roger and Tara helped us find Jeri Davis Lipov's excellent and well
documented history and genealogy of some of William Woody's descendants.
Many of the source documents that Jeri used were provided by Marilyn Rose,
Norene Woody Burden, Lena Woody Hampton, J. T. Davis and Anna Bull.
Soon after selling
his land in Patrick County, William Woody and
his family appear to have moved first to Kentucky about 1794, then continued on
to the area near Fayetteville, Lincoln County, Tennessee about 1803. The
State of Tennessee was created in 1796 from the "Territory of the U.S. South of
the River Ohio", a vast area ceded by North Carolina to the United States
government at the end of the Revolutionary War. Beginning in 1783, Bounty
Land Warrants were issued by North Carolina and Congress as compensation for
military service and other reasons. These warrants were transferable and this
attribute attracted land speculators and created land frauds on a enormous
scale. Bounty land also fueled a mass migration to Tennessee. Fayetteville and
Lincoln County were formally founded in 1809 in an area that had been the
"Cherokee Indian Lands". The murky events and bribery that lead to this land
grab are related in
"How the Cherokee Lost the Elk River" on the outstanding Tennessee GenWeb
site. Located on the Alabama border, Lincoln County was named in honor of
General Benjamin Lincoln, the officer that accepted General Cornwallis' sword of
surrender at Yorktown. Fayetteville, the county seat of Lincoln County, was
named for Fayetteville, North Carolina which was named in honor of
Marquis de Lafayette, one of General Washington's closet aides.
In addition
to his wife Jane, William Woody's will named the following children:
•
William Banks Woody, b. ca. 1799,
Kentucky, d. aft 1860, mc. 1820, Elizabeth Orick, bc. 1799, South Carolina, d.
aft 1850.
•
Jane Woody, b. ?,
d.?
•
Sarah Hilton,
b. ca. 1766, Virginia, d. ? m. 1786, Henry Co., Virginia,
Edward Hilton/Helton, b. May 14, 1761, Albemarle Co., VA, d. Aug 1849, White
Co., TN.
•
Biddy Huff,
b. Jan 21, 1765, Goochland Co., Virginia, d. bet. 1850-1860, m. 1786, Henry Co., Virginia,
James Huff, b. ca. 1765, Virginia, d. aft. 1860,
Harlan Co., Kentucky.
•
Betsey
(Elizabeth) Buchanan, b. Oct 21, 1784, Virginia, d. Dec 2, 1861, Washington Co.,
Arkansas, m. May 25, 1805, Logan Co., Kentucky, James Buchanan, b. Oct 15, 1779,
Washington Co., Virginia, d. Dec 4, 1848, Washington Co., Arkansas.
•
John Woody,
August 29, 1792, Virginia, d. Aug 21, 1881, Boone Co., Arkansas, m. Jun 22,
1810, Massy Beaver, b. Jan 16, 1791, North Carolina, d. Mar 11, 1870, Arkansas.
•
Nancy Fulington (Fullerton), b. Oct 28, 1785, Virginia, d. 21 Dec 1865, Monroe Co.,
Indiana, m. Thomas Humphrey Fullerton, b. May 31, 1785, Chester Co., South
Carolina, d. Apr 17, 1865, Monroe Co., Indiana.
The will of William Woody was probated May 5,
1817 and some of William's children soon moved to Indiana and Arkansas. In 1819, the
children of Thomas and Nancy Woody Fullerton were baptized in the Hephzibah
Presbyterian Church, near Fayetteville, Lincoln County and, by 1820, this family
had moved to Indiana which had achieved statehood in 1816. The Fullertons named
two of their children William Banks Fullerton and Robert Small Fullerton. We
believe that these names eliminate the possibility that William Woody of
Tennessee was the son of William Woody of Goochland or that Jane Small was the
widow of a Banks. The Fullertons were accompanied to Indiana by William Banks
Woody Jr. and, probably, John Woody and James and Elizabeth Woody Buchanan;
however, by about 1825, the Woodys and Buchanans had moved on to that part of
the Louisiana Purchase that had become Arkansas Territory in 1819. They are
considered to be among the founders of Fayetteville, Arkansas which was named
for Fayetteville, Tennessee. Another link to Tennessee was the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church at Cane Hill, Arkansas which was founded in 1827 and James
Buchanan has been mentioned as one of the first members. Also, Reuben Burrow
Woody, the son of John, was very likely the namesake of Reuben Burrow
(1798-1868), an early circuit and camp meeting preacher in Tennessee, Missouri
and Arkansas. Reuben Woody became the first of this family branch to reach the West Coast
when he moved to Oregon in 1852.
