A Chronicle of the Wood Family

YORKSHIRE TO WESTCHESTER A CHRONICLE OF THE WOOD FAMILY By_ HERBERT BARBER HOWE PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA By THE TUTTLE PususHING Co., INC. · Edwin F. Sharp, Lessee RUTLAND, VERMONT 1948 ]AMES Woon 1762-1852 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE COUSINS GRACE WOOD HAVILAND AND ELIZABETH RUNYON HOWE WHO OWN THE HOUSES BUILT BY THEIR GRANDFATHERS ON THE LAND ACQUIRED BY THEIR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER COUNTY OFFICE BUILDING WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK The Westchester County Historical Society welcomes this volume as an important addition to the history of a rapidly changing country side. Mr. Howe, who is the highly effective editor of the Society's Bulletin, has been resourceful in his research and engaging in his presentation of his findings. Many a genealogical clue has been fol lowed to the point where an important discovery concerning persons or events was possible. Yet Mr. Howe is insistent that there are still loose ends in his study; for the absence of records can thwart the most determined chronicler. The story of the Wood family, from the days of the restless Puri tans in Yorkshire to the present era in Westchester, is richly furnished with exciting incidents and worthy achievements. The Tory an cestor during the American Revolution, who migrated to Nova Scotia and there built for himself a new life, is typical of many per sons in Westchester, who could not follow the signers of the Declara tion of Independence in their decision to break allegiance ro the British Empire. In the case of the Wood family the conflicting theories of empire brought a break in family ties during those troub lous years; and the task of the family historian was thus made much more difficult. The Woods who cast their lot with the new nation at the close of the eighteenth century and remained in Westchester County, went forward as farmers during the first half of the nineteenth century, gentlemen withal but nonetheless sturdy tillers of the soil. In many respects they were representative of the substantial landowners of the County, hard working and public spirited. From this stock came James Wood, presidentof our Society from 1876 to 1900, whose pre eminence in agriculture and interest in history and religion gave him an influence far beyond the borders of his own community. Though public service took much of his time, his life was deeply rooted in northern Westchester; and the land which he owned and bequeathed to his descendants is part of the tract which has now been in the possession of the Wood family more than 150 years. Mr. Howe's study is as truly a part of American social history as his biography of Jedediah Barber, pioneer merchant of up-state New York. JOHN A. KROUT, Chairman of Committee on Bibliography PREFACE These pages, far from a complete history, contain the reports of certain persons and incidents in a part of the Wood Family for twelve generations. The papers left in their Bedford homes by the brothers; Henry Wood, 1815-1903, and John Jay Wood, 1821- 1884; started this study in 1942. Gradually the field was widened. Source material was found in the Parish Registers of Yorkshire, the colonial histories of New England and Long Island, the Loyalist documents of Nova Scotia and the Westchester County public records. Many members of the family have loaned documents and reported traditions. Of special help, in addition to the cousins named in the dedication, were Ruth Tallcot Chapin, Mary Romer Cornell, Frances Male Grant, Elizabeth Wood Morris, Dorothy Tallcot Rubsam, Henry Lawrence Underhill, L. Hollingsworth Wood and the Rev. Walter Augustus Wood of Amherst, Nova Scotia. Gen erously has Colonel Arthur Dean Wood shared his valuable collec tion of family data on which he has been engaged for years. His scholarly criticism was always welcome in correspondence and in the many conferences. The impress of his diligence marks the first seven chapters. In all that pertains to Westchester County, Alma Reynolds Crane, Local Historian of Mount Kisco, has contributed information garnered from her extensive research in genealogy. Conferences with her have cleared innumerable moot points and opened extended vistas. Outstanding services were rendered by the Westchester County Historical Society and Mrs. Amos Struble, the Huntington Historical Society and Mrs. Frederick E. Hall, the Records of the Religious Society of Friends and Mr. John Cox, the New York His torical Society and Miss Dorothy C. Barck and the Local History Room of the New York Public Library and Mr. Henry C. Strippel. To each and all sincere thanks are due. As far as possible the notes following each chapter give credit. But the conclusions, good or faulty, are the author's own