Source: A Genealogy of the Lineal Descendants of William Wood Who Settled in Concord, Mass., in 1638; Containing also Revolutionary and Other Records, comp. by Clayton W. Holmes (Elmira, NY: 1901), pp. 68-71:
402 Joel Wood, (Samuel219, Nathan116, Abraham29, Abraham9, Michael2,) born (East) Smithfield, Dec. 10, 1810. Married Aug. 10, 1834, to Hannah Rockwell, daughter Samuel Rockwell and Betsey Granteer, born Canton, Apr. 23, 1814. She died May 23, 1857. Before attempting to give an account of Joel Wood's life, we desire to state that he is the most noted personage in this book at this writing being the oldest living representative of the William Wood clan, and he also enjoys the distinction of being the first person named Wood, who was born in the town, East Smithfield.
Joel Wood was a child on the old homestead and grew to manhood there. As a boy he remembers the "sugar bush," which was his delight, and a considerable source of revenue to the family. He remembers all the bear stories, and how unsafe it was for the children to go alone to school, because of them, and other wild beasts. It is very interesting to listen to his stories about the "singing school" and the "apple-paring bees" and the "corn-husking frolic" which were the popular amusements in those early days. After his marriage at the age of 24, he settled first on a piece of land in Troy township, and built a house. Not satisfied however, they soon sold it and bought a more improved farm near Alba. This was in 1835. In the month of May, he met with an accident, splitting his foot open, which laid him up for a time. They remained here with little financial success, except the cultivation of six fine boys, till 1846, when they sold out and in company with John E. Hale and family, started westward, traveling overland by wagons. They journeyed till they came to a very promising spot on the prairie about 25 miles northwest of Chicago, in Cook county, where they set themselves down in the uncultivated wild land. Joel bought a quarter section, 80 acres, of government prairie at $1.25 per acre. The first year he worked an adjoining farm then somewhat improved, on shares, from which enough was secured to keep the wolf from the door, while breaking his own prairie land. The next year he raised a crop of wheat, and cut it with the first McCormick reaper ever used in Cook county, and his was the first crop the reaper ever cut. In the meantime he had built a primitive cabin on their own soil and was correspondingly happy. A little later they added 40 acres more prairie. In 1850 a railroad to be called the "Illinois & Wisconsin" was surveyed across the farm, but it failed of construction. It was reorganized as the Chicago & Northwestern, and in 1852, grading was going on. In 1853 he got the contract of constructing 4000 yards of embankment at 10 cents per yard. This work enabled him to clear his place from debt, and in the fall after completing it he returned to the east with his wife for a short visit. Returning soon he bought another 80 acre section along the line of the railroad, and solicited the location of a station on this tract, which was finally accomplished at a cost of $2,000. He then built a depot for the R. R. Co. for which they paid him $1,060, also a store for rent. He donated two acres to the town for a cemetery, two lots to the Methodist Episcopal Society for a church and parsonage; a large school house site; four lots to the Christian Church for building and parsonage; to Elder Mullin, the pastor, five acres for a home; to Dr. Keeler a lot; to B. A. Bailey a site for a steam grist mill; and so began, or was created on paper the town founded by Joel Wood which soon became a town in reality. In 1857 a school house had been built, also a Methodist church, and a lively little town is springing up. Prosperity through severe toil attended the efforts of our founder, but in this year begins a sad chapter in his life. His wife is severely attacked with congestion of the lungs, which quickly ends her life May 23, 1857, and he makes his first contribution to the beautiful cemetery he had given to the town. In 1860 his promising son, Ezra, is a victim of dropsy. Then comes the civil war, and in 1861 his eldest son enlists in the 19th Illinois and marches away under the first call for volunteers. The next son, Marshall, soon after is enrolled, and goes to the front. A year later Emerson enlists. Then later comes home Marshall with a severe wound and ruined constitution, from which he later died. The next year Crawford dies of typhoid. In 1870, wearied with life's hard labor and crushed under continued bereavements, he sells his village property and goes to Kansas. He settled first in Topeka, building a house, which he rents, and moves to Grantville, seven miles east and started a grocery store. Having no experience in handling merchandise for profit, the venture was a failure, so in 1872 he quit and moved to Lyon Co., near Emporia, where he bought a farm. In April, 1874, he was married a second time at Reece, Kan., to Mrs. Elizabeth Campbell (nee Elizabeth Norvell).
In this year came the great grasshopper plague which devastated almost the whole state and made farming poor business just then. They remained on the farm till June, 1888, when they removed to California, where they remained three years, buying land and planting a fruit orchard. This was near Elmira, Cal.