John Wooddy & Andrew Jackson & the Battle of New Orleans
Although the War of 1812 was officially ended by the signing of the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814, news of this event did not reach the combatants in America until well after the Battle of New Orleans had ended on January 8, 1815. By then the British had suffered some 4000 casualties and the Americans 333. This belated victory was one of the very few American successes in the War of 1812 and somewhat mollified the public humiliation associated with the August 24, 1814 burning of the Congress buildings, the White House and the Library of Congress. Andrew Jackson, the little known commander of the American forces, was later propelled to the presidency by his new found fame.
John Wooddy, the son of William and Jane Small Wooddy, first joined the army of General Andrew Jackson in the fall of 1812 for three months. On September 28, 1814, he reenlisted in Fayetteville, Tennessee and was assigned as a 3rd Lieutenant in Captain John Doke's Company of 2nd Tennessee Mounted Gunman. This outfit of frontiersmen made their way to New Orleans and were positioned on the left flank of Jackson's line of defense for the city. A series of mostly futile British attacks began on December 14, 1814 and lasted until the death of General Edward Pakenham, the British commander. John Wooddy stayed in New Orleans until March 1, 1815 but, by April 27, 1815, he had made his way home to Fayetteville where he was discharged. In 1851 and 1855, after moving to Arkansas, John filled documents to obtain bounty land warrants granted by the September 28, 1850 Act of Congress as partial compensation for military service in the War of 1812.
Wyatt & John Woody - Chair Makers of North Carolina & Arkansas
Some of
the descendants of Wyatt Woody of western North Carolina have been well
known chair makers for at least five generations (See the two links below). This
craft was surely brought to the region by Wyatt himself when he moved from
Franklin County, Virginia. We have no evidence that his father, Henry, was a
chair maker, but there is a chair making connection between the Woodys of
western North Carolina and the Woodys of northwest Arkansas. Silas Claiborne Turnbo
(1844-1925) spent most of his life collecting and recording the stories of the
old timers of the Ozarks. One of of these stories came from William A. Eoff and
is entitled "A Few Names of the Pioneer Settlers on the Left Prong of Crooked Creek and
Vicinity". Mr. Eoff mentioned that among the earliest residents of the Crooked Creek, Boone
County, Arkansas area were "Henry Woody and Katie, his wife" and "John
Woody who was a chair maker. This man had a son named John whose wife was named
Katie". This chair maker was John Woody, veteran of the War of 1812 and son of the shoemaker, William Banks Woody, of Henry County,
Virginia and Lincoln County, Tennessee. His son, John, married Catherine Eoff.
The two chair makers, John and Wyatt Woody, were most likely 1st cousins.
Henry & William Woody Lineage Conclusions
Recent yDNA analysis has established that Henry and William Woody were close relatives. We have concluded that William Woody was very likely the younger brother of Henry Woody and that their father was probably John Woody of Goochland and Albemarle Counties. Henry had the means to purchase several tracts of property which leads us to assume that he was the oldest living son at his father's death. All of the evidence is indirect and circumstantial, but it is based on many primary and secondary records. The close association of the Woodys with the Martins, Hopkins, Wrights, Howards and Banks makes a compelling argument to us. We also surmise that the wife of John Woody was a Banks, probably the sister of William Banks. The sparse records of Albemarle and Amherst also infer that Thomas Woody was another relative of John, William and Henry; however, the land tax records of these counties do not contain a record of a single Woody land owner from 1782 to 1805. So, neither Thomas or his descendants owned property and references to Thomas are even rarer than those to William. Thomas died in Amherst in the summer of 1784. His widow, Mary, later married James Edmonds in 1791. We have not found much to estimate the birth date of Thomas, but the records suggest that he was at least as old as Henry. So he could have been Henry's brother or a younger brother of John. One descendant of William Banks Woody has suggested that Thomas was the father of William, but that descendant did not seem to know about the Woody connection in Goochland. Also, the name Thomas was hardly ever used by the descendants of William Banks Woody. There were other Henry and William Woodys that lived in the same general area as the subjects of this page, but we believe we have accounted for them.
