Lady Sarah Mary Woody

William Woody/Woodie and "Lady" Sarah Percell/Purcell ancestry is discussed in The William C. Berry Day Book offering a few details of their life travelling from England to the Potomac River in Virginia. Rev. William Coffee Berry (1776-1880) married Letticia Woody (grand daughter of William Woody Sr. and Sarah Purcell through their son Jonathan R. Woody) and wrote family history in 1870 while he was living in Avery Creek, NC, for his son, Joseph M. Berry who was in Oklahoma. He carried it to Oklahoma where it was passed to Joseph's daughter, Lillie Belle Berry Clark in 1917. There is a transcribed copy made in 1940 by a descendant of William C. Berry. The history of the travels and transcriptions of the original Day Book are a little murky, however most Woody researchers have found no significant error concerning the Woody lineage described by Berry. The Day Book named James, Jonathan, Talton and William Woody as sons of William and Sarah. James and Jonathan R. submitted Revolutionary War Pension Applications with sworn testimony of birth and service. The 1834 & 1853 Clinton County, Kentucky applications of James states that he was age 98 (bc1755), born in Bedford County, Virginia and "raised" in in North Carolina close to the Virginia line. This birth date is confirmed by the 1850 Clinton Co., Kentucky census. The 1847 Iowa application of Jonathan states that he was born 15 June 1756 in Surry County, North Carolina and that he had older brothers, James and William. Jonathan's birth age seems to be confirmed by his enumeration in the 70/80 age range (bc 1755) of the 1830 Macon County, North Carolina census. He seems to have died before the 1850 census in Wapello County, Iowa. Although no pension application seems to exist for William, his 12 December 1849, Raleigh, North Carolina newspaper (Raleigh North Carolina Standard) death notice notes that he died 17 Nov 1849 at the home of his son Silas in Buncombe County, that he was soldier of the War of Independence and that he was 114 years old (bc 1735) when he died; however, both the 1830 and 1840 Buncombe County censuses indicates that he was born about ten years earlier than his obituary shows (say bc 1745). Talton seems to have been born about 1755 in North Carolina and probably died before the 1830 Ashe County, North Carolina census. Before he died, William Woody Sr. seems to have been recorded in the 1790 Greenville County, South Carolina census, along with his son William Jr. Both were over sixteen and one had five other inhabitants under sixteen. William Sr. seemed to have died between 1790 and 1800 in Greenville and Sarah after 1800. In addition, between 1788 and 1791, James, Talton and William Woody purchased land in Greenville. All of the sons of William Sr. apparently moved back to North Carolina after 1800.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Nov 18 2020, 23:21:29 UTC