From VALLEY OF THE UPPER MAUMEE and ANNALS OF THE TOWNSHIPS

Reprint of 1887 edition, published by Brant and Fuller, Madison, Wisc.

ALBERT WOOD (deceased), an early settler, was a native of Jefferson county, New York, born in 1810.  He was raised in his native state until 1833, when he emigrated and settled in Allen county.  In the same year he was united in marriage with NANCY, daughter of EPHRAIM and ABIGAIL (BALL) DUNTEN, and this union was blessed with 12 children, seven of whom are now living: 

MARY J., who is the first white child born in Perry township

JOHN W., RICHARD F., OSCAR D., COMMODORE, WILLIAM and LUCY

Mr. Wood departed this life in February, 1878.  Mrs. Wood, who was born in Jefferson county, New York, in 1817, is still enjoying the comforts of a peaceful life.  She is a member of the Universalist church.  Mr. Wood was not a member of any church, but was a friend and supporter of such organizations.  Though beginning married life with little, he left his family 110 acres of fine farming land in Perry Township, which was well improved.  He was a leading citizen of his day and was highly respected. 

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From B. J. Griswold, THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, and THE STORY OF THE TOWNSHIPS OF ALLEN COUNTY, by Mrs. Samuel R. Taylor, Chicago, Robert O. Law Company, 1917

 MRS. MARY JANE BEARDSLEY, nee WOOD, the first while child born in Perry, still resides in Huntertown.  Her faculties at the age of 83 are still unimpaired and active in mind and body "the youngest old lady in town".  The "Opening" at the Huntertown site is thus explained by MRS. BEARDSLEY, who learned of it from the Indians in her childhood.  Lying north and south of a slight eminence of Huntertown, which once was forest, also were two muck prairies both of which took fire in some very dry season, and burned until they reached the edges of the forest, destroying the timber before it burned itself out.  The opening, as has been stated was included in the land purchased by Mr. Hunter, whether in a mood of prophecy or no, we cannot tell.  When the town was finally platted in 1869, a village already existed, in effect, so close was the settlement in that spot.  Many of the homes in Huntertown are preserved from settlement days, remodeled or rebuilt upon the same site as those of their forefathers.  The building of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad was the opportunity which crystallized the rural community into an organized town.  Forty-five town lots were sold in a day, after the plat was opened, an auspicious beginning for the new shipping point.          

MRS. BEARDSLEY was born while her parents were still partially sheltered in the "prairie schooner" which had brought them and their furnishings to the settlement, many of these vehicles being the nearest approach to civilized luxury attainable in those days.  She related several particulars which are enlightening in the study of the development of the locality.  The Indians, generally friendly, were familiar visitors at the white cabins, asking not only for food but fire water.  If the settler's family had what was asked for, they gave it.  Indeed, the Indian never accepted a refusal.  If the cabin, as commonly happened in Perry anyway, contained no fire water, the only way to maintain peace was to invite the Indian in and allow him to search the premises for himself.  If he found what he wanted he took it and if not, he kept his good temper.  MRS. BEARDSLEY has watched the prairie schooner drawn by oxen, and the saddlebags method of transportation give way in succession to the spring wagon with its span or horses, the old-fashioned "high buggy", the stage coach (some of elegance in its day), the railroad, with its only passenger accommodation, the "caboose", then the modern passenger trains, and now the electric cars, and the automobile, the latest cry of progress, and she quaintly gauges the advance of Perry township by these epoch-making changes.  