To be continued
Bibliography
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County Microfilm Records, Reel #6
American Memory Collection,
Early Virginia Religious
Petitions, The Library of Congress,
Washington, DC
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Collection, George Washington Papers, 1741-1799: Series 4,
The Library of Congress,
Washington, DC
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County Microfilm Records, Reel #17
Beck, Sara. Franklin County Deeds,
Franklin County, Virginia Bicentennial, Rocky Mount, Virginia
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Grantors, Surnames T-Z, 1754-1929, LDS Family History Library, Film #1941021
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Richmond, Virginia, 1874; Reprint: Southern Historical Press, Greenville,
South Carolina, 1995
Carver, Inez
Louisa & Smith, Hannah L. Biggs. Life and Genealogy of Henry Woody, self
published, Berkeley, California, 1927
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Parish, New Kent and James City Counties, Virginia, 1684-1786, The
Library Board, Richmond, 1937
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Parish, Hanover County, Virginia, 1706-1786, The Library Board, Richmond, 1940
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Claiborne Howard; Soldier of the American Revolution, 1960
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GenealogyBank.com
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1728-1741,
LDS Family History Library, Film #31671
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LDS Family History Library, Film #31672
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Taken in the Year 1790 - Records of the State Enumerations: 1782-1785, Virginia,
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Virginia, Vol. VI, GPC, Baltimore, 1993
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Columbia, Maryland, November, 1996
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The
Woody DNA Project
was initiated in May of 2007 and the yDNA results for the first participant were
posted at the end of June. The project is open to all male Woody descendants of any
Woody (Woodie, Woodey, Wooddy, de Woody, etc.) line. Some of the project
goals are:
To determine
if the early Woody lines were related.
To help
determine the common ancestors of separate, but related, Woody lines.
To help
extend Woody lines that have reached a "dead end" utilizing conventional
research.
The project progress has been better than many DNA project start-ups
and we
have posted the results of thirty-seven participants.
Comparison of these yDNA submissions has already extended several dead-end lineages, proved the close relationship of
many early Virginia Woodys
and shown that there were at least four completely unrelated Woody lines in
Colonial America. The genealogical benefits of DNA testing are explained in
detail at Family Tree DNA and World Families Network; however, we have
included an overview of DNA testing/benefits/results/concerns here.
Please browse the
Woody DNA Project to view
the current yDNA results and the Woody lineages that have been posted. For much
more information about DNA testing, visit World Families Network, where you may
also view some
extremely successful surname DNA projects. These projects are
successful because lots of people were willing to invest in their heritage. We
are totally committed to this project, but we need your help in making the Woody
DNA Project as successful as other surname DNA projects. If you are a female,
please strongly encourage a male relative to join the project. If successful DNA
projects can be developed for other surnames, the Woody's can do no less.
We understand that the expense
involved may be a problem for some folks, so here is a suggestion that may work
for you. Treat the testing fees like the group expenses of a family reunion.
Divide the testing fees between all the relatives of one male. Make it a family
project. In addition, the testing fees are substantially
discounted when they are ordered at the project home page.
Analysis of the yDNA results of the Henry Woody line has led to some interesting conclusions. These results have encouraged us to open a new traditional research project (See below).
World Families Network
Family Tree DNA
The Woody Family of Old Virginia
The results of the Woody yDNA Project have encouraged us to open a new traditional research project. Since yDNA analysis has shown that nearly all Woody descendants with roots in Colonial Virginia are related, The Woody Family of Old Virginia is focused on the vast number of Virginia Woodys that have not yet been connected to the Henry and William Woody lines. The project will use tradition research methods to accumulate every available scrap of information concerning these people and attempt to integrate this data with the yDNA results. The goal is to extend the lineages of each branch and create an all inclusive family tree. A database with citations, sources and attributions is included.