Here they worked hard, but had many privileges in the church and made many friends, but his wife's health began to fail, and his business called him back to Kansas, so in 1891 they came back and stopped with Harmon Shepard, in Greenwood Co. A year later they went to stay with his wife's daughter in Washington Co., Ky. After a time they went back to Mr. Shepard's, where his wife died of dropsy, Jan. 10, 1896, aged 69. Since that time his life has been a lonely waiting for the end to come. He goes back and forth to Elmira, Cal., to visit his (son Emerson's) family, then to Thurman, Kan., where his daughter Emma lives, and this he calls his home.
Such is the life history of a good man, who has toiled harder than most men, and yet after having reached four score and ten, he is hale and hearty and bids fair to reach the century mark. In his later years he has traveled considerable, and being naturally a man of observation he possesses a fund of information which is surprising in one of his years. He visited the old home a short time ago and was present at the reunion of the Smithfield branch held Sept. 4, 1900, on the spot where he was born (see appendix). The picture we present is taken from a photograph taken at that time. He hardly looks to be ninety years old, at least when one thinks of the years of hard labor and privation he has passed through. The writer can look back forty years and see him an old man then. For twenty of these years he has hardly changed. He reads without glasses and writes a very legible hand still. To him we are indebted for much of the information pertaining to his family, and as a fitting close to this slight tribute we quote his own expressive words, written in giving the history of his sister, Miriam, 403: "Greatly missing her frequent and affectionate letters, and the loss of my loved companion and my dear children, with prospect of decline of mind and person, having seen my early comrades fall by the way, what wonder that I should often
"Think of the years that forever have fled
Of follies by others forgot,
Of joys that are vanished and hopes that are dead,
Of friendships that were, and are not,
Or sigh for the touch of a vanished hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still."
875 Thomas Benton Wood+, born Alba, Pa., July 17, 1835.
876 Marshall Wood+, Alba, Pa., Mar. 20, 1837.
877 Crawford Wood, Alba, Pa., Sept. 6, 1839.
878 Samuel Wood*, Alba, Pa., July 1, 1841.
879 Ezra Wood*, Alba, Pa., April 19, 1843.
880 Emerson Wood, Alba, Pa., June 6, 1846.
881 Henry Clay Wood, Palatine, Ill., Sept. 10, 1849.
882 Sarah Rose Wood*, Palatine, Ill., June 23, 1851.
883 Emma Wood, Palatine, Ill., August 30, 1855.
+ Thomas B. enlisted on first call (see civil war record). Married Jan. 1, 1870, Eunice Onderdonk. In 1886 he went to Florida and settled near Tampa. He died a victim of yellow fever Nov. 18, 1887. Marshall also served in civil war (see war record) died in Palatine Aug. 28, 1864. Samuel died at Palatine May 21, 1843. Ezra died in Palatine May 12, 1860. Sarah was a teacher for twelve years, but lost her mind and has been for the past fifteen years in the State Hospital at Osawatomie, Kan. She is hopelessly insane.
**********************************************************
Obituary
Source: Emporia Gazette, Saturday, March 31, 1906:
Joel Wood Dead
Joel Wood died last night at the home of his son, Henry C. Wood, at Wiggam, at the age of 95 years. Two weeks ago he had an attack of pneumonia, and although he lived beyond the crisis of the disease, his system was reduced by the struggle, and he quietly passed into sleep. Mr. Wood was born in Bradford county, Pa., in December 1810. In early manhood he emigrated to Illinois, living for years in Cook county, near the city of Chicago. He founded and built the town of Palatine, Ill. In 1870 he removed to Kansas, coming to Topeka, where he remained one year. He came to Emporia in 1872, and has lived here and in this vicinity since. Mr. Wood was one of the most interesting men in this county. He established the town of Palatine, Ill., when Chicago was a fort; he remembered the talk of the battle of Waterloo; he was a friend of Alexander Campbell, who founded the Christian church, and was a pioneer in that movement. At one time he was worth a hundred thousand dollars, and in his prime was a force for good in his community.
He was the father of nine children. Seven of these and his wife died in Illinois. His two surviving children, H. (Clay) Wood and Mrs. D. W. Eastman, of Thurman, furnished him a home in his declining years.
Mr. Wood was a Christian. He united with the Disciples of Christ in the early period of their history, and was widely known in their brotherhood for his ability and benevolence as a promoter of the interests of the church.
His mind was clear and his strength well preserved up to the last. He often took long journeys alone, having visited California and Pennsylvania recently. His mind was well stored with literature, which he often quoted to the great delight of his friends. His philosophy was sane and optimistic. No clouds overcast his future, nor obscured for him the face of God. His faith, almost a century old, grew stronger with each experience. His early friends were all dead. He walked about in a world that had never known him except as an old man. But he kept informed and in sympathy with the growing life of the world. His life ended beautifully. He stood at his post till the light died out of the evening sky, and then turned his face to the brightness of the eternal morning.
