Woodson Surname

John Woodson was born circa 1585 in England. He died on April 18, 1644 in Virginia.

He is said to have married Sarah Winston in about 1618 while they were living in England. John emigrated from England to Virginia in the year 1619 with his wife Sarah. They traveled aboard the ship named “George” and were fellow passengers of Governor Sir George Yeardley and his wife. They had three known children: Robert (see next generation), John, and Deborah. John settled with his family at Fleur de Hundred on the James River in Virginia. Tradition indicates that John was murdered by Indians on April 18, 1644. John’s widow afterwards married to a Mr. Dunwell and then a Mr. Johnson. Sarah died before 1660/1.

They had at 3 known children:

1	Robert Woodson
2	John Woodson
3	Deborah Woodson

Robert Woodson was born about 1634, probably at what is now Prince Edward County, Virginia. He died after October 1, 1707.

Father: John Woodson
Mother: Sarah Winston

Robert moved to Henrico County, Virginia, and there married Elizabeth Ferris in about 1652. They had nine known children: John, Robert, Richard (see next generation), Joseph, Benjamin, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Judith. Robert was a farmer and owned a considerable amount of property in Henrico County, Virginia. He died after October 1, 1707.

They had nine known children:

1	Richard Woodson
2	John Woodson
3	Robert Woodson
4	Joseph Woodson
5	Benjamin Woodson
6	Sarah Woodson
7	Elizabeth Woodson
8	Mary Woodson
9	Judith Woodson

Richard Woodson was born circa 1666, probably in Henrico County, Virginia. He is said to have died in 1729 in Henrico Co., Virginia.

Father: Robert Woodson
Mother: Elizabeth Ferris

Richard was probably married to Ann Smith in the late 1690’s (she was either the daughter or sister of Obadiah Smith). They lived at Curles, in Henrico County, Virginia. They had six known children: Richard, Agnes, Obadiah (see next generation), Judith, Mary, and Elizabeth. Richard is said to have died in 1729 in Henrico County, Virginia.

They had six known children:

1	Richard Woodson
2	Agnes Woodson
3	Obadiah Woodson
4	Judith Woodson
5	Mary Woodson
6	Elizabeth Woodson

Obadiah Woodson was born circa 1712 in Henrico County, Virginia. He died after September 1766 in Prince Edward Co., Virginia.

Father: Richard Woodson
Mother: Ann Smith

Obadiah married Constant Watkins, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Watkins, in about 1734 in Prince Edward County, Virginia. Obadiah and Constant had at least seven children: David, Richard, Obadiah, Judith, Jacob, Daniel (see next generation), and Charles. They eventually settled at Prince Edward County, Virginia. Obadiah died probably soon after writing his will in September 1766. His widow Constant died before November 1773.

They had at least seven children:

1	David Woodson was born circa 1735.
2	Richard Woodson was born circa 1737.
3	Obadiah Woodson was born circa 1739.
4	Judith Woodson was born circa 1743.
5	Jacob Woodson was born on May 11, 1748.
6	Daniel Woodson
7	Charles Woodson was born circa 1754.

Daniel Woodson was born circa 1752 in Prince Edward County, Virginia. He died in 1807 or 1808 in Prince Edward Co., Virginia.

Father: Obadiah Woodson
Mother: Constant Watkins

He was married to Elizabeth Jones in about 1775 in Prince Edward County. Daniel and Elizabeth had ten children: Charles, Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Obadiah, Martha (see next generation), Richard, Nancy, Miller, and Caroline. Daniel continued to live in Prince Edward County, Virginia, where he died in 1807 or 1808. Afterwards, his wife and most of his children moved out west to Christian County, Kentucky.