Woody One-Name Study
(World Wide Woodys)
• The origin of the name and early references
• The meaning of the name
• The name's frequency with reference to location and the general population
• The geographical distribution of the name with reference to time
• The identification of the various worldwide branches of the name
• Name variants
• Patterns of immigration and emigration
The links below will take you to Woody
lineages:
|
More Woody lineages
(Please send me your Woody link)
Descendants of William Woody
Descendants of William Woody I
The Woody
Family of Wise & Parker Counties, Texas
Scott-Woody Family
Genealogy
The Bruce Woody Family Home Page
Johnsons and Woodys of North Georgia
The Woodys -- from 1600 to ..............
(Please send me your descendant photos)
Images of Descendants of Wyatt Woody of Western North
Carolina
Images of Descendants of John Sparrell Woody of Central
Missouri
Images of Descendants of Henry Woody Jr. of
Franklin Co., Virginia
Images of Descendants of John Woody of Boone Co.,
Arkansas
Complex & Thought Provoking
Who were the parents of George & Posey Woody of Yancey Co., NC, c. 1850?
5-Star Web Sites
The Kanawha County Family
Tree Project
Missouri State Archives - Death Certificates
West Virginia Division
of Culture & History - Births, Deaths and Marriages
Washington State Digital Archives
Madison County,
Alabama Records Center
LDS FamilySearch Record
Search
Arizona Genealogy Birth &
Death Certificates
California Genealogy and History Archives
Informative
Viewing & Reading
Interview with Arval Woody, Mule Ear Chair Maker
Five Generations of Crafting
Tradition
Woody's Chair Shop
Cabins in the Laurel by Muriel Sheppard (A chapter on the Toe River Woodys)
Woody Gleanings, Including Other Woody Researchers & Lines
Woody Gap
Bob's Genealogy Filing
Cabinet
(Interpreting Colonial Records of Virginia & North
Carolina)
The
original focus of my research was on the descendants of Henry and Susannah
Martin Woody of Franklin Co., Virginia; however, this focus has been expanded to
include the descendants of William and Lucy Barnet/Jane Small Woody of Henry
County, Virginia. We invite other researchers share information and images
pertaining to the descendants of the children of Henry and William Woody.
We will gladly acknowledge your contributions and/or provide links to your online
data. While most of the work on the descendants of Henry and Judith Woody is my
own, We have borrowed extensively from published records, online records and
individuals for the genealogies of the other children of Henry and William
Woody.
Except where the data pertains to our direct line, we do not
always attempt to verify the contributions of other researchers. In
creating Woody Family Roots and the associated online database, one of my
objectives was to provide a comprehensive, documented resource for those doing
research on the descendants of Henry and William Woody. Hopefully, this approach
will provide a base that other researchers of this line will enhance with their
contributions. For much of this information, we are indebted to the following
individuals, institutions and organizations:
Chrissy Adkins, Gerald & Theresa Affeldt, Mary Aishele, Kendrea Aldridge, Jim Allred, Yvonne Lominac Amico, Nikki Amundson, Lee Anderson, William P. Anderson, Henry Angle, Janis Kerr Arnold, Shelly Arrington, Jack Ahble, Gordon Aronhime, Jeannette Holland Austin, Nancy Avis, Kirsten Ayers, Don Ayres, Bernard Joseph Bade, Lloyd Richard Bailey, Roy Bailey, Herman C. Baldwin, Wallace R. Baldwin, Victoria Ballantine, Melissa Banks, Patrick Barrett, William Barrett, Barbara C. Baughan, W. H. Beaber, Marie Cooke Beckman, Arthur L. Belcher, Kathy Belcher, Robert Bellew, Thomas Kidd Bernard, William Coffee Berry, Lori Shaw Bessemer, Roy Bessire, Stan Bevers, John Biddix, Steve & Yvonne Binns, Maty Bittick, Arzella Blackburn, Charles Blanchard, Teresa L. Blattner, Gwen Bodford, Richard Wade Boggs, Linda Booram, Jim Boruff, Marie Bost, Howard Boswell, Mrs. Bottoms, Scott Brady, Stanley Branch, Michael Brasfield, David Bridge, Thomas K. Brigham, Melody Brooks, J. C. Brown, Dee Dee Bryans, Robin D. Bryson, Paul Dennion Buchanan, Sandra Bucher, Maurice L. Burd, Gwendolyn Woody Burgess, Michael Burleson, Matt Burnett, Todd Burton, Ronald Campbell, Michael Dean Canary, Jason Cannon, William C. Capps, Louis Harvey Carney, Ray Carney, Linda Carpenter, Glen Carter, Louise Carter, Inez Louisa Carver, Nora Jane Carver, Bev Cavender, Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, James Chandley, Marian Dodson Chiarito, Anthony Chitwood, E. Joyce Christiansen, Diana P. Churchman, Jack Ciaccia, John A. Ciaccia, David Clark, Loren Charles Clark, Ray Clarkson, Juathina Claspill, Goldie Lee Cleek, Wayne Coffey, Payne Coleman, Michael L. Collins, Randy Collins, Lori Compton, Chris Conley, Bonnie Morris Conrad, Lonna Jean Conroy, Gerald Wilson Cook, Joseph Cook, Ray Cossart, Peggy Lee Cox, Mary Crabtree, Bruce Cramer, Glenda May Crawford, James Cross, Kay Cross, Barbara Cunningham, William G. Cutler, James Michael Dale, Janet H. David, Tonye Davie, Bailey Fulton Davis, David Davis, Frieda Patrick Davison, Javan Michael De Loach, Rick Dent, Sidney Dent, Gloria Dettleff, Trent Deyton, Woody Deyton, Florence Dietz, Danny Dillon, Jordan A. Dodd, Virginia Anderson Dodd, Marjorie Woody D'Olivo, S. Donaldson, Judith Ann Douglas, Nancy Dow, Margaret Downey, Joe Downing, Marty DuBoce, William N. Dumar, Louisa St. John Durkin, Ed Duvall, Bob Edens, Twyla Edwards, Pam Elliott, Rebecca Ellis, Jack English, Lewis M. Epperson, D. Estes, Mary Evans, Linda E. Everhart, Dorothy Falk, Rebecca Falzarano, Donald L. Feazell, Marie Ruth Bagley Fellers, Sandra Allen Fender, Golden Combs Ferguson, Sylvia C. Fuson Ferguson, Judy P. Fisher, Lavonne Fisher-Radloff, Beverley Fleet, Rhoda Fone, Lavinia Ford, Annete Foster, Earl James Frankenfield, Jeremy Tyler Franklin, Mary Jo Freeman, Judy French, Beth Fridley, Shelly Fritz, Randy Funderburk, Ben Gantt, S. Garrison, Mary Traynor Gates, Ryan Gavin, Bill Gawthrop, Johnny Geist, Laretta Geren, J. Germann, Thom Gibby, Tracy Glatz, Heather L. Gomes, Sandi Goren, Pam Haymes Graham, Sylvia Grand, Marty Grant, Michele Lee Grant, Otis Green, Bill Grimm, Karen Grubaugh, John H. Gwathmey, Nell Hailey, Jerrold T. Haldiman, Ruth G. Hale, Donna Hall, Sharon Hackworth, C. Hammitts, Pauline Hammond, Virginia L. Harris, April Davis Harvey, Maria Harvey, Woody Ernce Harvey, Frank Hatton, Gloria Pauley Haun, Jason Hauser, Gary Hawley, Susan Haynes, Dave Heathcott, Ken Hedgpeth, Margaret Heinek, Samuel K. Helm, Terry B. Hendrix, Julie Chapman & Sherman Gene Hesson, Tom Hester, Ken Hinds, Rachel Hiott, Jim Hobbs, Shelly Hobdy, Nadine Hodges, Dale Holdren, Gail Holman, Jamie Hopson, Michele Hosp-Laboray, Marsha Lloyd Howell, Mary Jo Hubbard, Barbara Wine Hudson, Allan S. Humphreys, Desiree R. Huskins, Lisa Jackson-Jimenez, Wesley Jacobs, Linda Jenkins-Wensel, James W. Jessee, Carolyn Johnson, Paul Johnson, Hurshel E. Johnson, David