The funeral services will be held in the First Congregational church tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock, by the Rev. W. A. Parker. The interment will be made at Maplewood.
402 Joel Wood, (Samuel219, Nathan116, Abraham29, Abraham9, Michael2,) born (East) Smithfield, Dec. 10, 1810. Married Aug. 10, 1834, to Hannah Rockwell, daughter Samuel Rockwell and Betsey Granteer, born Canton, Apr. 23, 1814. She died May 23, 1857. Before attempting to give an account of Joel Wood's life, we desire to state that he is the most noted personage in this book at this writing being the oldest living representative of the William Wood clan, and he also enjoys the distinction of being the first person named Wood, who was born in the town, East Smithfield.
Joel Wood was a child on the old homestead and grew to manhood there. As a boy he remembers the "sugar bush," which was his delight, and a considerable source of revenue to the family. He remembers all the bear stories, and how unsafe it was for the children to go alone to school, because of them, and other wild beasts. It is very interesting to listen to his stories about the "singing school" and the "apple-paring bees" and the "corn-husking frolic" which were the popular amusements in those early days. After his marriage at the age of 24, he settled first on a piece of land in Troy township, and built a house. Not satisfied however, they soon sold it and bought a more improved farm near Alba. This was in 1835. In the month of May, he met with an accident, splitting his foot open, which laid him up for a time. They remained here with little financial success, except the cultivation of six fine boys, till 1846, when they sold out and in company with John E. Hale and family, started westward, traveling overland by wagons. They journeyed till they came to a very promising spot on the prairie about 25 miles northwest of Chicago, in Cook county, where they set themselves down in the uncultivated wild land. Joel bought a quarter section, 80 acres, of government prairie at $1.25 per acre. The first year he worked an adjoining farm then somewhat improved, on shares, from which enough was secured to keep the wolf from the door, while breaking his own prairie land. The next year he raised a crop of wheat, and cut it with the first McCormick reaper ever used in Cook county, and his was the first crop the reaper ever cut. In the meantime he had built a primitive cabin on their own soil and was correspondingly happy. A little later they added 40 acres more prairie. In 1850 a railroad to be called the "Illinois & Wisconsin" was surveyed across the farm, but it failed of construction. It was reorganized as the Chicago & Northwestern, and in 1852, grading was going on. In 1853 he got the contract of constructing 4000 yards of embankment at 10 cents per yard. This work enabled him to clear his place from debt, and in the fall after completing it he returned to the east with his wife for a short visit. Returning soon he bought another 80 acre section along the line of the railroad, and solicited the location of a station on this tract, which was finally accomplished at a cost of $2,000. He then built a depot for the R. R. Co. for which they paid him $1,060, also a store for rent. He donated two acres to the town for a cemetery, two lots to the Methodist Episcopal Society for a church and parsonage; a large school house site; four lots to the Christian Church for building and parsonage; to Elder Mullin, the pastor, five acres for a home; to Dr. Keeler a lot; to B. A. Bailey a site for a steam grist mill; and so began, or was created on paper the town founded by Joel Wood which soon became a town in reality. In 1857 a school house had been built, also a Methodist church, and a lively little town is springing up. Prosperity through severe toil attended the efforts of our founder, but in this year begins a sad chapter in his life. His wife is severely attacked with congestion of the lungs, which quickly ends her life May 23, 1857, and he makes his first contribution to the beautiful cemetery he had given to the town. In 1860 his promising son, Ezra, is a victim of dropsy. Then comes the civil war, and in 1861 his eldest son enlists in the 19th Illinois and marches away under the first call for volunteers. The next son, Marshall, soon after is enrolled, and goes to the front. A year later Emerson enlists. Then later comes home Marshall with a severe wound and ruined constitution, from which he later died. The next year Crawford dies of typhoid. In 1870, wearied with life's hard labor and crushed under continued bereavements, he sells his village property and goes to Kansas. He settled first in Topeka, building a house, which he rents, and moves to Grantville, seven miles east and started a grocery store. Having no experience in handling merchandise for profit, the venture was a failure, so in 1872 he quit and moved to Lyon Co., near Emporia, where he bought a farm. In April, 1874, he was married a second time at Reece, Kan., to Mrs. Elizabeth Campbell (nee Elizabeth Norvell).
In this year came the great grasshopper plague which devastated almost the whole state and made farming poor business just then. They remained on the farm till June, 1888, when they removed to California, where they remained three years, buying land and planting a fruit orchard. This was near Elmira, Cal.
