NOTE: if your branch of the family is planning a reunion, let us know so we can write a story about it. Send complete details about when and where it will be held. If it is in a rural area, such as a rural church, give exact directions of how to get there. If it is an annual gathering, tell us some history of the event (when and where it began and who got it started, etc.). Be sure and give the name, mailing address, telephone number and email address if available, of someone to contact for additional information. AFTER the reunion, let us know such details as how many attended; what towns and states were represented; names and hometowns of the oldest and youngest who attended; and the activities held.
By Sandra Thompson
BISHOPVILLE, SC-- The 21st annual South Carolina Woodham Family Reunion was held Sunday, 8 August in the Stokes Bridge Community near Bishopville at Hebron Methodist Church.
Mary Ernestine Skinner Joiner was the oldest relative attending the reunion. The youngest attending was Lanie Elizabeth Woodham, born 12 Dec 1998 but we haven't gotten the names of her parents yet. Ernestine was born 13 jun 1908 at Oswego, SC, daughter of Mary Sue Woodham and James Lemuel Skinner. Mary Sue was the daughter of Willis Josepy Woodham. James was the grandson of Pheriba Jane Woodham and Simpson Skinner. Ernestine married Kent Joiner.
At least 65 adults and a minimum of 20 children attended the gathering. A luncheon of delicious Southern foods and desserts was served buffet style at 1 PM. After dinner the children were invited to view videotapes and play games in the nursery. Margery Woodham Jeffords began activities in the main hall with announcements. The passing of Ruth Mozingo Woodham, widow of John Wesley Woodham was mourned. She was born 15 Aug 1919 in Lee County, daughter of Henry M. Mozingo and Eula Shirley Mozingo.
Adam Leslie Woodham Wong (b 30 Jun 1987), entertained the group by giving a brief piano recital. He is the son of Margaret K. ("Kathy") Woodham and her husband Steve A. Wong. Adam's sister, Katherine Allyn Woodham Wong (26 May 1989), was recognized for her achievements in gymnastics. She has won many awards for her excellence.
Melanie Woodham was also recognized for her achievements and talent as a model.
Sandie Thompson recognized the achievements of our eldest attendees this year. But my first pleasure was to read a brief exerpt from an email letter from Mr. Robert Earl Woodham. As per his request, Mrs. Ruth Woodham was recognized as described in an article written by Mr. Woodham for the "Woodham Family Journal" and a copy of it was presented to her. She was very pleased.
Again this year, Rev. Fred D. Woodham (b. 14 May 1909) attended. Fred is retired from the ministry and now lives in Summerville, SC near Charleston. Fred is recovering from an auto accident earlier this year which almost took his life. He is the son of Asa Flinn Wilson Q. Beaty ("Beaty W.") Woodham and Maggie Viola Barnes. Beaty was a minister at home in Lee County, SC with the Church of God and died at Donalsonville, Ga. (our historian's hometown).
Francis Marion ("Buster") Beasley (b 29 Jul 1914) was given a special recognition for his work of compiling cemetery records of both Hebron United Methodist Church and nearby Savannah Advent Christian Church the only two churches in the Stokes Bridge Community. Both these churches were founded by Woodhams, their descendants, relatives and neighbors and their cemeteries are full of our kinfolk. He continues to gather obituaries of families in the area. He is 85 years old and a true Southern gentleman and farmer.
Many, many door prizes were handed out. Marion Woodham was elected chairman in absentia for the coming year. Marion was unable to attend. With announcements and elections over, a prayer was offered and all joined in singing "Blest Be the Tie That Binds".
A table was set up where photographs, old and new, were displayed along with newspaper articles and other memorabilia. Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to look over printed copies made of our online version of the family newsletter and parts of the Woodham Family Association's website.
The reunion was held in the church's activities building annex beside the church. Hebron Church is located a few miles northeast of Bishopville which is itself located on Interstate 20 between Columbia and Florence, South Carolina.
