Family History: Joel and Saffronia Wood

Granddad's father (my great granddad) was named Joel Wood and his was an interesting life. I don't have any specific dates for him so far as birth, death or marriages, but I do have his story. According to Dad, Joel was a wealthy farmer in Tennessee before the Civil War. I always pictured a plantation, but I have a vivid imagination so it might have simply been a large farm. Joel was married and had twelve children in Tennessee. When the Civil War began, he and his sons who were of age joined the Confederate Army and went to battle. Some time during or immediately following the war, Joel's first wife died. (Name of first wife is unknown, unfortunately.)

Like many other southeners, after the war was over and during the reconstruction period, Joel decided to move west and start over. He left his farm to his children in Tennessee and moved to north Texas. (I have no information on Joel's first family. Dad was always frustrated at not knowing more about them and fascinated by the fact that there was an entire other part of the family elsewhere.) During or immediately after Joel moved to Texas, he met the woman destined to be his second wife. Her name was Saffronia, she was full blood Cherokee and was said to be quite beautiful. She was much younger than Joel, who was probably at least in his 40's when he moved to Texas. Joel bought and established a farm in the Rowlett-Sachse-Wylie area northeast of Dallas. During his second life, he again had a large family. Dad always said the second family had ten children, but I've only been able to find the names and stories of about six children. These are: Maggie, Josie, Joe, George (granddad), Sam and John. Granddad Wood was born on February 22, 1879 and I always understood him to be the youngest child. My sister Judy believes he was about the 3 from the last child born to Joel and Saffronia. Apparently Joel and Saffronia were happy on their farm with their large family and Joel never moved again. From Saffronia came the darker skin that some of the family still have. Combined with the deep blue eyes and black hair of the Woods, it was a handsome outcome.

Saffronia died before Dad ever had a chance to meet her, but he did meet and know his Granddad Joel. Daddy said he was a feisty, quiet old man with a twinkle in his eye. (Imagine that, a Wood man with a mischieveous twinkle in his eye!) Joel was always glad to see his family from west Texas whenever they came to visit. Dad's family went often to visit the family because not only the Woods lived there, but the Spences (Grandmother Wood's family)  lived there too. (Dad, in his teens, even walked to Dallas several times to visit his family. That's another story though and will be told later.) As Dad was growing up, visiting his family in north Texas was very important to him. He loved his family, especially his uncles, and I think his connection with them helped him to develop a very strong identity as a "Wood."

I admit I've always been intrigued by Joel's story. Being born in the 1830's in the south, having a big family and farm there, and surviving the Civil War would be a fascinating story all by itself. The fact that after the war he moved to Texas, married a Cherokee woman, and built another completely new life is inspiring to me. He didn't slow down and get old idly. He lived a very full life all the way to the end of his years in his 90's. He had the grit, determination and intelligence that characterized the pioneer spirit in the United States. I saw that same spirit in Dad and his kids. I know it lives on in the current generation and I hope it continues to exist in future generations. As Mother used to say, "We come from strong, good stock. We're the type of family who can make it through anything and live to tell the tale!"