Matthew Wood

Male, #43214, (29 Jul 1791 - 20 Oct 1855)

Birth*29 Jul 1791 Matthew was born at Georgia on 29 Jul 1791. 
Marriage*1808 He married Hannah Payne at Georgia in 1808. 
Relocation1837 Elizabeth Dupree, Hannah Payne and Matthew Wood was an accompanying familiy member in the relocation of Daniel Payne in 1837 at Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. 
Event-Misc1839 Daniel Payne and his son-in-law, Needham Bryan, as well as Matthew Wood, and his two sons-in-laws, John Taylor & William Cleaton Carr, were all instrumental in forming Union Parish from Ouachita Parish in 1839. The records of Union Parish are replete with their names in this endeavor. 
1840 Census*1 Jun 1840 Matthew was listed as the head of a family on the 1840 Census on 1 Jun 1840 at Union Parish, Louisiana.
((1M15-19, 1M40-49, 1F15-19, 1F40-49)).1 
Death*20 Oct 1855 He died at Louisiana on 20 Oct 1855. 
Burial*after 20 Oct 1855 His body was interred after 20 Oct 1855 at John Stowe Cemetery, Lincoln Parish, Louisiana. 
Biography* Colonel Matthew Wood was extremely influential in the early affairs of the parish. He married Hannah Payne and was a tavern keeper in Fort Dale, northwestern Butler County Alabama between about 1818 and the early 1830s. He was elected colonel of the Butler County militia in 1823. In the early 1830s, he moved from Fort Dale into southern Lowndes County (just north of Butler). In early 1835, he traveled to north Louisiana and bought land in what is now Union Parish. He remained there that year, and in December 1835 again purchased land. About three weeks later, he had returned to Lowndes County, sold his plantation there, and led a large group of Butler & Lowndes County settlers to north Louisiana. This is the first known migration of a large group of Alabama settlers into what is now Union Parish. They settled along Bayou D'Loutrein eastern Union Parish. Wood later served as the first president of the Union Parish Police Jury. His son-in-law John Taylor was the first parish judge, and son-in-law William Cleaton Carr was the first sheriff.
     On 19 December 1817, the Georgia Legislature changed the following names and legitimatized these children of Matthew Wood [Paine should be Payne]:
          Jane Paine to Jane Wood
          Samuel Paine to Samuel Wood
          Thompson Paine to Thompson Wood
          Willis Paine to Willis Wood
     Matthew Wood was married to another woman in Georgia, and about 1812 he went to south Louisiana with Daniel Payne. I've been told that he returned to Georgia about 1815, divorced his first wife, then married Hannah Payne (sister of Daniel), who had borne him the four children named above. The Georgia legislature then legally changed the children's names from "Payne" to "Wood".... For the Georgia Legislature to take this action, he undoubtedly went before them and declared he was their father....
     Jane Wood (formerly Payne) married Union Parish Judge John Taylor in Alabama and moved with her father to what is now Union Parish in February 1837. She was buried in the Taylor/Liberty Hill Cemetery. The other Woods lived in Union, Lincoln, and Claiborne Parishes.2 

Family

Hannah Payne (17 May 1791 - 9 Feb 1864)

Last Edited 10 Mar 2006

Citations

  1. 1840 Federal Census, United States.
    Union Co., LA, Unknown Townships, page 345, Ancestry.com image 15.
  2. "Legitimatization of children of Colonel Matthew Wood". Excerpts of a message posted on 10 Mar 2004 to e-mail address by Timothy Hudson, e-mail address.