Rob's Genealogy

Person Page 674

Robert Woodson1,2,3,4,5

born 1634, died 1707
  • Father: John Woodson (born 1586, died 18 April 1644)
  • Mother: Sarah Winston (born between 1590 and 1595, died 17 January 1659)

Family: Elizabeth Ferris (born 1638, died 1689)

Facts and Notes

  • Anecdote: See person note below6
  • Title: Colonel6
  • Birth: 1634; Flowerdew Hundred, Prince George County, Virginia, USABG6,2,3,4,5
  • Marriage: About 1656; Elizabeth Ferris; Curles Plantation, Henrico County, Virginia, USABG6,4,5,7,8
  • Death: 1707; Varina Parish, Henrico County, Virginia, USABG; Age: 733,6,4
  • Death: 1716; Henrico County, Virginia, USABGO1
  • Note: Henry Morton Woodson wrote the following in the Historical Genealogy of the Woodson and Their Connections:
    "It was here [Fleur de Hundred] that the family lived at the time of the massacre by the Indians on the 18th of April, 1644, when Robert and his elder brother John were saved by being thrust into a pit made for the purpose of keeping potatoes; from which circumstance their descendants, for several generations bore the sobriquet of "Potato Hole Woodsons."
    It was here that the family lived at the time of the massacre by the Indians on the 18th of April, 1644, when Robert and his elder brother John were saved by being thrust into a pit made for the purpose of keeping potatoes; from which circumstance their descendants, for several generations bore the sobriquet of "Potato Hole Woodsons."
    From this time nothing is definitely known of Robert and his brother John until 1679 when both of them are enumerated among the "tithables" at Curles, a plantation on the north side of James River in Henrico county, a short distance above Fleur de hundred. This place, later, became noted as the seat of the Randolph family. At an early age, possibly about the year 1656, Robert Woodson married Elizabeth Ferris, daughter of Richard Ferris of Curies. "She was descended from an ancient Norman family, Henri de Ferriers of Gascony. In American Ancestry, vol. VII, is the following statement; 'The Ferris family was originally from Leicestershire, England, descended from Henri de Ferriers, son of Gwalchelme de Ferriers, Master of Horse to the Duke of Normandy.'"
    "There is a grant of 1785 acres of land October 21, 1687, to Mr. Robert Woodson, Mr. Richard Ferris, Mr. Giles Carter, William Ferris,and Roger Comins, at White Oak Swamp, on the north side of the James River, in the parish of Varina. Robert Woodson, in 1707, made a deed to his grandsons, William Lewis, Jr. and Joseph Lewis." (Wm. & Mary Qtly., V. IX, p. 255.) The date of his death is not known, but it was shortly after making this deed, as he was about seventy-three years old at that time. It is not positively known what public service he rendered the colony but living as he did, at a time when every man had to bear his share of the public burden, it is confidently believed that, as a citizen and a member of the colony, he was faithful in the performance of his duty, as his descendants have ever been. In some publications he is frequently spoken of as Colonel Robert Woodson. If he held the military rank of colonel, it was of course by authority of the British government, as the entire colony was under British control at that time."

Citations

  1. [S463] Edmund West, comp., Family Data Collection - Deaths, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=genepoold&h=2914720&indiv=try, Record for Col Robert Woodson
  2. [S461] Edmund West, comp., Family Data Collection - Births, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=genepoolb&h=4992012&indiv=try, Record for Col Robert Woodson
  3. [S494] Edmund West, comp., Family Data Collection - Individual Records, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=genepool&h=4954587&indiv=try, Birth year: 1634; Birth city: Piersey S Hundred; Birth state: VA, Record for Robert Woodson
  4. [S448] Ancestry.com, U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=FindAGraveUS&h=118410724&indiv=try, Record for Col Robert Woodson Sr
  5. [S425] Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=WorldMarr_ga&h=1358463&indiv=try, Source number: 8811.103; Source type: Family group sheet, FGSE, listed as parents; Number of Pages: 1, Record for Robert Woodson
  6. [S454] Woodson, Henry Morton, Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and Their Connections, Woodson, Henry Morton. Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and Their Connections. Memphis, Tennessee: H.M. Woodson, 1915.

    A copy of this book is available on Ancestry.com (see http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=15304), openlibrary.org (see https://openlibrary.org/books/OL1758627M/Historical_genealogy_of_the_Woodsons_and_their_connections), and Google Books (see http://books.google.com/books/about/Historical_genealogy_of_the_Woodsons_and.html?id=GuhfAAAAMAAJ)., Page 23-24
  7. [S679] Ancestry.com, Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=FindAGraveGlobal&h=2433038&indiv=try, Record for Elizabeth Woodson
  8. [S782] E. Stuart Gregg, Jr., A Crane’s Foot, https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/576361, pg. 346