Here they worked hard, but had many privileges in the church and made many friends, but his wife's health began to fail, and his business called him back to Kansas, so in 1891 they came back and stopped with Harmon Shepard, in Greenwood Co. A year later they went to stay with his wife's daughter in Washington Co., Ky. After a time they went back to Mr. Shepard's, where his wife died of dropsy, Jan. 10, 1896, aged 69. Since that time his life has been a lonely waiting for the end to come. He goes back and forth to Elmira, Cal., to visit his (son Emerson's) family, then to Thurman, Kan., where his daughter Emma lives, and this he calls his home.
Such is the life history of a good man, who has toiled harder than most men, and yet after having reached four score and ten, he is hale and hearty and bids fair to reach the century mark. In his later years he has traveled considerable, and being naturally a man of observation he possesses a fund of information which is surprising in one of his years. He visited the old home a short time ago and was present at the reunion of the Smithfield branch held Sept. 4, 1900, on the spot where he was born (see appendix). The picture we present is taken from a photograph taken at that time. He hardly looks to be ninety years old, at least when one thinks of the years of hard labor and privation he has passed through. The writer can look back forty years and see him an old man then. For twenty of these years he has hardly changed. He reads without glasses and writes a very legible hand still. To him we are indebted for much of the information pertaining to his family, and as a fitting close to this slight tribute we quote his own expressive words, written in giving the history of his sister, Miriam, 403: "Greatly missing her frequent and affectionate letters, and the loss of my loved companion and my dear children, with prospect of decline of mind and person, having seen my early comrades fall by the way, what wonder that I should often
"Think of the years that forever have fled
Of follies by others forgot,
Of joys that are vanished and hopes that are dead,
Of friendships that were, and are not,
Or sigh for the touch of a vanished hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still."
875 Thomas Benton Wood+, born Alba, Pa., July 17, 1835.
876 Marshall Wood+, Alba, Pa., Mar. 20, 1837.
877 Crawford Wood, Alba, Pa., Sept. 6, 1839.
878 Samuel Wood*, Alba, Pa., July 1, 1841.
879 Ezra Wood*, Alba, Pa., April 19, 1843.
880 Emerson Wood, Alba, Pa., June 6, 1846.
881 Henry Clay Wood, Palatine, Ill., Sept. 10, 1849.
882 Sarah Rose Wood*, Palatine, Ill., June 23, 1851.
883 Emma Wood, Palatine, Ill., August 30, 1855.
+ Thomas B. enlisted on first call (see civil war record). Married Jan. 1, 1870, Eunice Onderdonk. In 1886 he went to Florida and settled near Tampa. He died a victim of yellow fever Nov. 18, 1887. Marshall also served in civil war (see war record) died in Palatine Aug. 28, 1864. Samuel died at Palatine May 21, 1843. Ezra died in Palatine May 12, 1860. Sarah was a teacher for twelve years, but lost her mind and has been for the past fifteen years in the State Hospital at Osawatomie, Kan. She is hopelessly insane.
**********************************************************
Obituary
Source: Emporia Gazette, Saturday, March 31, 1906:
Joel Wood Dead
Joel Wood died last night at the home of his son, Henry C. Wood, at Wiggam, at the age of 95 years. Two weeks ago he had an attack of pneumonia, and although he lived beyond the crisis of the disease, his system was reduced by the struggle, and he quietly passed into sleep. Mr. Wood was born in Bradford county, Pa., in December 1810. In early manhood he emigrated to Illinois, living for years in Cook county, near the city of Chicago. He founded and built the town of Palatine, Ill. In 1870 he removed to Kansas, coming to Topeka, where he remained one year. He came to Emporia in 1872, and has lived here and in this vicinity since. Mr. Wood was one of the most interesting men in this county. He established the town of Palatine, Ill., when Chicago was a fort; he remembered the talk of the battle of Waterloo; he was a friend of Alexander Campbell, who founded the Christian church, and was a pioneer in that movement. At one time he was worth a hundred thousand dollars, and in his prime was a force for good in his community.
He was the father of nine children. Seven of these and his wife died in Illinois. His two surviving children, H. (Clay) Wood and Mrs. D. W. Eastman, of Thurman, furnished him a home in his declining years.
Mr. Wood was a Christian. He united with the Disciples of Christ in the early period of their history, and was widely known in their brotherhood for his ability and benevolence as a promoter of the interests of the church.
His mind was clear and his strength well preserved up to the last. He often took long journeys alone, having visited California and Pennsylvania recently. His mind was well stored with literature, which he often quoted to the great delight of his friends. His philosophy was sane and optimistic. No clouds overcast his future, nor obscured for him the face of God. His faith, almost a century old, grew stronger with each experience. His early friends were all dead. He walked about in a world that had never known him except as an old man. But he kept informed and in sympathy with the growing life of the world. His life ended beautifully. He stood at his post till the light died out of the evening sky, and then turned his face to the brightness of the eternal morning.
The funeral services will be held in the First Congregational church tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock, by the Rev. W. A. Parker. The interment will be made at Maplewood.