R. Jones, Elizabeth Hargar Jones, Emily Jones, Lee Flood Jones, Randt Jones, Vernon Jones, W. Mac. Jones, Weymouth T. Jordan, Michael Justice, Ruby Kansler, Richard Keefer, Tami Kelly, Ronald N. Kemp, Janet King, Carol Kinney, Angela Kirklin, Julia Williams Kodak, Dennis Labahn, Larry LaBruyere, Kenneth Lakey, Deb Landauer, Susan Lane, Pamela Shelton Langevin, Janice Michele LaRocca-Byrne, Michaeel B. Lawing, Jesse Macon Lawrence, Mark Lawson, Clara Lechtenberger-Falk, Peggy Jean Ledbetter, Mary K. Leitner, Lyn Lennon, Ruth Lessley, Robert Libby, Sandra Woody Lichtenberger, Brian Liedtke, Joyce Lindsey, Albia Linthicum, Jeri Davis Lipov, Jennie Livingston, Bruce W. Locke, Roger V. Logan, Susan Woody Logan, Anita Murphy Lotts, Dennis Lubahn, Eric von der Luft, Juanita Lowrence, Julian Lumpkin, Darrin Lythgoe, Maria Nourse Lyle, Lou Mace, James Daniel Mahar, Sam Maner, Gertrude Mann, Robin Manning, Ray E. Markland, Monroe Marlowe, Helen C. & Timonthy R. Marsh, Paul Martin, Dianna Hale Mattingly, C. H. Mattoon, Susie May, William Mayfield, John McCartney, Tim McClellan, Margaret Maye McClure, Omar McCourry, Jesse McCoy, Steve McDonald, Kim McEuen, John McGhee, Pamala Jane McLain, Marie Wormington McMahan, Tena Melton, Deane Merrill, Marilyn Metz, JoAnn Miller, Vicki Miller, Jean Moncier, Merideth L. Monserud, Marla Moore, Vera Y. Jaynes Moritz, Melvin Morris, Terry Morris, D. Gail Dunagan Morrison, Linda Moser, Lou Murray, Robert A. Murray, Frank D. Myers, Rich Nallenweg, William Navey, Richard Neal, Stacy Neece, Shari Nees, Don Nickell, Paige Norman, Kari Northup, Nell Marion Nugent, Laura Phillips Nygaard, Deborah Woody Oberst, Joyce Critchfield Oberst, Doyle Ollis, James O'Reilly, Darlene Garner O'Steen, Sharon Oxley, Steven Page, T. K. Painter, J. Palmer, Ray Parcell, George Parker, Jewell Patrick, Ron Patrick, Helen Patrikus, Daniel W. Patterson, Janet Patton, Nathaniel Mason Pawlett, Tony King Payne, Cleda Perry, Steve Peters, Sharon Petersen, Jim D. Philpott, Betty Pilson, H. R. Pinckard, Kay Pinkston, Robert Powell, Robert Prater, Lesie R. Prey, Chris Price, Warren H. Prichard, Velma Rabon, Maggie Rail, Peter Allen Ramsey, Thomas F. Ramsey, Scott Randolph, Marvin Raney, Becky Rasmussen, Sheila Ratliff, Erwin Record, Charles & Glenda R. Rees, Vera Reeves, Phyllis Reichenbach, Sandra Reid, Joan M. Resk, Becky Rhea, Jennifer Richie, David Richards, Allen Richmond, Dorothy Ricker, Angie Riehn, Betty Robertson Riley, Marsha Hoffman Rising, Jennifer Ritchie, Robbie Roberson, Linda Roberts, Harold "Lat" Robinson, Kay Robinson, Ellen Stanley Rogers, John D. Roher, Barbara Rooks, Theodore Roosevelt, Nancy Rosamond, Dianne Rosenfield, Carol Ross, Robin Rowand, Anne Ruddle, Shirley Runnels, Chris Hawley Ruppel, Jane F. Russell, Carol Ryan-Spenande, Lena Yates Sang, Bob Saunders, Fredric Z. Saunders, Will Woody Saylor, Dorothy Schell, Pauline Harris Schwarz, Leslie M. Scott, Shirley Scott, Candi Seaton, Richard Seaton, Peggy Seidler, Christie Setser, Edward Seufferlein, Ruth Shaff, Bonnie Jean Woody Shannon, Janice Shelton, Rick Jay Short, Tom M. Short, James D. Silver, Gene Simpson, Richard Slatten, Herk Slutter, Sally Small, Edith Smith, Hannah L. Biggs Smith, Harley G. Smith, Cynthia Smithdeal, Sylvia Smitherman, Gallano & Rhonda J. Snider, Billie Snyder, Harold Solomon, Ruth & Sam Sparacio, Gaw Sparks, Sandy Spradling, Debbie Springer, Gail Staton, Ronnie Stone, Roy D. Stone, Lydell Story, Clarissa Stuart, James F. Sutherland, Philip Sutton, Justin