Andrew Woods (1722-1781), of Scots-Irish descent, settled in the frontier region of Pennsylvania in the early 18th century, but emigrated to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where he and his family were soon accepted among the local gentry. Throughout his life, Woods took a deep interest in his ever-growing family and community. He and his wife, Martha Poage (1728-1818), whom he married in 1750, raised six children, and at the same time, he contracted with his siblings Archibald (b. 1716) and Martha (b. 1720), to care for their mother and provide for her until death. In public life, Woods was commissioned by Patrick Henry to serve as sheriff of Botetourt County on October 18, 1777, serving for three years as a collector of taxes and fees and representative of order.

The youngest of Andrew and Martha's children, Archibald (1764-1846), extended the prominence of the family in the social and political circles of western Virginia. Born and raised in Albermarle Country, Va., Archibald enlisted in the Virginia Militia at the age of only 16, and was under the command of Gen. William Campbell at Yorktown when he was wounded. At the war's end in 1783, he two of his brothers followed their father's pioneering ways and emigrated to the Ohio Valley, a region then unsettled by whites that stretched to the Monongahela River and included parts of what today is West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Having received warrants for several thousand acres in the Ohio Valley in remuneration for his service in the war, Archibald, like many of his fellow veterans, availed himself of the lucrative opportunity to speculate in "western" lands, a business in which he was eminently successful. Over several years, he occupied himself in surveying and purveying lands in the Ohio Valley, and in the process, he accrued a very substantial estate.

Still only 22 in 1788, Archibald was sent as a representative to the U.S. Constitutional convention in Richmond, and for twenty years thereafter, he was president of the Northwestern Bank of Virginia and of the County Court of Ohio County. Despite his other activities, Archibald never flagged in his commitment to the military. In 1809, he was commissioned as Colonel of the 4th Virginia Regiment, and remained on duty until the end of the War of 1812.

In 1787, Archibald built the first wing of "Woodsdale," a home on Homestead Lane near Wheeling, W.Va., that would remain the family seat for over 160 years. Plans from 1815-1816 reveal a modest home consisting of "a frame house 26 feet by 34 in the clear two stories high..." It was here that Archibald Woods brought his bride, Anne Poage, in 1789 to live and raise a family, and succeeding generations added their own touches, extending the house and grounds. Archibald's son John J. (b. 1807) continued farming the land, and following his marriage to Ruth H. Jacob in 1848, began raising his own family on the John J. Woods Home Farm. In 1891, Ruth and her children ceded a portion of the original property to establish Woodsdale Park, and in 1897, John's heirs further subdivided the estate. Still, one of John's sons, Archibald (d. 1912), managed to continue the operation of the farm, and even after his untimely death in 1912, his wife, Rebecca, remained there to raise her three daughters.

With the steady growth of the small communities around Woodsdale in the late 19th century, by 1919, the Home Farm had become completely engulfed by the city of Wheeling. Prior to the marriage of Archibald and Rebecca in 1905, several parcels had been sold as building lots for residential purposes. The Woodsdale Children's Home, along with several private residences were built on portions of the Home Farm between the 1890s and 1910s. The original homestead was torn down in 1949, though the entrance and the streets bearing the names of early settlers remain.

Scope and contents:

The Woods Family Papers chronicle the establishment of an important family in western Virginia during the 18th and early 19th centuries. While the bulk of the collection pertains to Archibald Woods' (1764-1846) activities as a surveyor and land speculator in Ohio County, the collection also contains several letters from later generations of the family, and documents relating to military and public affairs. A series of land surveys of the Ohio Valley, prepared by Archibald Woods, has been arranged and placed at the end of the collection.

The most important individual document in the collection is a petition relating to the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798. Addressed to the Senate and House of Representatives of Virginia from the citizens of Ohio County, the petition includes thirty nine signatures protesting the Acts. The signers expressed their concern regarding what they saw as a violation of the Constitution, and asserted that the acts were a "serious cause of alarm" for the citizens of Ohio County, whom, they noted, continued to adhere to the Democratic principles of the American Revolution.

During the time that Andrew Woods served as sheriff of Botetourt County, 1777-1780, he kept a small, deerskin-bound notebook that presents an important picture of his activities. Two interesting threads emerge from this notebook. First, Woods kept receipts and notes regarding the collection of taxes and fees, providing some elusive details on the activities of a rural sheriff in Virginia during the Revolutionary years. Secondly, Woods also kept sporadic records of family business, unrelated to his public activities. Included are a copy of the contract for the care of his mother and arrangements for the purchase of a slave for Elijah Woods. The contract specifies that Woods agreed to provide clothing, food, and shelter and, if his mother chose "to go back over the mountains," to provide a slave to care for her. In an addendum, he commanded his heirs to fulfill the contract if case of his death.

Over fifty surveys and treasury warrants document Archibald Woods' importance as a surveyor and land speculator in the Ohio River Valley. Many of these can be positively traced to land that today lies in the state of West Virginia, mostly in the panhandle, but, Woods owned property throughout Ohio County, which then included parts of Ohio and a corner of Pennsylvania. A contemporary range and township map assists in situating Woods' land holdings.

Seven printed orders, each unique, or nearly unique, include information about troop recruitment and deployment during the War of 1812, and about demobilization at the end of the war. Among other documents in the collection are Archibald Woods' commissions and resignations.

There is little true correspondence in the Woods Family Papers, although one item, a letter from Joe Woods, is of some interest. In this letter written to his mother, Woods summarizes his reasons for transferring to Princeton, assuring her of his sound character and his decision.

Finally, the collection contains useful information about the Woods family estate, Woodsdale. Three documents from 1815-1816 provide floor plans and a record of construction costs, and there are two copy photographs of the house as it stood before its demolition in 1949. In 1976-77, Ruth Moss described the physical layout of the home and grounds as she recalled them, as well as her memories of life at Woodsdale in the early part of the century.

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the Clements Library in 1994 by Charles J. Moss in honor of his mother, Ruth, who lived at Woodsdale in Wheeling, W.Va.

Separation report:

Fifteen cartes de visite have been transferred to the Photographs Division (C.3.8.1-15). Eight of these were taken in Wheeling, W. Va., with others taken in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Printed orders and documents from the period of the War of 1812 are cross-catalogued in the Book Division.

M-3191
Cat. 4/96 mlj

Subject index to the Woods Family Papers

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