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Currently, the earliest Wood found in our background is Joseph Wood who was born January 25th, 1755 in Long Island, New York. Joseph was a private in the Revolutionary War, listed on the muster rolls as coming from New York, however we know there were also ties to New Canaan Connecticut. Joseph married Mary St. John, daughter of Caleb St. John and Mary Steeley on March 16th 1780. Mary St. John was born January 17th 1761 in Norwalk, Fairfield County., Connecticut.
Joseph and Mary (St. John) Wood departed their established homestead in New Canaan Connecticut, settling in an un-cleared forest area of what would soon be known as the town of North Walton, New York. Joseph had cleared an area that was known as the "New Road" being that it was broken from very little clearing of forest and vegetation. Joseph and Mary St. John are mentioned in The History of Delaware County by W.W. MUNSELL 1797-1880. "Joseph and Mary Wood in 1795 brought 5 children with them from New Canaan, Conn. Picture them if you can, threading their way through the almost unbroken forest, with only here and there a little clearing and a log house; 3 or perhaps more families of them: wild beasts lying in wait for them: these were the conditions which our pioneer fathers had to meet."
Our Wood family at that time consisted of the father and mother, aged 40 and 34, their oldest son Joseph Jr., a lad of 14 yrs; Caleb a boy of 11: Mary, a girl of 8; Elizabeth, perhaps 4 and Lavinia (Sarah), a baby girl only a few months of age. They left 1 or 2 children buried in New Canaan and had 3 more born in Delaware, County.
Caleb Wood, the second born of the couple after the first Caleb died in infancy, grew into manhood, marrying Abigail Bookhout. The couple raised a family of seven children after establishing his own homestead in North Walton. Caleb had become politically active, joining the "Whig" party, which was one of only two political parties active in the U.S. at the time. The Whig party was active in the United States from 1834 to 1860, and was formed to oppose the policies of President Andrew Jackson, a Democrat.
Jessie L. Wood, second child and son of Caleb and Abigail was born in 1807. Jessie married Millicent Hoyt on Feb. 22, 1832. Jessie founded Woodlawn in 1830, then became the trustee for the Franklin & Walton Common School District in 1854. Jessie and Millicent had two boys, Henry M. and Nathan C. Wood.
Henry Martin Wood, eldest son of Caleb and Abigail was born December 25th, 1832. He married Eliza Ann McClenon in 1856, and couple went on to parent six children. Eliza was the daughter of Lawrence McClenon and Susannah Hoyt, also North Walton settlers. Henry and Eliza's six children were Celestia, Frederick, George Ellsworth, Charles Edwin, Dennis Judson, and Wallace H. Wood.
George Ellsworth being born in 1861, sought his fortune by traveling west. Like many of his time, stories of fortune were told of the west and a young man could make a fortune in the new territory. Sometime between 1881 and 1890, George traveled west, taking his younger brother Charles Edwin with him, settling in the new state of Kansas.
While the history of their meeting is unknown, George Ellsworth met his future wife, Minnie Steele in or around Douglas County, Kansas. Minnie, the daughter of a Wagon Trail Master, secured a position with Baker University in Baldwin, Kansas.
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