judgments as he is solely n .. sponsible for the compilation. His daughter, Jane Eno Howe McGeary of State College, Pennsylvania, constructively criticized the last chapters and for the conscientious typing of the text he is also indebted to Eleanor Tubbs of the Mount Kisco High School faculty. If this work opens the way for a more adequate family history with its fascinating color, then will be achieved the purpose of the author. HERBERT BARBER HowE September 1, 1948 CONTENTS The Old Road 13 WESTWARD Ho 1. Yorkshire Clothiers 15 2. Restless Puritans 21 3· Long Island Yeomen 28 INDEPENDENCE 4. The Westchester Frontier 38 5. Nehemiah at Mt. Semiwaug 45 6. Samuel among the Loyalists 51 7. Nova Scotia 66 WESTCHESTER FARMERS 8. A Friendly Marriage 77 9· The Bedford Homestead 87 AMBITIOUS MERCHANTS 10. Brooklyn Experiment 101 11. Emeline and Mary Join the Family 110 12. The Eighteen Forties . 124 13. Henry and John Sell Out 141 THE FAMILY COMMUNITY 14· New Homes on the Old Farm 153 15. Civil War Days . 171 16. Lights and Shades on the Woodpile 193 17. The Trio of Cousins 214 THREE BROTHERS 18. Quaker Preacher 227 19. Presbyterian Elder 240 20. James of Braewold 260 The Twelve Generations 278 Index 281 ILLUSTRATIONS 1851 map, Sidney & Neff, West Chester County End Papers James Wood 1762-1852 Frontispiece Supplement Opposite 112 Wedding Certificate 1791 Stephen Wood 1792-1876 & Phebe Underhill Wood 1796-1855 "Tobacco, Its Culture and Use" 1865 Stephen Wood Brambleworth 1846 Evergreen Lawn 1855 and Living Room Braewold 1870 Abby Wood Underhill 1813-1896 Henry Wood 1815-1903 & Mary Jane Underhill Wood 1811-1871 Elizabeth Wood Cornell 1817-1889 Charles Wood 1819-1844 John Jay Wood 1821-1884 & Mary Lyon Wood 1823-1912 Phebe Jane Wood Talcott 1828-1904 & Richard Daniel T al- cott 1827-1880 Deed to the Bedford Farm 1809 James Wood 2nd 1839-1925 & Emily Hollingsworth Morris Wood 1841-1916 Acceptance of the Congressional Nomination 1886 James Wood 2nd Alice Wood Runyon 1845-1896 Charles Wood, D.D. 1851-1936 Stephen Wood Cornell 1854-1924 Ellen Morris Wood 1868-1900 The Second Croton Valley Meeting House 1845-1900 Presbyterian Church, 25th Anniversary, 1877 The Old Road Northward from Mount Kisco leads a road of many years stand ing1. Passing under the rocky ledges of Kisco Mountain to the vil lage boundary, where a left fork leads to Pines Bridge, the highway proceeds up a steep hill. Midway at the curve in the climb is an old unused stone watering trough while on either side are trees and hedges planted in the long ago. The atmosphere of the Old Road has been most sympathetically interpreted by a good neighbor, Kate Crichton Gredler-2 When we, who live in Bedford Town See maple leaves come drifting down, We give a thought to old John Haines Who loved their shade in country lanes. And when we pass that noble row Of giant spruces crowned with snow We see again the little hedge Friend Wood set out by highway's edge. They knew they'd never live to see This full bloom glory of each tree Left heritage of beauty rare To me, their unknown grateful heir. The plateau on the ridge commands extended views over the western hills to the Hudson Valley and beyond. Sharing this vista on the right of the highway stand three houses amid broad lawns and stately trees. The first is Brambleworth, 1846, a Gothic stone resi dence emblematic of the days when Americans were discarding the Georgian and turning backward for architectural ideals. In neigh borly proximity Cirwood, 1856, formerly known as Evergreen Lawn, of brick and stucco construction, offers its squared angles and flattened roof as reminiscent of the attempt to transplant the Italian villa in America. Still further to the north, across Wood Road lead ing to Bedford Hills, is the site of the family homestead now occu pied by Braewold, 1870, with mansard roof of the Civil War period. These homes were built by the brothers-Henry, John Jay and the second James Wood-and are in the possession of their descendants. All in all seven generations of the family have known this Bedford land. Precious as is this heritage and unique in these days of frequent changes, there is still another value of great worth to be enjoyed from the three homes on the Old Road. The Wood brothers, each in his own way, preserved th~ archives of the long and varied history of the family. Documenting the past are Bibles, letters, legends and records. Fortunate are their descendants to possess these priceless A CHRONICLE OF THE WooD FAMILY heirlooms. Woven together and supplemented by research these papers describe how an Anglo-American family lived for more than twelve generations. The vista is entrancing and throws light on the history of those years. In 1809 the Bedford Farm was acquired by the first James Wood.

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