Swanstrom, Suzie Swatzell, T. F. Swinehart, Steve W. Sykes, Sharon Tabor, Jerry A. Taylor, Marla Taylor, Janis Tebow, Sue Terhune, Leslie Thomas, Pam Thomas-Cantrell, Louise Thomas-Miller, Marianne C. Thompson, Nancy Thompson, Ted Thompson, Loftur Altice Thorsteinson, Sally L. Thurber, Dennis B. von Ting, S. Tittrington, Clayton Torrence, Virginia Turnbull, Nancy Turner, Sue Twitchel, Robert F. Tyree, Velma Vabon, Cheryl & Dorothy Van Orman, Janis Duncan Vaughn, Robert W. Vernon, Elaine Via, Charlene L. Viereck, Mrs. John Vineland, Denise E. Vise, Anita Wages, Terri Walker, James Palmer Ward, Leslie Ward, Dorothy Chambers Watts, Jeffrey Craig Weaver, Laura Weekley, Benjamin B. Weisiger, Betty Ann Wells, Francis Woody Werking, Gene Wheeler, Michelle Wheeler, T. J. White, Jason Whitt, Joida Whitter, Leon Wilde, Donna Wilkes, Delores Willey, Doris F. Williams, Elaine Humphrey Williams, Kevin A. Wilson, Lorraine Wilson, Randy Winch, Virginia Stone Windle, M. Wolf, Sudie Rucker Wood, Audrey Lee Wagner Woodruff, Bobby Eugene Woody, Carolyn M. Woody-Fuller, Charles Woody, Craig Woody, Cynthia Woody, Cynthia Lynne Woody, Donna Woody, Gail Arthur Woody, Homer Woody, John N. Woody, Joseph Blair Woody, Lee Hardin Woody, Leroy William Woody, Lisa Winkle Woody, Louise McCaffrey Woody, Margaret Fischler Woody, Mark Woody, Mary Ellen Gilliland Woody, Mildred Motley Woody, Mitchell M. Woody, Nicki Woody-Ivey, Steve Woody, Wayne Monroe Woody, Wendy Pace Wygle, Dennis Yancey, Robert Wayne Yeatts, Brian York, K. W. Young, Peggy Young, Todd Young, Ron Zell, the staff of the LDS Family History Centers in Decatur Alabama, Grand Rapids Michigan, Fort Myers Florida, Green Tree Pennsylvania, Knoxville Tennessee and Naperville Illinois, the staff of the Chicago Branch of the National Archives, the staff of the Newberry Library of Chicago, the staff of the Willard Library, Evansville, Indiana, the staff of the Wheaton Library Genealogy Desk, Wheaton, Illinois, the staff of the New Bern - Craven Co. Library Genealogy Desk, New Bern, North Carolina, the Franklin County Historical Society, the Boone County Historical and Genealogical Society, the Indiana Historical Society, the Roanoke Valley Historical Society, the staff of Franklin County Library, Rocky Mount, Virginia, the staff of the Ft. Myers and Lee Co. Library, Ft. Myers, Florida, the staff of the Mid-County Regional Library, Port Charlotte, Florida, the staff of the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, Knoxville, Tennessee, the staff of the Knox County Public Library System, Knoxville, Tennessee, the staff of the Library of Virginia Interlibrary Loan Desk, Richmond, Virginia and the staff of Bassett Library, Bassett, Virginia. Any omissions are unintentional.
We are especially grateful to the transcribers of old documents. This is a very difficult task and every serious researcher should try their hand at transcription. Copies of original census records are a good place to start. Most of the authors of the transcriptions that we have used are included in the above list.
Email your comments, additions & corrections
to the author.
(Click on image to enlarge)
1990 Woody Surname Distribution
1990 U.S. Census: Surname - Population
Frequency - Frequency
Rank
Smith - 1.006% - 1
Woody
- .007% - 1664
Woodie - .001% - 15008
deWoody - .001% - 15538
Woode - less than .001% - 53340
Woodey - less than .001% - greater than 88799
Wooddy - less than .001% - greater than 88799
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