Abner Wood

Abner Wood (Sr) and family

Abner Wood (Sr) was born in South Carolina in 1792. He married Jane Staggs (date unknown) called Jennie, who was born 12 May 1786 in South Carolina. Jane Staggs Mother and Father, Mr. & Mrs. William Staggs were also born in South Carolina. (1880 Alabama census)

In 1820 the Abner Wood family was living in Tennessee, where their daughter Mary Polly was born that year. (1850 Alabama census). Prior to 1830 the family moved to Alabama in Jefferson Co. where their son Elias Wood was born. According to the 1830 Alabama census, Abner Wood (Sr) had the following family members living in his household; one male between ninety and under one hundred, one male and one female between thirty and under fifty, two females between ten and under fifteen, two males between five and under ten, and two males under the age of five.

Abner and Jane Wood had the following known children:

· Daughter Martha Patsy, who married Richard W. Glover.

· Daughter Polly (Mary) who married Levi Myrick. (See marriage records attached)

· Son Thomas who married Nancy McClintock.

· Son John who married Elizabeth Davis.

· Son Elias who married Emily S. Payne and second wife Nancy Malinda Payne.

· Son Abner (Jr.) who married Rebecca Julia Ann Wedgeworth.

· Daughter Lucretia Wood who married James C. Payne.

· Son Martin L. who married Sarah Jane Odem.

· Son William who married a Jane (Unknown).

Documentation for William Wood and Lucretia Wood was taken from the “Will” of Abner Wood, Sr. and the 1850 census. According to Abner Wood, Sr.’s Will, William and Lucretia were not the son and daughter of Abner and Jane Wood, they were their grandchildren (See attached document). Lucretia and her brother William were the illegitimate children of Abner’s daughter, Martha Patsey Wood and an unknown father. Abner and Jane adopted the children and they were given the last name of Wood. Martha Patsy eventually married Richard W. Glover and Lucretia married James C. Payne.

Nancy Wood, the widow of Thomas, married William Goode, Sept 14, 1844. (Marriage Rec).

Abner Wood, Sr. died in Jefferson Co. Alabama November 5, 1860. His widow Jane Wood was living in the household of her Grandson, Abner Glover (son of her daughter Pasty Wood Glover) in 1880, at the age of 95. (1880 Jefferson Co. census). In 1880, Jane showed her independence by working at carding and spinning. She lived to be 107 years old.

There were many members of the Wood family living in Jefferson County, Alabama during the early 1800’s. Among them were James H. Wood, a merchant (probably Abner Wood, Sr’s brother), Thomas C. Wood, William Wood, and a General John Wood. In this same time period, members of the Staggs family had settled in Walker Co., Alabama, which adjoins Jefferson Co., on the Northwest. (Orphans Court Book 1858 – 1860).

Three of Abner Wood, Sr’s sons served with distinction in the Civil War. Abner Jr. enlisted as a private in Company F, 56th Alabama Cavalry Regiment in September of 1862 at Jasper, Alabama (Walker Co.). He survived the war and died in Jefferson County, Alabama, April 25, 1916. On Feb 26, 1862, James C Payne (33) and his brothers-in-law, Elias Wood (32), and John Wood (34) rode down together from their farms in the community of Robbins Crossroads, Jefferson Co., Alabama, to the Confederate recruiting station in Elyton to volunteer for the war. They all became sergeants in the Co. G, 28th Alabama Infantry Regiment and fought under Bragg in the Tennessee campaign. John was wounded at Murfreesboro and died in Rome, GA, Jan 1863. John Wood died of wounds received in battle early in 1863. (See Civil War records attached) The address of his widow, Elizabeth Wood, in June of 1863 was c/o A.J. Waldrop (a Justice of the Peace), Elyton, Alabama (Jefferson Co.). Elias received Honor Roll distinction at Murfreesboro, fought at Chickamauga, and was captured at Missionary Ridge defending Orchard Knob through the last bayonet engagement. He spent the rest of the war in the Union prison, Rock Island until he was released in May, 1865. He returned to his farm where he fathered 5 sons and 2 daughters. He died in 1915. Elias had married in 1856 the first of James Payne's sisters, Emily E Payne (b.1836) and a child was born in 1858, William S Wood. After Emily's death, probably in childbirth in 1858, he married Nancy Malyndia Payne (1841- 1901) in 1860 by whom all his surviving children were born. Margaret Payne, James' youngest sister never married and lived with her older sister, Malyndia and Elias, from 1860 until her death after 1910.

CIVILWAR RECORDS - Military Records Division, Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama.

Abner Wood, Jr. Pvt, Company F, 56th Alabama Cavalry Regt. Enlisted Sept. 1862 at Jasper, Ala. Pension warrant N. 14259. Wife Rebecca, Warrant No. 16312. Married January 20, 1858. Abner died April 25, 1916.

John Wood, Sergeant, Co. G, 28th Regt. Alabama Volunteers. Killed, Arm Broken. Auth: List of casualties, Montgomery Weekly Advertiser, January 28, 1863. (Author of this document read this issue in the newspaper. It listed Sgt. Wood as wounded, arm broken. He either died of this wound or was killed shortly thereafter. His widow’s pension application stated that he died of wounds received in battle).

Elizabeth Wood, widow of Sgt John Wood, care of A.J. Waldrop, Elyton Ala. Claim Filed June 1, 1863. Auth: List, Condition of Claims, 2nd Audit, Confederate states Treasury. (Elyton was a Post Office in Jefferson County, Ala., no longer Active).

MARRIAGE RECORDS, Jefferson County, Alabama

Book 2, page 96 Levi Myrick to Mary Wood, May 10, 1839. By W.W, Bagley, J.P.

Book 2, page 116 Thomas Wood to Nancy McClintock, 28 November 1839. By W.W, Bagley, J.P.

Book 2, page 250 William Goode to Nancy Wood. September 14, 1844

Book 2, page 96 A.J. Waldrop, J.P., performed marriage May 12, 1839. (See Civil War records, Elizabeth Wood).

Book 1, page 329 John H. Wood performed marriage as J.P. 29 October, 1828

Information gathered from documents sent from Eva Payne and by docmaples to Maples Wood Family Tree on Ancestry.com.