JOHN R. WOOD
The following bio was taken from page 452 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.
Transcribed by Claudia Schuster
Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator
Great-grandfather John Rucker Wood was born December 14, 1801,in North Carolina. When he grew up he moved into the Indian Country, which is now a part of the State of Alabama. He later moved to Henderson County, Tennessee. He came down the Mississippi River to New Orleans with a boatload of sorghum molasses and salt pork, which he traded for a section of land in Walker County, Texas.John Rucker and his wife, Agnes Harris Wood, had eight children, one of whom was my grandfather, James Edwin Wood. Great-grandfather Wood moved to Pirtle Community in 1850, where he lived to be eighty-seven years old. He gave land for the Pirtle Cemetery.
My grandfather, James Edwin Wood, was born May 5, 1828 in Alabama. On March 3, 1855 he married Catherin Patience Burger, who was born February 1, 1839 in Virginia. They were married in Mt. Enterprise, Texas. Granny Wood had come to Mt. Enterprise to live with her Aunt Hicks Lawler. She gave me Alma Brooks, a vivid picture of her stagecoach trip from Virginia to Texas. She had two brothers who served in the Confederate Army. One brother, William Burger, was killed in the Battle of Shiloh. The other brother, James Hurt Burger, was wounded at Gettysburg. Grandfather Wood served in the National Guard stationed at Valesco, Texas. Granny Wood kept the farm going with the help of faithful slaves.
Grandfather and Granny Wood reared ten children to be grown. My father, James Edwin Wood, Jr., was their fourth child. Father’s brother, Ernest Wood, was the guy who put "Old Rip," the horned toad, in the cornerstone of the Eastland courthouse.
Submitted by Alma Wood Brooks