Info:
Arrived in Virginia on ship "George" in 1619
Will dated Jan 1660/1661
Survivor of Indian massacre, March 22, 1622
The following story was sent by William Stephen Woodson:
(please excuse any prejudicial remarks)
"There are many stories told about these Woodson, like the one about
Dr. John Woodson and his family in April 1644. There was an Indian uprising
during which the savages made a sudden attack on Fleur de Hundred. Dr.
Woodson, returning from visiting his patients was killed as he returned
home. His wife and two children were alone in the house with the
exception of an old schoolmaster. Their only weapon was a huge old-
fashioned gun which the schoolmaster used so effectively that at the
first fire he killed three Indians and at the second, two. Meanwhile
two Indians tried to come down the chimney to the house. Mrs.
Woodson seized a pot of boiling water from the fire and scalded the first;
she snatched up the iron spit from the fireplace and with it brained
the second. The howling savages began to retreat, but the schoolmaster
fired a last shot, killing two more of the enemy.
Then the mother called the two little boys from their hiding places:
the ten-year old had been concealed under a large wash tub and
the twelve-year old crawled out from a hole in which potatoes were
stored in winter.
Even today when there is a gathering of Woodsons, a favorite question
is, 'Are you a wash-tub Woodson or a potato-hole?'
In the early part of the 16th century, one of Dr. Woodson's ancestors
was granted a coat of arms by Henry VIII; along with this privilege
came the right 'to bear arms.' Nothing was said about his wife's
right, though!"
Sources:
Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, 1976.
Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and Their Connections, Compiled by Henry Morton Woodson of Memphis, Tenn., Published in 1915.
Louise Goode Shannon, The House of Goode, (Dogwood Printing, P.O. Box 716, Ozark Mo. 65721, 1997).
Genealogies of Virginia Families, From the William and Mary Quarterly Historical Magazine, Volume V, Thompson-Yates (and Appendix), Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1982.
Information provided by William Stephen Woodson.
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