Woodson/WoodsonneThe fire at the top stands for enthusiastic devotion to a cause,
ideal, or goal and tireless diligence in its furtherance;
the 3 phoenix stand for resurrection. They could be eaglets.
Woodson/Woodsonne| Also spelled Woodsonne. John and Sarah came to America on the George, leaving England on 29 Jan 1619. The George brought the first slaves to America, and John owned 6 of them. John was a surgeon with Sir George Yeardley. The Indians attacked the Woodson homestead on 18 April 1644 and Dr. Woodson was killed. John was graduated on St. John's College of Oxford in 1604. Dr. Woodson, returning from a visit to a sick family, was killed in sight of his home. The Indians then attacked the home which was barred against them. His brave wife and a man named Ligon, a shoe-maker, who happened to be there, killed a goodly number and repelled them, using an old gun as their only weapon. This gun, long in the possession of descendants, is now owned by the Virginia Historical Society. The two sons of Dr. and Mrs. Woodson, John and Robert, had been hidden in a pit made for the purpose of keeping potatoes and were saved. From this incident their descendants for several generations were spoken of as "Potatoe Hole Woodsons." From this time we have no records of John and Robert until 1697 when both are named among the tithables at 'Curles', a plantation on the north side of the James River in Henrico County, a short distance above Fleur de Hundred. Then on June 5, 1727 Tarleton Woodson | conveyed twenty acres on the north side of the James River to William Randolph, the deed showing that the land was conveyed by deed dated June 8, 1674 by Nathaniel Bacon into Robert Woodson, grandfather of the said Tarleton Woodson. Later this place became noted as the seat of the Randolph family. Soon after this date we find the Woodsons active and prominent in the history of Virginia. No doubt, loss of Court house records caused this gap. Framed on the wall of the Clerk's office at Goochland is a remarkable old document. It is the original of the commission to the first justices, dated 1728 and signed by Governor William Gooch. Those named are: Thomas Randolph, John Fleming, William Mayo, John Woodson, Daniel Stonar, R. Salle (Illegible), Tarton Fleming, Allen Coward and Edward Scott. There also is an original bond signed by Peter Jefferson, father of the Author of the Declaration of Independence, and Arthur Hopkins. Among the names of men who served Goochland County in the House of Burgesses we find: 1796, John Woodson; 1769--75, John Woodson; Conventions of 1775 and 1776, John Woodson and Thomas Mann Randolph. When, in 1775, Committees of Safety were organized in various counties, who were to have virtual control of preparation for impending war, Goochland acted promptly and among | the distinguished citizens were named John Woodson, Joseph Woodson and Matthew Woodson. Captain Charles Woodson commanded a Company in the Revolutionary War. Tarlton Woodson was a Captain of the 10th Virginia Regiment in 1776, a Major in the 2nd Regiment 1777, and was taken a prisoner by the British on Staten Island, August 22, 1777. This story has come down through family history: "Lord Cornwallis, on his way to Yorktown, while stopping in Goochland County, made 'Dover' the home of Colonel John Woodson and his wife Dorothea Randolph and their son Major Josiah Woodson, his headquarters. To quiet the mother's fear Cornwallis kissed her baby, Mary Woodson, in her cradle. "Dover" was one of the most imposing homes of Colonial Virginia. One of its most attractive features was the lovely stairway. Many other members of this family have held high places in their communities and government. There have been governors, senators, Judges, doctors, ministers and others in important positions. From generation to generation they have continued to marry into the families of the leading Colonist of that day. With no evidence to the contrary, the family records of the subsequent hundred and seventy years have made this descent accepted. |
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