Source: A Genealogy of the Lineal Descendants of William Wood Who Settled in Concord, Mass., in 1638; Containing also Revolutionary and Other Records, comp. by Clayton W. Holmes (Elmira, NY: 1901), pp. 68-71:
402 Joel Wood, (Samuel219, Nathan116, Abraham29, Abraham9, Michael2,) born (East) Smithfield, Dec. 10, 1810. Married Aug. 10, 1834, to Hannah Rockwell, daughter Samuel Rockwell and Betsey Granteer, born Canton, Apr. 23, 1814. She died May 23, 1857. Before attempting to give an account of Joel Wood's life, we desire to state that he is the most noted personage in this book at this writing being the oldest living representative of the William Wood clan, and he also enjoys the distinction of being the first person named Wood, who was born in the town, East Smithfield.
Joel Wood was a child on the old homestead and grew to manhood there. As a boy he remembers the "sugar bush," which was his delight, and a considerable source of revenue to the family. He remembers all the bear stories, and how unsafe it was for the children to go alone to school, because of them, and other wild beasts. It is very interesting to listen to his stories about the "singing school" and the "apple-paring bees" and the "corn-husking frolic" which were the popular amusements in those early days. After his marriage at the age of 24, he settled first on a piece of land in Troy township, and built a house. Not satisfied however, they soon sold it and bought a more improved farm near Alba. This was in 1835. In the month of May, he met with an accident, splitting his foot open, which laid him up for a time. They remained here with little financial success, except the cultivation of six fine boys, till 1846, when they sold out and in company with John E. Hale and family, started westward, traveling overland by wagons. They journeyed till they came to a very promising spot on the prairie about 25 miles northwest of Chicago, in Cook county, where they set themselves down in the uncultivated wild land. Joel bought a quarter section, 80 acres, of government prairie at $1.25 per acre. The first year he worked an adjoining farm then somewhat improved, on shares, from which enough was secured to keep the wolf from the door, while breaking his own prairie land. The next year he raised a crop of wheat, and cut it with the first McCormick reaper ever used in Cook county, and his was the first crop the reaper ever cut. In the meantime he had built a primitive cabin on their own soil and was correspondingly happy. A little later they added 40 acres more prairie. In 1850 a railroad to be called the "Illinois & Wisconsin" was surveyed across the farm, but it failed of construction. It was reorganized as the Chicago & Northwestern, and in 1852, grading was going on. In 1853 he got the contract of constructing 4000 yards of embankment at 10 cents per yard. This work enabled him to clear his place from debt, and in the fall after completing it he returned to the east with his wife for a short visit. Returning soon he bought another 80 acre section along the line of the railroad, and solicited the location of a station on this tract, which was finally accomplished at a cost of $2,000. He then built a depot for the R. R. Co. for which they paid him $1,060, also a store for rent. He donated two acres to the town for a cemetery, two lots to the Methodist Episcopal Society for a church and parsonage; a large school house site; four lots to the Christian Church for building and parsonage; to Elder Mullin, the pastor, five acres for a home; to Dr. Keeler a lot; to B. A. Bailey a site for a steam grist mill; and so began, or was created on paper the town founded by Joel Wood which soon became a town in reality. In 1857 a school house had been built, also a Methodist church, and a lively little town is springing up. Prosperity through severe toil attended the efforts of our founder, but in this year begins a sad chapter in his life. His wife is severely attacked with congestion of the lungs, which quickly ends her life May 23, 1857, and he makes his first contribution to the beautiful cemetery he had given to the town. In 1860 his promising son, Ezra, is a victim of dropsy. Then comes the civil war, and in 1861 his eldest son enlists in the 19th Illinois and marches away under the first call for volunteers. The next son, Marshall, soon after is enrolled, and goes to the front. A year later Emerson enlists. Then later comes home Marshall with a severe wound and ruined constitution, from which he later died. The next year Crawford dies of typhoid. In 1870, wearied with life's hard labor and crushed under continued bereavements, he sells his village property and goes to Kansas. He settled first in Topeka, building a house, which he rents, and moves to Grantville, seven miles east and started a grocery store. Having no experience in handling merchandise for profit, the venture was a failure, so in 1872 he quit and moved to Lyon Co., near Emporia, where he bought a farm. In April, 1874, he was married a second time at Reece, Kan., to Mrs. Elizabeth Campbell (nee Elizabeth Norvell).
In this year came the great grasshopper plague which devastated almost the whole state and made farming poor business just then. They remained on the farm till June, 1888, when they removed to California, where they remained three years, buying land and planting a fruit orchard. This was near Elmira, Cal.
