Silas Wood
By Spessard Stone
Silas Wood, a pioneer settler of Jackson County, Florida, was a farmer and justice of the peace.
Silas Wood was born ca. 1790. On December 4, 1809, Silas married Rhoda Prudence Chapman, born ca. 1795 in Georgia. Silas and family were early settlers of Jackson County, Florida. In a memorial to Congress by citizens of Jackson County, to "renumerate the early settlers in the county," dated November 1824, Silas Wood was a signer. Silas Wood was listed as a head of household in the 1825 census of Jackson County. Enumerated with him were 3 males under 21, 1 female over 21, 2 females under 21, and 2 blacks.
On November 12, 1835, Silas made the following will:
"In the name of God, Amen. I, Silas Wood of Jackson County in the Territory of Florida, being in perfect health of body, and of sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding, Considering the certainty of death, and the uncertainty of the time thereof, and being desirous of settling my worldly affairs, and thereby be the better prepared to leave this world when it shall please God to call me hence, do therefore make and publish this my last Will & testament, in manner and form following; that is to say:____________
"First and principally, I commit my Soul into the hands of the Almighty God, and my body to the earth, to be decently buried at the discretion of my Executor hereinafter named, and after my debts and funeral charges are paid, I devise and bequeath as follows:____________
"I give and bequeath unto my beloved wife Rhoda Prudence for the space of her natural life three negroes, named Jane, Ben and Maria, and on her death, I give and bequeath the same to my Son Almerine Jackson Wood his heirs & assign____________
"I further give, divide and bequeath to my Said Son Almerine Jackson Wood all my real estate, and all interests I may have in any lands whatsoever:____________
"I give and bequeath to my daughter Artimacy Emeline Wood a negro girl name Matilda____________
"I give and bequeath to my Grand daughter Elisa Prudence Stone a mulatto girl named Sucinda____________
"I devise and bequeath all the rest and residue of my personal estate to my Son Almerine J. Wood, and my daughter Artimacy E. Wood, Said property consisting principally of horses, cattle and hogs____________
"And Lastly, I do hereby constitute and appoint my Son Almerine J. Wood to be sole Executor of this my last Will and testament, revoking and annulling all former wills by me heretofore made, ratifying and confirming this, and none other to be my last Will and testament____________
"In testimony Whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and affixed my seal this 12th day of November in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred & thirty five-
[signed] Silas Wood
"Signed, sealed published and declared
by Silas Wood the above named testator as
and for his last will and testament in the presence of us,
who at his request, in his presence, and in the presence of
each other, have subscribed our names as entrustees hereto."
"this 12 day of November 1835
"Sears Bryan
"Amos [?]
"Danl Ferguson
The will of Silas Wood was filed and recorded in the clerk's office of Jackson County, Book F, pages 449 & 450.
Silas Wood appeared on a number of early Florida documents. In a petition to Congress, dated January 1831, "to establish an arsenal at some eligible place in case of invasion ...location town of Ocheesee," Silas Wood was among the signers. On February 13, 1834 the governor's appointments for Jackson County included Justice of the Peace, Silas Wood. In a memorial to Congress seeking statehood, postmarked July 9, 1842, Jackson County, S. Wood and A. J. Wood were signers. The 1842 document was the last that this researcher was able to find Silas.
Rhoda, age 55, was enumerated with her son Almerine J. Wood in the 1850 census of Calhoun County, Florida. Rhoda Wood probably died in the 1850s.
Silas and Rhoda (Chapman) Wood had the following known children:
1. Almerine Jackson Wood, born ca. 1814, Ga.; married Mary Ann ______.
2. Caroline Wood, born ca. 1816; died ca. 1839; married about 1834 Isaac Hugh Stone.
3. Artimacy Emeline Wood, born ca. 1822; died after 1886, Altha, Calhoun Co., Fla.; married
(1) in March 1843 Sheppard Henry Stone, son of Henry Dessex Stone and Elizabeth (Hansford) Stone; (2) ca. 1850 George Franklin Stone, son of Henry Dessex Stone and Elizabeth (Hansford) Stone;
(3) 1857 George W. Davis; (4) 28 May 1865 in Jackson Co., Fla. George W. Davis; (5) 1 July 1886 in Calhoun Co., Fla. Willis Harris.
Acknowledgments: Most of the data in this sketch was courtesy of Dewey E. Stone. See also Clarence Edwin Carter, The Territorial Papers of the United States The Territory of Florida, Vol. XXIII, 1824-1828, 1958, Vol. XXVI, 1839-1845.
19 June 2002, 11 September 2009