MRS. MARY J. BEARDSLEY

The Griswold-Phelps handbook and guide to Fort Wayne, Indiana, for 1913-1914

Compiled by B. J. Griswold

It is especially gratifying to present in this history a brief review of the life record of this venerable and revered native daughter of Allen County, who is a representative of one of the best known and most honored pioneer families of the county, her parents having here established their home more than four score years ago.   MRS. BEARDSLEY celebrated in November, 1916, the 83^rd anniversary of her birth, and as she has lived in Allen County all her life it may well be understood that her memory forms an indissoluble link between the pioneer past and the twentieth century of opulent prosperity and progress in this section of the Hoosier state.   MRS. MARY JANE (WOOD) BEARDSLEY has the distinction of having been the first white child born in Perry township, this county, and the time of nativity was November, 1833.   She is the daughter of ALBERT and NANCY (DUNTON) WOOD, both of whom were born and reared in Jefferson County, New York, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they soon afterward, in 1833, came to Indiana and numbered themselves among the very first settlers in the wilds of what is now Perry township, Allen County, where the father set to himself the Herculean task of reclaiming a farm from the forest.   Of the 12 children, MRS. BEARDSLEY, was the first-born, and in the year that marked the establishing of the new home in Allen County she here gained the prestige of being the first white child born in Perry township, as previously noted.  Of the other 11 children, all likewise natives of this county, one died in infancy, and the names of the others are here indicated in their respective order of birth:

JOHN WESLEY, RICHARD FREEMAN, AMOS MASON, OSCAR B., JULIA, ETTA, LUCY, COMMODORE, WILLIAM and CHARLES.   Besides Mrs. Beardsley only four others of the children are living at the opening of the year 1917 – RICHARD F., who is now a resident of the state of Kansas, where he has been for many years a prosperous farmer;  OSCAR B., who resides at Monroe, Grant County, Indiana;  LUCY, who is the wife of HENRY McCARTHY, of Columbia City, Whitley County, Indiana;  and WILLIAM, who owns and resides upon his father’s old homestead farm in Perry township, one mile west of Huntertown.

WILLIAM WOOD is one of the extensive landholders of Allen County is is one of the substantial and representative citizens of his native township.   He has 5 sons, 2 of whom are successful teachers in the public schools. 

ALBERT WOOD, father of the gracious pioneer woman to whom this sketch is dedicated, reclaimed much of his land to cultivation and was influential in community affairs during the entire period of his 60 years of age, and his wife attained to a remarkable age of 90 years.   He left to his widow and children the old homestead of 110 acres and a part of the tract which he originally obtained from the government is now owned by HENRY N. WILLIAMS of Fort Wayne.   MARY JANE WOOD was reared under the conditions and influences of the pioneer days and acquired her early education in the old time log schoolhouse, the while she gave active assistance in the domestic activities of the modest but happy pioneer home.   In 1849, at Huntertown, was solemnized her marriage to JAMES OLIVER BEARDSLEY, and he was 56 years of age at the time of his death, in 1878.   During all of the long years from the time of her marriage to the present Mrs. Beardsley has lived continuously in Huntertown, save for a period of one year which she passed at Auburn, DeKalb County.  

Under the administration of President Grant, her husband served 2 terms as postmaster at Huntertown, and for a time he held the position of deputy postmaster, besides giving effective service also as a justice of the peace.   Mr. Beardsley was a citizen of sterling character and marked ability, and he ever commanded the unqualified confidence and esteem of his fellow men.   His political allegiance was given to the Republican party,  he was a Master Mason, and was an earnest member of the Universalist church, as is also his widow, who owns and resides in one of the attractive homes of Huntertown and who is surrounded by a host of loyal and appreciative friends who accord to her the most sincere affection.   Physical disability prevented Mr. Beardsley from serving as a soldier during the Civil War, but he supported the Union cause to the fullest extent of his ability, besides having paid for a substitute for one of his friends who had been called to the Union service but whose circumstances were such as to make it almost impossible for him to leave home.   Mr. and Mrs. Beardsley became the parents of no children, but lacking filial solicitude of this account, Mrs. Beardsley feels a gracious compensation in the devoted love of her many friends.    