The reunion was founded in 1979 following establishment of the Woodham Family Association. It was founded to help bring together all the Woodhams who live in South Carolina as well as those born there who now are scattered around the country. It was founded as an official activity of the Woodham Family Association by President Robert Earl Woodham. The site varied in the first few years but since the mid-1980's has been held every year at the church. Woodham relatives were among the founders of the church back in the mid-1800's. Half of the church's beautiful stained glass windows and helf of its pews were donated in memory of the family. The modern brick face of the building hides the original wooden building underneath which was constructed in the 1800's.
The Woodham family has lived in this community since 1785. Just south of Hebron Church is the site (now destroyed) of the historic Woodham Family Cemetery, where Edward Woodham Junior, a soldier in the Revolutionary War, his wife and many of our Woodham ancestors are buried. The land surrounding the Cemetery has been in the family for almost 200 years. If you are a Woodham or descendant of a Woodham, you are invited to attend and and enjoy the gathering.
Since its beginning, one of the foremost supporters of the reunion has been Mrs. H. M. ("Jack") Woodham--Ruth. She has served as chairman of the reunion but regardless of who heads up the gathering, she has always done most of the hard work of contacting kinfolk and getting them to the reunion--no easy task. She spends a lot of time making little gifts for those attending, as well as gag gifts accompanied by appropriate poems or tomes.
Ruth lives near Hebron Church and is a retired school teacher. She is the widow of Jack Woodham and the mother of a daughter and two sons. Jack and Ruth, their daughter Virginia and her husband Pete Beasley and their son E. E. ("Skeet") Woodham were all partners in the Tococobe Farms operation.
All descendants of the family who live in or who were born in South Carolina are urged to attend this annual event. All other Woodham's are also invited to come and visit their ancestral homeland, where our family roots go back to the 1780's. The
ancestors of about 99 per cent of those who bear the Woodham name today settled here about 1784 and are buried in our historic Woodham Family Cemetery, located just south of Hebron Methodist Church.
IRON CITY, Ga.-- Descendants of John Wesley Woodham and his wife Lillie Mae Sanders are planning a reunion here 19 Sept. John Wesley was born in 1885 in Dale County, Alabama, the son of Ira Edward Woodham and Millie Ann Enfinger. He was a grandson of Edward Christopher ("Chris"; "C. C.") Woodham and Joanna ("Jody") Riley. He married Lillie Sanders in 1913 at Dothan, Ala. They lived on the farm of Lillie's brother in Henry County, Ala. until about 1926 when John Wesley bought a farm northwest of Iron City, in Seminole County, Georgia. They lived there the rest of their lives. John Wesley died there in 1947. Lillie died in 1969.
The family was very close until Granny's death in 1969, always gathering at the homeplace for Thanksgiving and Christmas and a big birthday party in September. The birthdays of both parents, two daughters and two grandchildren were all in September and they all celebrated together.
The couple had six children: John Henry (Henry), Herbert, Lois Dale, Rufus, Florence and Billy Joe. Rufus was killed in action as a US Army soldier in Italy during World War II. Only Lois and Billy now survive. The couple had 13 grandchildren -- two of whom died several years ago in auto accidents.
The family has gotten together only once since Granny's death in 1969. That was a gathering Thanksgiving weekend of 1978. Most of the family attended. Herbert was in a Dothan, Ala. hospital and unable to attend.
The gathering will be held at the Iron City Community Center (the old school lunchroom). For further information, contact Cathryn Cross Logue, PO Box 217, Iron City, Ga. 31759, or our Editor.
Military News Sanden Sees The World In The Navy
Woodham Stationed Near Tokyo, Japan
TOKYO, Japan-- Sanden Lee Woodham Jr. is a young man who has already seen more of the world than most Americans even dream of. Since joining the US Navy, he has visited such exotic lands as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Saipan, Fiji, Guam, Australia, Russia, Japan and Hong Kong, China (before and after the Communist Chinese government took over). How's that for a travel itinerary cuz?