Here they worked hard, but had many privileges in the church and made many friends, but his wife's health began to fail, and his business called him back to Kansas, so in 1891 they came back and stopped with Harmon Shepard, in Greenwood Co. A year later they went to stay with his wife's daughter in Washington Co., Ky. After a time they went back to Mr. Shepard's, where his wife died of dropsy, Jan. 10, 1896, aged 69. Since that time his life has been a lonely waiting for the end to come. He goes back and forth to Elmira, Cal., to visit his (son Emerson's) family, then to Thurman, Kan., where his daughter Emma lives, and this he calls his home.
Such is the life history of a good man, who has toiled harder than most men, and yet after having reached four score and ten, he is hale and hearty and bids fair to reach the century mark. In his later years he has traveled considerable, and being naturally a man of observation he possesses a fund of information which is surprising in one of his years. He visited the old home a short time ago and was present at the reunion of the Smithfield branch held Sept. 4, 1900, on the spot where he was born (see appendix). The picture we present is taken from a photograph taken at that time. He hardly looks to be ninety years old, at least when one thinks of the years of hard labor and privation he has passed through. The writer can look back forty years and see him an old man then. For twenty of these years he has hardly changed. He reads without glasses and writes a very legible hand still. To him we are indebted for much of the information pertaining to his family, and as a fitting close to this slight tribute we quote his own expressive words, written in giving the history of his sister, Miriam, 403: "Greatly missing her frequent and affectionate letters, and the loss of my loved companion and my dear children, with prospect of decline of mind and person, having seen my early comrades fall by the way, what wonder that I should often
"Think of the years that forever have fled
Of follies by others forgot,
Of joys that are vanished and hopes that are dead,
Of friendships that were, and are not,
Or sigh for the touch of a vanished hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still."
875 Thomas Benton Wood+, born Alba, Pa., July 17, 1835.
876 Marshall Wood+, Alba, Pa., Mar. 20, 1837.
877 Crawford Wood, Alba, Pa., Sept. 6, 1839.
878 Samuel Wood*, Alba, Pa., July 1, 1841.
879 Ezra Wood*, Alba, Pa., April 19, 1843.
880 Emerson Wood, Alba, Pa., June 6, 1846.
881 Henry Clay Wood, Palatine, Ill., Sept. 10, 1849.
882 Sarah Rose Wood*, Palatine, Ill., June 23, 1851.
883 Emma Wood, Palatine, Ill., August 30, 1855.
+ Thomas B. enlisted on first call (see civil war record). Married Jan. 1, 1870, Eunice Onderdonk. In 1886 he went to Florida and settled near Tampa. He died a victim of yellow fever Nov. 18, 1887. Marshall also served in civil war (see war record) died in Palatine Aug. 28, 1864. Samuel died at Palatine May 21, 1843. Ezra died in Palatine May 12, 1860. Sarah was a teacher for twelve years, but lost her mind and has been for the past fifteen years in the State Hospital at Osawatomie, Kan. She is hopelessly insane.
**********************************************************
Obituary
Source: Emporia Gazette, Saturday, March 31, 1906:
Joel Wood Dead
Joel Wood died last night at the home of his son, Henry C. Wood, at Wiggam, at the age of 95 years. Two weeks ago he had an attack of pneumonia, and although he lived beyond the crisis of the disease, his system was reduced by the struggle, and he quietly passed into sleep. Mr. Wood was born in Bradford county, Pa., in December 1810. In early manhood he emigrated to Illinois, living for years in Cook county, near the city of Chicago. He founded and built the town of Palatine, Ill. In 1870 he removed to Kansas, coming to Topeka, where he remained one year. He came to Emporia in 1872, and has lived here and in this vicinity since. Mr. Wood was one of the most interesting men in this county. He established the town of Palatine, Ill., when Chicago was a fort; he remembered the talk of the battle of Waterloo; he was a friend of Alexander Campbell, who founded the Christian church, and was a pioneer in that movement. At one time he was worth a hundred thousand dollars, and in his prime was a force for good in his community.
He was the father of nine children. Seven of these and his wife died in Illinois. His two surviving children, H. (Clay) Wood and Mrs. D. W. Eastman, of Thurman, furnished him a home in his declining years.
Mr. Wood was a Christian. He united with the Disciples of Christ in the early period of their history, and was widely known in their brotherhood for his ability and benevolence as a promoter of the interests of the church.
His mind was clear and his strength well preserved up to the last. He often took long journeys alone, having visited California and Pennsylvania recently. His mind was well stored with literature, which he often quoted to the great delight of his friends. His philosophy was sane and optimistic. No clouds overcast his future, nor obscured for him the face of God. His faith, almost a century old, grew stronger with each experience. His early friends were all dead. He walked about in a world that had never known him except as an old man. But he kept informed and in sympathy with the growing life of the world. His life ended beautifully. He stood at his post till the light died out of the evening sky, and then turned his face to the brightness of the eternal morning.