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WOOD, CENSUS

1850 Census of Perry Township, Allen Co., IN   #2703-2715  (Mary Jane Wood)

James C. Burdsley               27 M                born NY         Laborer

Mary J. Burdsley                  17 F                 born IN

1850 Census of Perry Township, Allen Co., IN   #2795-2807

Albert Wood                          40 M                born NY         Farmer

Nancy Wood                          33 F                 born NY        

John Wood                             13 M                born IN

Freeman Wood                     11 M                born IN

Amos Wood                            9  M                born IN

Oscar Wood                            6  M                born IN

Horatio Wood                        4  M                born IN

1880 Census of Huntertown, Allen Co., IN   192 A

Mary J. Beardsley                Widow            Female, 46     born IN           Sempstress

            Both parents born NY

Lucinda Dunten                    Other              Female, 56     born NY        

1880 Census of Huntertown, Allen Co., IN   192 B

Oscar Wood                           married          male, 36          born IN           Farm Laborer

            Both parents born NY

Nancy Wood                          wife                 female, 39      born NY         Keeps house

            Both parents born NY

1880 Census of Huntertown, Allen Co., IN   192 A

Commodore Wood                married          male, 26          born IN           Farm Laborer

            Both parents born NY

Lucy Wood                             wife                 female, 24      born Ohio       Keeps house

1880 Census of Perry Township, Allen Co., IN   194 A

William Wood                       married          male, 22          born IN           Farmer

            Both parents born NY

Emma Wood                          wife                 female, 19      born IN           Keeps house

            Both parents born Ohio

Nancy Wood              Mother, widow          female, 60      born NY

1880 Census of Eureka, Jefferson Co., Nebraska   567 A

John W. Wood           Widower                    male, 42          born IN           Farmer

            Both parents born NY

Nancy L. Wood          Daughter                   female, 19      born IL          

Alice M. Wood           Daughter                   female, 17      born IN

Percy A. Wood          Other                          male, 15          born IL

John Wood                 Son                              male, 12          born IL

Stella Wood               Daughter                   female, 10      born IL

Jane E. Wood            Daughter                   female, 8        born Nebraska

Albert Wood              Son                              male, 6            born NE

Guss Wood                Son                              male, 4            born NE

Arthur J. Wood         Son                              male, 2            born NE

Freeman R. Wood     Son                              male, 7 mo.    born NE

1870 Census of Carroll City, Carrol Township, Carroll Co., Iowa     #499

1880 Census of Carroll Co., Iowa

1900 Census of Washington Township, Anderson Co., Kansas

1910 Census of Lincoln Township, Kiowa Co., Kansas

WOOD BURIALS AT PERRY TOWNSHIP CEMETERY, HUNTERTOWN, IN

OLD SECTION:

WOOD, AMOS                                  March 20, 1855          14Y

WOOD, ALBERT W.                        Feb. 6, 1878                66Y   7M  4D     Commodore

WOOD, BERTHA                             Aug. 1881                   daughter of O.D. & N.

WOOD, CHARLIE                           Feb. 24, 1863              2Y  3M  4D    

                                                            Son of A. & N.

WOOD, CHILD OF AMOS             1833    First Interment, Witness:  H.F. Dunten

WOOD, COMMODORE                  1854-1913                   Albert

WOOD, ELIZABETH                      1863-1947                   William

WOOD, EMMA  L.                           1860-Nov. 7, 1882      22Y

WOOD, HAZEL M.                          1895-1899       Same lot as Wm., Emma & Eliz.

WOOD, LUTHER S.                        Aug. 1878                   1Y  10M 

                                                            Son of O.D. & N.

WOOD, MARY                                  Sept. 30, 1875            57Y  6M  2D

WOOD, NANCY                               Aug. 12, 1881             Wife of O.D.

WOOD, O. D.                                                Name only

WOOD, WILLIAM                           1858-1934                   Elizabeth

NEW SECTION :

WOOD, GRACE M.                          Feb. 8, 1896-Dec. 29, 1979    Howard

WOOD, HOWARD C.                      Feb. 8, 1901-Feb. 6, 1970      Grace

WOOD-McCARTY, LUCY JANE   1855-1934                               John & Nancy

WOOD, MABEL A. HATCH           1874-1959                               MC Wood       O.E.S.

