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Matthew Wood
Matthew Wood was born in North Carolina, probably in Burke County.
His father was Jesse, born in 1771 in North Carolina. His mother may have been Nancy Cate,
born in 1775. We are not sure of the first wife's name. However, one of Jesse's grandsons
was named Matthew Cate Wood. Matthew received land in Poplar Cove in Fentress County,
Tennessee in 1830. This land was a few miles west of Jamestown, the county seat. Some of
his land was the Moses Solomon Tract.
Matthew married Elizabeth (Betsy) Woolsey, born in Virginia January 9, 1805 or 1808; died
in Fentress County February 21, 1898. Both Matthew and Betsy are buried in Poplar Cove at
their old home place. Betsy was a daughter of Jeremiah Woolsey, (1785-1851), born in VA,
and Polly --, (born in 1785 in PA). Other family Woolsey children listed in Fentress
County's 1850 census were: George, Anny, Sarah, Abagail, Eliza or Louisa, who married
Isaac Reagan; and Matilda, who married Jonathan Wood. Jeremiah, (1785-1851), wife, Polly,
and son, George, are buried at the George Beaty cemetery near Little Crab in Fentress
County. Each grave is covered by stacked limestone rocks in a unique fashion. The old
Woolsey place was near this cemetery.
Matthew was a community leader. He served in the 1830s as a trustee for the Mt. Cumberland
Academy located in the Poplar Cove. Matthew and Betsy Wood's children, all of whom were
born in Poplar Cove, were as follows:
- Mary (Polly) Wood, born February 7, 1827, died September 8, 1899,
believed to have married a Beaty [Pleasant Beaty, s/o John Beaty, Jr.].
- William Woolsey, born Sept. 26, 1829, married Elizabeth Jane Smith
(1834-1913), died Dec. 7, 1861 as a result of the Civil War. His widow married Anderson
Hogue (1835-1887). They were the parents of the historian, A.R. Hogue; also, there was
other issue. W.W.'s will is on record in the Fentress County Register of Deeds office in
Book P, page 450.
- Jeremiah (Jerry), born April 12, 1830, died September 16, 1904. He
married Lady Jane Gray Harmon, born November 14, 1833, died of typhoid fever November 14,
1892. She was the daughter of John Harmon (1800) and Margaret Ramsey Harmon (October 1,
1800 - March 21, 1888). Jerry and Jane Wood's (my great grandparents) eight children were:
- Alice, (November 10, 1858-June 18, 1934), never married;
- Armilda, (August 20, 1860-May 8, 1930), married John Allen Beaty;
- Vestina, (Jan. 15, 1863-died as an infant);
- Martha, (Dec. 12, 1864-Jan. 30, 1946), married Dr. John Newton Chism
in 1906;
- Mary Caroline, (August 24, 1867-November 19, 1951), married Lawrence
B. Chism, (my grandparents);
- Belle, (February 6, 1870-September 23, 1951), married Dr. John Newton
Chism in 1884, divorced in 1899;
- Cora, (October 18, 1872-February 10, 1962), married Marion Beaty and
then Joe Phillips;
- Porter Seymour, (July 10, 1875-September 25, 1913), married Hattie
Roberts.
- (Matthew's family continued): John Fleming, born 1832, died 1906,
lived in western states.
- Isaac, born July 22, 1834, died May 17, 1871, murdered by robbers in
Fentress County, married Sarah Milsaps.
- Jesse, born 1836, died 1890, married Molly Storie.
- George W., born 1837, died March 3, 1863, murdered by Rebels in the
Civil War.
- Catherine, born Jan. 6, 1840, married Hiram Frogge, b. 1833.
- Nancy Jane, born April 12, 1842, died Sept. 27, 1843 in infancy.
- Sarah Ann, born Dec. 11, 1844, died Nov. 22, 1928, never married.
- Charles C., born April 22, 1849, died November 5, 1923, never
married.
by Wilma R. Pinckley Matthew's G, G, Granddaughter
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