Woods of Wisconsin

I blogged extensively about my mother's family, whose graves/homesteads we visited this summer in Columbus, Wisconsin. In one of life's strange coincidences, my husband's family was also living in Columbia County, Wisconsin, in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Woods lived in Wyocena, on the other side of the county, and were of a different religious and ethnic background, so our families probably had little to do with each other at that time. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see the parallels.

Douglas Wood, my husband's grandfather, was born in Wyocena in the early 1900s. His parents were both born there. James Howard Wood (1869-1949) was the son of an Englishman (John Wesley Wood) and an Irish woman (Anne Rutherford), who married in Wisconsin, after immigrating to the United States. James Howard married Bessie Estelle Hodges (1880-18620 in 1904 in Wyocena. She was the daughter of Judson Adonirum (sometimes Adoniram Judson) Hodges, of New York, and his wife, Mary Ann Wait, born in Vermont. Judson Hodges was one of the earliest European settlers in Wyocena, arriving in 1857(1).

While we were in Columbia county, we stopped in the Wyocena cemetery to take pictures of the gravestones there. The tombstones of James Howard and Bessie had recently be replaced by the Wood family. The others are significantly older.

The Wyocena cemetery is in a lovely spot along the river

These are the tombstones recently replaced by the Wood family. They are near the front entrance to the cemetery, away from the other Wood family plot.

My husband's great-grandmother, Bessie Estelle (Hodges) Wood, wife of James Howard Wood

My husband's great-grandfather, James Howard Wood, husband of Bessie Estelle (Hodges) Wood

Enone, daughter of James and Bessie (Hodges) Wood

Farther into the cemetery is a Wood family plot with a large family marker:

Wood family marker (5 year old for scale)

Wood family marker has some, but not all, of the Woods buried around it engraved on the marker itself.
Adult Beaver in background for scale.

The Wood family marker from the side, 3 year old for scale.

Here are the tombstones in the plot surrounding the large family marker. We can make some pretty good guesses at their relationships to each other, but I have not yet done enough research to know their relationship to the other Woods.

Arthur LaMont Wood, 1869-1944

Alta Elizabeth Wood, 1870-1945(?)

Mother, Elsie E. Wood, August 12, 1840-December 15?, 1904

Father, Samuel F. Wood, April 4, 1836-Feb 13, 1915

Cecil, son of A.L. and A.E. Wood
(presumably Arthur LaMont and Alta Elizabeth)

Samuel Edwin, 1896-1897

Ida Maude, 1867-1943

James Manely, 1852-1927

Jno. W. Wood. The rest is hard to read, but it looks like "Wis" on the third line,
perhaps the unit in which he served during the Civil War?

Finally, the Hodges also are buried in the Wyocena cemetery:

Hodges family monument. Adult Beaver for scale.

Adoniram Judson Hodges. Oct 11, 1835-March 30-1904
Mary Ann Wait, his wife, Aug 25, 1836-July 21, 1903

Another side of the monument:
Emma C and May (other writing illegible)
both were daughters of Adoniram and Mary

Unfortunately, the other side of the monument wasn't readable

Edna M. I assume this is another daughter, but I don't
actually have a record of her.

The individual graves were marked by these small stones (five year old feet for scale)
This one says "May", but many of them were impossible to read

References:

Ogle, George A. Memorial and biographical record and illustrated compendium of biography of Columbia, Sauk and Adams counties. 1901.