Solomon William Wood

Solomon William Wood

Solomon William Wood, 1849-1922

• Father: Green Mark Wood b. 7 Sep 1814, d. 5 Mar 1898
• Mother: Mary Jane LeGrand b. 23 Jan 1830, d. 19 Mar 1900

• Solomon William Wood was born on 26 January 1849 in Montgomery County, Alabama.
• He was the son of Green Mark Wood and Mary Jane LeGrand.
• On the way to Texas by water, Mary Jane and children joined the Wood family in Selma. It is an educated guess that for some time prior to the relocation she and the children were staying with Letitia Ann McNair (granddaughter of Green's half-brother Ashley) who raised Mary Jane's sister Margaret LeGrand.
• He and Rush Brevard Wood were enumerated in the census of 1 June 1850 in the household of Green Mark Wood and Mary Jane LeGrand in Walker County, Texas; near Danville.
• On Sunday, 30 June 1850, Green Wood recorded: "Green M. Wood & wife & children & Willis B. Wood wife children & Duncan G. Campbell all Dined with us to day at the new place."
• On Sunday, 4 August 1850, Green Wood recorded: "As usual Green & his wife & children spent the day with us."
• On Sunday, 8 September 1850, Green Wood recorded: "A very pleasant day. Green & Willis & their Familys Spent the day here."
• On Sunday, 22 September 1850, Green Wood recorded: "A beautiful day, ain fine health. Mr & Mrs Carothers, Green & Wife & Willis & wife & all their Children & Mr Powell spent the day with us."
• On Sunday, 3 November 1850, Green Wood recorded: "G. M. & W. B. Wood & their fameley's with us & some Gentlemen from Grimes County."
• Sam Reed entered into an agreement on 31 December 1850 with William M. Barrett to do all the brick work of Austin College, for the sum of $750.00, to be completed by 1 January 1852. The building, whose cornerstone was laid on Saint John's day, 24 June 1851, was constructed of soft sand-molded bricks forged at the state penitentiary. It still stands as "Austin Hall" at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. Green's son Campbell attended Austin College from 1855 to 1857. Sam Reed's daughter Mattie married Green Wood's grandson Solomon Wm Wood in 1873, and the following year Sam's daughter Katie married Green's grandson Rush Brevard Wood.
• Evelina Wood wrote on 14 May 1855, to her daughter Lizzie Powell, undergoing treatment for cancer in Murfreesboro, Tennessee: ". . . Mary Jane has another son born the 8th of May she call him Milton Le Grand, he favors all the rest, will be very dark-skinned -- Rush & Solomon go to school, they are fond of it. Mary Jane is doing finely, Leah waited on her all last week. . . ." (Original letter in B. M. Henwood collection, original transcription copyright R. E. Reichardt.).
• He and Rush Brevard Wood, Robert Cummings Wood, Martha Frances P. Wood, Milton LeGrand Wood and George Scovell Wood were enumerated in the census of 1 June 1860 in the household of Green Mark Wood and Mary Jane LeGrand in Danville PO, Walker County, Texas.
• On 3 December 1864, Green Mark Wood wrote to Rush Brevard Wood: "My Dear Son: I returned home day before yesterday after an absence of three weeks in the Reserve Corps. All were well when I arrived. Campbell was taken sick yesterday and your mother has chills every two or three weeks. The school is out and Solomon will be home today. /P/ We caught a good many deserters and conscripts in the Big Thicket. We get very little news now. We have not heard a word from you since Jack Williamson’s letter just after the arrival of Capt. Raney [Lorenzo] Fisher. Old Lincoln is elected and the war will probably go on for years to come. So you may make up your mind to remain in the service for years to come. I regret it on account of my children. I shall not be able to give them an education. And I fear should it end you will not feel like going to school. /P/ I am looking for Mr. Cummings out here. He and his mother-in-law and brother-in-law are going to move out with all their negroes some 700 to get out of the way of the Yankees. . . ."
• He and Rush Brevard Wood, Robert Cummings Wood, Martha Frances P. Wood, Milton LeGrand Wood, George Scovell Wood, Campbell Clark Wood and Green Alexander Wood were enumerated in the census of 1 June 1870 in the household of Green Mark Wood and Mary Jane LeGrand in Huntsville, Walker County, Texas.
• He was a farm hand, according to the 1870 census.
• He married Martha Clarana Reed, daughter of Samuel Reed and Martha Frances Harrison, on 18 June 1873 in Walker County, Texas.
• Solomon William Wood appeared in the census of 1 June 1880 in Walker County, Texas. Other members of the household included Martha Clarana Reed, Mary Jane Wood, Solomon William Wood Jr., Green Alexander Wood and Fannie Goree Wood.
• With all their children in town for Green Mark and Mary Jane's 50th wedding anniversary celebration in April 1896, it is likely that this was the occasion for the photograph of their five surviving sons, treasured more than a hundred years later by all of their descendants.
• The following appeared on 2 November 1898 in The Daily Examiner: Solomon W. Wood, member of the Farmers' Mutual Insurance association, has
  been paid his money for the loss of his building which burned a short time ago.
• The following appeared on 23 February 1899 in The Daily Examiner: Messrs. Solomon and Rush Wood, of Dolph, are here.
• Solomon William Wood and Martha Clarana Reed appeared in the census of 1 June 1900 in Anderson, Grimes County, Texas, and it should be noted that birth information for the entire family is extraordinarily inaccurate.. Other members of the household included Rush Brevard Wood II, Henry Campbell Wood, Walter Warren Wood, Homer LeGrand Wood, Ella Lynn Wood, Solomon William Wood Jr. and Elizabeth B. Hurst.
• He was a farmer, according to the 1900 census.
• The following appeared on 23 May 1909 in the Galveston Daily News: G. A. Wood arrived Friday and spent the day with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. S. W. Wood.
• A photo was taken of Mattie & Solomon William Wood , about 1918, with granddaughters Eloise Cecil & Fannie Kate Wood.
• He and William Boyd Wood, Walter Warren Wood, Martha Clarana Reed, Henry Campbell Wood, Claude Irvin Wood and Myrtle Ernestine Bay were enumerated in the census of 1 January 1920 in the household of Rush Brevard Wood II and Claudia Gertrude Bay in Richards, Grimes County, Texas.
• He was a clerk (general farm), according to the 1920 census in January 1920.
• Solomon William Wood died on 5 October 1922 at age 73.
• His wife Martha Clarana Reed became a widow at his death.
• He was buried at Fairview Cemetery in Grimes County, Texas, near Richards.

• Last Edited: 2 Aug 2010