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The Wood family of Long
Island
Quoted from "The
Footsteps
of Wood," by Peter Wood.
"The
march
of time. In our veins runs the blood of the Aryans, Celts
and Goths. We are part of the Germanic Race. We are Anglo-Saxons
Jutes
and Vikings. Two of the Wode family were killed at the Battle of
Hastings in 1066. Mattham was the Great grandfather of Jesus and
his
trade name was Wood. Saint
Don Bosco (Wood) was born at Becchi near Turin. On the 14th of
May 1607
Jamestown was founded and Captain Thomas Wode and the farmer
Thomas
Wood
with his family were among the "FIRST Original Founding Fathers
of
America
in Virginia, and the first representative assembly was held at
Jamestown.
The pilgrim fathers who in 1620 founded the Plymouth Colony were
at
first
imprisoned in the Guildhall at Boston in England in 1607.The
Surname of
Wood is the Thirteenth most Popular in Great Britain,"Scotland's
Finest
Admiral Sir Andrew Wood" His Motto { TUTUS IN UNDIS }."
For
some additional information visit "The
Footsteps
Of Wood", (the family of Wode, Wood, Holz, Bosco, Bois
and Madera
of the World) . The page is presented by Peter Wood
of
the UK. He states, "his research is to aid those wishing to
discover
their former tribes and forefathers."
Information
submitted
by
Rebecca Walch
17 May 2005 <walchfamilyut@comcast.net> -
information
for
you regarding Peter Wood, the son of Samuel and Amy Brundage
Wood.
Source:
The
book
"American Revolutionary History in North Castle" by Harry E.
Sandford, Editor and Michael J.
Kern, PhD., Associate Editor, published by The North Castle
Bicentennial
Committee in collaboration with The North Castle Historical
Society of
the Town of North Castle, New York, 1976.
Pages
10-11
One
of
the most remarkable of the Tory
leaders in North Castle's West Patent was Samuel Wood.
His
biography,
so
well told by Herbert Barber Howe in his book on the Wood
family, supplies much information and background about the
struggle
between
Patriots and Tories in northern Westchester County.
It is summarized here - Samuel Wood, son of James Wood Sr., was
born about 1729. As a young man he settled in the West
Patent,
about two miles from the mouth of the Croton River. He was
a
cooper
and prospered greatly at his trade. Because his shop was
strategically located near the Croton-Hudon River water route to
New
York City he had access to larger markets than those in nearby
Sing
Sing Landing or the localities
of Chappaqua and North Castle. He possess a fine house,
barns, a
shop for the manufacture of his barrels, orchards and farm
animals, and
a boat to carry his wares to market. All went well for him
until
the Revolutionary War.
Wood
could
not bring himself to take seriously the end of the regin of
King George
III over the colonies. He was prosperous and satisfied
with the
status quo. He refused to sign the Whig Articles of
Association,
or to attend their meeting and militia drills. On the
other hand,
shrewd merchant that he was, he did not openly express his Tory
sympathies
until the British warship "Asia" anchored nearby in the North
River.
Emboldened by the British presence, he declared his Tory
sympathies
and,
throughout June of 1775, transported nearly one hundred to New
York
City
to enlist in the British Army. However, Wood did not
reckon on
the retaliation which would be taken upon him by his Patriot
neighbors.
His boat was destroyed and he was forced into the hills form
which he
and a group of loyalist companions made raids on the
rebels. He
eventually fled to Long Island, where he served in the Queen's
Rangers
under Colonel Robert Rogers. He return ed to Westchester
County
in 1776, was captured by the rebels during a raid, and spent six
months
as a prisoner. He petitioned for pardon, which was
granted, and
for
a time pretended sympathy with the Patriot cause, while in fact
he was
engaged in espionage for the British. He was again
arrested and
confined
in the Poughkeepsie goal for seven months. When he was
paroled,
he found his farm gone, his family turned off the place, and a
Whig
family
living there.
The
loss
of his property and the disruption of his family embittered
Samuel Wood beyond all description. He absorbed himself
completely in the War. He joined the Westchester Loyalists
under
Col. De Lancey and continued
with them until the end of the War. He then proceeded to
plunder
and ravage the Westchester countyside of his former neighbors.
At
the
end of
the War, Samuel was a man without a country, and embarked for
the
Canadian
Maritime Provinces with his son Peter.
They
settled
in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. Interestingly, he was
handsomely rewarded by the Crown, presumably for his superior
espionage
service during
the War. Nonetheless, he was a grim, bitter man engaged in
his
own
thoughts, lamenting his thwarted ambitions.
About
six
years later, Samuel returned briefly to North Castle to
persuade his wife
and younger children to return to Canada with him. To his
bitter
disappointment, Amy Brundage Wood refused to go, and he was
forced to
return to Nova Scotia without her. He died a broken man in
1816,
and was buried near his home on the Maccan River.
Peter
Wood,
the son of Samuel, was a sergeant in the Queen's
Rangers
throughout the War. He accompanied his father to Canada
and
settled
in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, where he developed a large
farm and
engaged
in timbering. He became a prosperous leading citizen, held
many
town offices, served an an official of the Baptist Church, and
was well
known
locally as an outstanding horseman. He married
Mary
Coates
and fathered eleven children. In
appearance he
was
tall, erect, and had a military bearing; family tradition says
he never
repeated a command, and he never spoke a word about his service
in the
Queen's
Rangers. He died in 1835 and was buried
beside
his
father. Thus the loyal son rests beside his father, who
was loyal
to his sovereign.
Source:
The
book
"Loyalists in the Southern Campaign, Volume II" by Murtie June
Clark, published 1981.
Page
420
Muster
roll
of Captain Robert McCrea's
Company, Queen's Rangers, J. Graves Simcoe, Lieut. Colonel
Commandant,
from
25 August to 24 October 1779. Nr 24 - Private - Wood,
Peter
Page
421
Muster
roll
of Captain Robert McCrea's
Company, Queen's Rangers, J. Graves Simcoe, Esquire, Lieut
Colonel
Commandant,
from 25 October 1779 to 24 December 1779 Nr 31 - Private - Wood,
Peter
-
prisoner with rebels
http://www.royalprovincial.com/military/musters/qarng/qarmccrea1.htm
(also in Clark's book)
Muster
roll
of Capt. Robert. McCrea's Company Queens Rangers J. Graves
Simcoe
Esqr. Lt. Colo. Commandant from 25th
December 1779 to 23rd February 1780 Inclusive- Peter Wood -
Return'd
from the Rebels 1 Feby. 1780
Several
other
men
that I know were from North Castle are also on the muster
rolls.
Peter Wood said in a statement that he "wnt over to Long Island
(then
in possession of the British)...in the Company of the aforesaid
William
Underhill...That all the said persons enlisted in Roger's
Rangers..."
Robert
Rogers
was the first leader of the Rangers that became known as the
Queen's Rangers.
Just
a
fun
historical note: Robert McCrea's sister Jane was the
Jane McCrea who was killed by Indians who were working for the
British;
caused a huge uproar that the British didn't avenge her
murder.
Her fiance was a Loyalist.