The funeral services will be held in the First Congregational church tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock, by the Rev. W. A. Parker. The interment will be made at Maplewood.
402 Joel Wood, (Samuel219, Nathan116, Abraham29, Abraham9, Michael2,) born (East) Smithfield, Dec. 10, 1810. Married Aug. 10, 1834, to Hannah Rockwell, daughter Samuel Rockwell and Betsey Granteer, born Canton, Apr. 23, 1814. She died May 23, 1857. Before attempting to give an account of Joel Wood's life, we desire to state that he is the most noted personage in this book at this writing being the oldest living representative of the William Wood clan, and he also enjoys the distinction of being the first person named Wood, who was born in the town, East Smithfield.
Joel Wood was a child on the old homestead and grew to manhood there. As a boy he remembers the "sugar bush," which was his delight, and a considerable source of revenue to the family. He remembers all the bear stories, and how unsafe it was for the children to go alone to school, because of them, and other wild beasts. It is very interesting to listen to his stories about the "singing school" and the "apple-paring bees" and the "corn-husking frolic" which were the popular amusements in those early days. After his marriage at the age of 24, he settled first on a piece of land in Troy township, and built a house. Not satisfied however, they soon sold it and bought a more improved farm near Alba. This was in 1835. In the month of May, he met with an accident, splitting his foot open, which laid him up for a time. They remained here with little financial success, except the cultivation of six fine boys, till 1846, when they sold out and in company with John E. Hale and family, started westward, traveling overland by wagons. They journeyed till they came to a very promising spot on the prairie about 25 miles northwest of Chicago, in Cook county, where they set themselves down in the uncultivated wild land. Joel bought a quarter section, 80 acres, of government prairie at $1.25 per acre. The first year he worked an adjoining farm then somewhat improved, on shares, from which enough was secured to keep the wolf from the door, while breaking his own prairie land. The next year he raised a crop of wheat, and cut it with the first McCormick reaper ever used in Cook county, and his was the first crop the reaper ever cut. In the meantime he had built a primitive cabin on their own soil and was correspondingly happy. A little later they added 40 acres more prairie. In 1850 a railroad to be called the "Illinois & Wisconsin" was surveyed across the farm, but it failed of construction. It was reorganized as the Chicago & Northwestern, and in 1852, grading was going on. In 1853 he got the contract of constructing 4000 yards of embankment at 10 cents per yard. This work enabled him to clear his place from debt, and in the fall after completing it he returned to the east with his wife for a short visit. Returning soon he bought another 80 acre section along the line of the railroad, and solicited the location of a station on this tract, which was finally accomplished at a cost of $2,000. He then built a depot for the R. R. Co. for which they paid him $1,060, also a store for rent. He donated two acres to the town for a cemetery, two lots to the Methodist Episcopal Society for a church and parsonage; a large school house site; four lots to the Christian Church for building and parsonage; to Elder Mullin, the pastor, five acres for a home; to Dr. Keeler a lot; to B. A. Bailey a site for a steam grist mill; and so began, or was created on paper the town founded by Joel Wood which soon became a town in reality. In 1857 a school house had been built, also a Methodist church, and a lively little town is springing up. Prosperity through severe toil attended the efforts of our founder, but in this year begins a sad chapter in his life. His wife is severely attacked with congestion of the lungs, which quickly ends her life May 23, 1857, and he makes his first contribution to the beautiful cemetery he had given to the town. In 1860 his promising son, Ezra, is a victim of dropsy. Then comes the civil war, and in 1861 his eldest son enlists in the 19th Illinois and marches away under the first call for volunteers. The next son, Marshall, soon after is enrolled, and goes to the front. A year later Emerson enlists. Then later comes home Marshall with a severe wound and ruined constitution, from which he later died. The next year Crawford dies of typhoid. In 1870, wearied with life's hard labor and crushed under continued bereavements, he sells his village property and goes to Kansas. He settled first in Topeka, building a house, which he rents, and moves to Grantville, seven miles east and started a grocery store. Having no experience in handling merchandise for profit, the venture was a failure, so in 1872 he quit and moved to Lyon Co., near Emporia, where he bought a farm. In April, 1874, he was married a second time at Reece, Kan., to Mrs. Elizabeth Campbell (nee Elizabeth Norvell).
In this year came the great grasshopper plague which devastated almost the whole state and made farming poor business just then. They remained on the farm till June, 1888, when they removed to California, where they remained three years, buying land and planting a fruit orchard. This was near Elmira, Cal.