They had the following children:

1	Charles Woodson was born circa 1778.
2	Mary Woodson was born circa 1782. She married Mr. Glover and to Ambrose Davie.
3	Elizabeth Woodson was born on March 9, 1784 in Virginia. She died on July 21, 1839 in Christian Co., Kentucky. She married first John Epperson on March 22, 1799 in Virginia. She married second Clairborne West in 1808 in Buckingham Co., Virginia. She married third Ambrose Davie in 1823 in Kentucky.
4	Sarah D. Woodson was born on September 4, 1786 in Buckingham Co., Virginia. She died on November 12, 1842 in East Hamilton, Shelby Co., Texas. She married Robert Sanders.
5	Obadiah Woodson was born on April 16, 1792 in Prince Edward Co., Virginia. He died on April 16, 1825 in Christian Co., Kentucky. He married Judith Ann Jones in about 1813 in Buckingham Co., Virginia.
6	Martha Michaux Woodson
7	Richard Vinson Woodson was born on December 27, 1797. He married Jane Walters.
8	Nancy Ann Woodson was born in about 1800 in Virginia. She died before 1850 in Lafayette Co., Arkansas. She married Thomas West on October 2, 1817 in Christian Co., Kentucky.
9	Miller Woodson was born on February 14, 1803.
10	Caroline M. Woodson was born in about 1805 in Virginia and died in Kentucky. She married John Sangster.

Martha Michaux Woodson was born on September 7, 1795 in Prince Edward County, Virginia ². She died on November 16 ³, on December 6 ^1,5 or in December ⁶, 1859 in Montgomery Co., Tennessee. She is buried in the Harris-Fletcher Cemetery, Oak Grove, Christian Co., Kentucky.

Father: Daniel Woodson
Mother: Elizabeth Jones

Martha was named after someone in the Michaux family, who were related by marriage. Martha was raised in Prince Edward County and went by the pet name “Patsy.” On February 25, 1809 in Prince Edward County, Virginia, Martha was married to Anthony D. Jones. At the time of the marriage, Martha was 13 years old and Anthony was 28. After the marriage, Martha went to go live with her husband in Buckingham County, Virginia. Sometime during the 1810s, there was an exodus of the family from Virginia into Kentucky. The exact date of the move is unknown, but it occurred sometime between 1815 and 1820. The family settled on large farms in southern Christian County, Kentucky, close to the border with Montgomery County, Tennessee.

Martha and Anthony were wealthy slave owners and farmers in Christian County. On August 7, 1824, Martha’s husband Anthony died at the age of 43. Martha was then a 28-year old widow and continued living in Christian County and did not remarry right away. Nearly ten years later, in 1831, Martha was married to Archibald D. Fletcher. While Martha’s first husband was fifteen years older than her, her second husband Archibald was seventeen years younger than her. In fact, he was the same age as her oldest son. There were no children born to this second marriage. Archibald and Martha continued living in Christian County, probably on the same farm that Martha lived on with her first husband. Martha died from paralysis [stroke] in November or December 1859, at the age of 64. It is also not clear whether she died in Montgomery County, Tennessee (according to her obituary) or in Christian County, Kentucky (according to the census mortality schedule). She was afterwards buried beside her first husband on the family farm (Harris-Fletcher Cemetery in Christian Co., Kentucky). Two years later, Archibald remarried to Madora M. Brodie (the sister-in-law of Martha’s son Thomas Jones), and he died the following year.

Martha was a member of the Methodist Church for most of her life. According to her obituary, she had a strong personality. She was "a woman of strong mind, of kind heart, and of great energy of character. She saw clearly, decided firmly, and acted promptly in all duties of life." Another passage seems to infer that she had an independent spirit and voiced opposing opinions: "A Christian from principle, she was always in action if not in feeling, religious. She followed the convictions of her mind." Although we have no known images of Martha, we know that she had a portrait painted of her. When her second husband wrote his will in 1862, he bequeathed a portrait of Martha to her son Joseph Jones. It is not known what happened to this portrait.

For further information on their children, see his page.

They had no children.

1. Cemetery index, Harris-Fletcher Cemetery, Christian Co., Kentucky
2. International Genealogical Index
3. Obituary of Martha M. Fletcher, Nashville Christian Advocate, April 12, 1860
4. Virginia Marriages, 1740-1850, Ancestry.com
5. Tombstone inscriptions, Harris-Fletcher Cemetery, Christian Co., Kentucky.
6. 1860 Census Mortality Schedule, Christian Co., KY.

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