DESCENDANTS OF ALBERT W. WOOD

1.  Albert Wesley Wood  b: June 29, 1810 in Jefferson Co., NY  d: Feb. 6, 1878 in Perry Twp., Allen Co., IN

      married Oct. 27, 1833 in Allen Co., IN

            +  Nancy Dunten  b: Aug. 27, 1817 in Jefferson Co., NY  d:  Jan. 26, 1907 in Allen Co.,IN

                        2.  Mary Jane Wood  b: abt. 1833  (still living in 1910 census as 76 years old)   

                                    +  James Oliver Beardsley  b: abt. 1823 in NY  d:  Sept. 27, 1878, Allen Co. IN

                                                3.  May Beardsley  b: abt. 1850

                        2.  John Wesley Wood  b: June 1836 in Perry Twp., Allen Co., IN

                              d:  Sept. 1, 1900 in Ocala, Marian Co., FL, m. Dec. 25, 1859 in Wells Co.

                                    +  Maria Jane Rist  b: Jan. 17, 1842 in Montezuma, Cayuga Co., NY

                                                3.  Nancy Luella Wood  b: Nov. 10, 1860 in Willow Creek, Lee Co., IL

                                                3.  Percy Wood  b: Nov. 25, 1864 in IN   ??

                                                3.  Alice Maria Wood  b: abt. 1865 in IN

                                                3.  John E. Wood  b: June 13, 1867 in Monroe, IL

                                                3.  Estella Wood  b: Oct. 1869 in Nebraska

                                                3.  Jane Elizabeth Wood  b: Sept. 19, 1871 in Jefferson Co.,Nebraska

                                                3.  Royal Albert Wood   b: Aug. 1, 1873 in Saline Co., Nebraska

                                                3.  Guy O. Wood  b: July 14, 1875 in Saline Co., Nebraska

                                                3.  Arthur J. Wood  b: Sept. 19, 1877 in Saline Co., Nebraska

                                                3.  Freeman Wood  b: abt. 1878 in Jefferson Co., Nebraska

                            2^nd wife of John Wesley Wood, married Nov. 6, 1880 in Lincoln, Nebraska

                                    +  Martha Samantha Rist  b: Feb. 18, 1839 in Cayuga Co., NY

                        2.  Richard Freeman Wood  b: Feb. 26, 1840 in Huntertown, IN  d: Nov. 18, 1919

                               in Pratt Co., Kansas   married July 4, 1867 in Guthrie County, Iowa

                                    +  Malissa Lillian Teter   b:  Dec. 8, 1845 in Morgan Co., OH  

                                           d:  June 4, 1918 in Pratt Co. Kansas

                                                3.  Infant Dau. Wood  b: April 19, 1868  d: May 4, 1868

                                                3.  Samuel Albert Wood  b: Aug. 25, 1869 in Iowa

                                                       d: March 30, 1893 in MO  m: Sept. 10, 1891

                                                        +  Maggie Light

                                                3.  William Theobault Wood  b: May 5, 1872 in Carroll, Iowa

                                                       d:  Jan. 15, 1948 in DeQuincy, LA

                                                3.  John Mark Wood  b: Nov. 2, 1873 in Iowa  d: in Haviland, KS

                                                3.  Levi Sanford Wood  b: Aug. 15, 1875 in Iowa

                                                       d:  March 14, 1962 in Juka, Kansas

                                                3.  Freeman Elmer Wood  b: Dec. 11, 1878 in Iowa  

                                                       d:  Aug. 26, 1956 in Pratt Co., Kansas

                                                3.  George T. Wood  b:  Oct. 3, 1882  d:  After 1956

                        2.  Amos Mason Wood  b: abt. 1841 in Allen Co., IN   d: March 20, 1855