Here they worked hard, but had many privileges in the church and made many friends, but his wife's health began to fail, and his business called him back to Kansas, so in 1891 they came back and stopped with Harmon Shepard, in Greenwood Co. A year later they went to stay with his wife's daughter in Washington Co., Ky. After a time they went back to Mr. Shepard's, where his wife died of dropsy, Jan. 10, 1896, aged 69. Since that time his life has been a lonely waiting for the end to come. He goes back and forth to Elmira, Cal., to visit his (son Emerson's) family, then to Thurman, Kan., where his daughter Emma lives, and this he calls his home.
Such is the life history of a good man, who has toiled harder than most men, and yet after having reached four score and ten, he is hale and hearty and bids fair to reach the century mark. In his later years he has traveled considerable, and being naturally a man of observation he possesses a fund of information which is surprising in one of his years. He visited the old home a short time ago and was present at the reunion of the Smithfield branch held Sept. 4, 1900, on the spot where he was born (see appendix). The picture we present is taken from a photograph taken at that time. He hardly looks to be ninety years old, at least when one thinks of the years of hard labor and privation he has passed through. The writer can look back forty years and see him an old man then. For twenty of these years he has hardly changed. He reads without glasses and writes a very legible hand still. To him we are indebted for much of the information pertaining to his family, and as a fitting close to this slight tribute we quote his own expressive words, written in giving the history of his sister, Miriam, 403: "Greatly missing her frequent and affectionate letters, and the loss of my loved companion and my dear children, with prospect of decline of mind and person, having seen my early comrades fall by the way, what wonder that I should often
"Think of the years that forever have fled
Of follies by others forgot,
Of joys that are vanished and hopes that are dead,
Of friendships that were, and are not,
Or sigh for the touch of a vanished hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still."
875 Thomas Benton Wood+, born Alba, Pa., July 17, 1835.
876 Marshall Wood+, Alba, Pa., Mar. 20, 1837.
877 Crawford Wood, Alba, Pa., Sept. 6, 1839.
878 Samuel Wood*, Alba, Pa., July 1, 1841.
879 Ezra Wood*, Alba, Pa., April 19, 1843.
880 Emerson Wood, Alba, Pa., June 6, 1846.
881 Henry Clay Wood, Palatine, Ill., Sept. 10, 1849.
882 Sarah Rose Wood*, Palatine, Ill., June 23, 1851.
883 Emma Wood, Palatine, Ill., August 30, 1855.
+ Thomas B. enlisted on first call (see civil war record). Married Jan. 1, 1870, Eunice Onderdonk. In 1886 he went to Florida and settled near Tampa. He died a victim of yellow fever Nov. 18, 1887. Marshall also served in civil war (see war record) died in Palatine Aug. 28, 1864. Samuel died at Palatine May 21, 1843. Ezra died in Palatine May 12, 1860. Sarah was a teacher for twelve years, but lost her mind and has been for the past fifteen years in the State Hospital at Osawatomie, Kan. She is hopelessly insane.
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Obituary
Source: Emporia Gazette, Saturday, March 31, 1906:
Joel Wood Dead
Joel Wood died last night at the home of his son, Henry C. Wood, at Wiggam, at the age of 95 years. Two weeks ago he had an attack of pneumonia, and although he lived beyond the crisis of the disease, his system was reduced by the struggle, and he quietly passed into sleep. Mr. Wood was born in Bradford county, Pa., in December 1810. In early manhood he emigrated to Illinois, living for years in Cook county, near the city of Chicago. He founded and built the town of Palatine, Ill. In 1870 he removed to Kansas, coming to Topeka, where he remained one year. He came to Emporia in 1872, and has lived here and in this vicinity since. Mr. Wood was one of the most interesting men in this county. He established the town of Palatine, Ill., when Chicago was a fort; he remembered the talk of the battle of Waterloo; he was a friend of Alexander Campbell, who founded the Christian church, and was a pioneer in that movement. At one time he was worth a hundred thousand dollars, and in his prime was a force for good in his community.
He was the father of nine children. Seven of these and his wife died in Illinois. His two surviving children, H. (Clay) Wood and Mrs. D. W. Eastman, of Thurman, furnished him a home in his declining years.
Mr. Wood was a Christian. He united with the Disciples of Christ in the early period of their history, and was widely known in their brotherhood for his ability and benevolence as a promoter of the interests of the church.
His mind was clear and his strength well preserved up to the last. He often took long journeys alone, having visited California and Pennsylvania recently. His mind was well stored with literature, which he often quoted to the great delight of his friends. His philosophy was sane and optimistic. No clouds overcast his future, nor obscured for him the face of God. His faith, almost a century old, grew stronger with each experience. His early friends were all dead. He walked about in a world that had never known him except as an old man. But he kept informed and in sympathy with the growing life of the world. His life ended beautifully. He stood at his post till the light died out of the evening sky, and then turned his face to the brightness of the eternal morning.
The funeral services will be held in the First Congregational church tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock, by the Rev. W. A. Parker. The interment will be made at Maplewood.
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