                        2.  Oscar D. Wood  b: abt. 1842 in IN, married April 19, 1866 in Allen Co., IN  

                                    +  Nancy Pulver  b: abt. 1841 in NY  d: August 12, 1881

                                                3.  Lola Wood  b: abt. 1867 in IN

                                                3.  Luther S. Wood   d: Aug. 1878

                                                3.  Bertha Wood  d: Aug. 1881

                        2.  Horatio Carter Wood  b: abt. 1846

                        2.  Nancy J. Wood  b: abt. 1849

                        2.  Commodore Wood  b: 1854 in Huntertown, Allen Co., IN  d: 1913 in Allen

                               Co., IN, married Nov. 21, 1875 in Allen Co., IN

                                    +  Lucy Sellers  b: abt. 1856 in Ohio

                              2^nd wife of Commodore Wood, married April 26, 1886 in Allen Co., IN

                                    +  Elizabeth Marrow

                        2.  Lucy J. Wood  b: Jan. 28, 1855 in Perry Twp., Allen Co., IN  d: 1934

                              married Jan. 1, 1880 in Allen Co., IN

                                    +  John Henry McCarty  b. 1855  d: 1933  

                                                3.  Arthur McCarty

                                                3.  Arlington Guy McCarty

                                                3.  Nancy Luella McCarty  b: 1866  d: April 28, 1966 (?)

                        2.  Lafayette William Wood  b: abt. 1858 in Huntertown, IN  d: 1934

                                    +  Emma L.  b: abt. 1861  d: Nov. 7, 1882

                              2^nd wife of William Wood, married Nov. 17, 1883 in Allen Co., IN

                                    +  Elizabeth A. Haney  b: 1863  d: 1947

                                                3.  Charles William Wood  b: Sept. 21, 1884 in Iowa

Descendants of Richard Freeman Wood

Generation No. 1

1.  RICHARD FREEMAN² WOOD  (ALBERT WESLEY¹) was born February 26, 1840 in Huntertown, Allen Co Indiana, and died November 18, 1919 in Pratt County, Kansas.  He married MALISSA LILLIAN TETER July 04, 1867 in Guthrie Co. Iowa, daughter of SAMUEL TETER and MARY KUNTZ.  She was born December 08, 1845 in Morgan Co. Ohio, and died June 04, 1918 in Pratt Co. KS.

1870 Carroll City, Carrol Township, Carroll County Iowa

#499

Wood, Freeman 29, male Farmer $500   $400  b. IN

Wood, Malica L. 24 F Keeping House b. OH

Wood, Samuel A. 1 b IA

Carroll Co. Iowa 1880 Census

Wood, Richard age 39 born Indiana

Lizy L.  wife  age 34 b. Ohio

Samuel 10

William 8

John M 6

Levy 4

Elmer

All children born in Iowa.

1900  Washington Township, Anderson County Kansas

Wood, Richard F. 60 W. M b. Feb 1860 IN married 28 years

           Malissa L 55 b. Nov 1843

           George b. April 1882 age 18 b. Iowa.

1910 Lincoln Township, Kiowa Co. KS. 

Wood, Richard age 71

Wood, Malissa age 64

Children of RICHARD WOOD and MALISSA TETER are:

                   i.    INFANT DAUGHTER³ WOOD¹, b. April 19, 1868; d. May 04, 1868.

                  ii.    SAMUEL ALBERT "ALLEY" WOOD, b. August 25, 1869, Iowa; d. March 30, 1893, Missouri; m. MAGGIE LIGHT, September 10, 1891.

2.              iii.    WILLIAM THEOBAULT WOOD, b. May 05, 1872, Carroll City, Iowa; d. January 15, 1948, DeQuincy, LA.

3.              iv.    JOHN MARK WOOD, b. November 01, 1873, Iowa; d. Haviland, KS.

4.               v.    LEVI SANFORD WOOD, b. August 15, 1875, Iowa; d. March 14, 1962, Iuka, KS.

5.              vi.    FREEMAN ELMER WOOD, b. December 11, 1878, Carroll Co. Iowa; d. August 26, 1956, Pratt Co. KS.

6.             vii.    GEORGE T. WOOD, b. October 03, 1882; d. Aft. 1956.

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