Sanden is the son of Sanden Lee Woodham Sr. and Debra Brown. He is the grandson of Robert Lee ("Bobby") Woodham and Anna June Buntain. Bobby was born in Henry County, Alabama. Sanden is the great grandson of Arthur Jehu ("Buddy") Woodham and Robbie Mae Barnes of Barbour County and Henry County, Alabama.
Sanden's father made a career of military service. He was in the US Air Force for 23 years until his retirment. He has lived in Sanford, North Carolina for several years now. Sanden Jr. graduated from 71st High School in nearby Fayetteville, NC and enlisted in the Navy two months later. He went to boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois. He later attended the Navy's radio school in San Diego, California for five months. He is now a radioman. He is based at Yokosuka US Naval Base on Tokyo Bay several miles from Tokyo. He is part of the staff of Commander, Seventh Fleet which is permanently embarked on the flagship USS Blue Ridge (Sanden's own personal "cruise ship" as he calls it).
He loves to travel (and he's certainly in the right job for it!) and enjoys his hobbies of skateboarding and DJing.
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga.-- Sue Gill was sworn in as a member of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) 15 March in this northeast Atlanta suburb.
The DAR was founded in 1890 and is composed of women who are direct descendants of men who helped the 13 American Colonies gain independence during the American Revolutionary War for Independence (1775-1783).This was a happy event for Sue but the most unusual part of this story is that at the meeting, another member, Ann Moore, came up to Sue and told her that her husband was also a Woodham descendant. Now, in Dothan, Alabama or a handful of other communities, it might not be unusual to find two or more Woodham family members in the same club but not in a particular Atlanta suburb.
What makes this story even more out of the ordinary is the fact that Sue is a descendant of Edward Woodham Junior, who founded the family branch in Old Darlington District, South Carolina (now Lee County), and whose descendants scattered to Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas and elsewhere. More than 95 per cent of all the Woodham's from the South today are his descendants.
Ann Palmer Moore is the wife of Everett Woodham Moore, son of Roberta Louise Woodham and Oscar Belvin Moore Sr. Everett is a descendant of the "other" Edward Woodham. Both Edward's were born in Virginia and were first cousins. Edward Junior's father eventually settled in old Dobbs County (now Lenoir County). After the Revolutionary War, he moved to what is now Lee County, SC. At the same time, the other Edward moved from Virginia to Greene County, Georgia.
Edward of Greene Co., Georgia had several sons and many grandchildren; today, he has many thousands of descendants scattered all over the nation. However, the family name has almost died out among his descendants; most of this branch of the family are descended from girls and do not bear the Woodham name. Only a handful of his descendants today bear the Woodham family name.
Several years ago, our historian located a man in Atlanta who called himself Edward Woodham Hightower III. He was very surprised when I told him that he was actually the "IV" (fourth) instead of the "third". He had no idea of where his middle name came from until I revealed his ancestry to him. It has been far more prevelent among this branch to give descendants of the Woodham women the family name "Woodham" as a middle name. Another descendant with the middle name Woodham owned an auto dealership in Opelika, Ala.
In order to join the DAR, a lady must prove that she is a direct descendant of an ancestor who either served in one of the State Militias or the Continental Army (the first "national" army of the new country) or provided aid of some kind in the fight for independence. This proof must be in the form of copies of records that shows her ancestry through each generation back to that ancestor. Sue Gill was approved for membership as a descendant of Edward Woodham Jr. (see the page in the History section on him). Congragulations, Sue.
William Albert ("W. A.") Woodham will has celebrated his 28th year as Sheriff of Gadsden County, making him the "Dean of Florida sheriffs", having served as sheriff longer than any other current officer in the state of Florida. W.A. had been a State Trooper with the Florida Highway Patrol and then a counselor for the Gadsden County Juvenile Court in Quincy when the sheriff of Gadsden County died in 1971. The governor appointed W. A. to the office on 14 Apr., 1971. He ran for election in 1972 and was re-elected. He has been re-elected in 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996.
W. A. was born in 20 May, 1941 in Dothan, Ala., son of Chester Wesley Woodham and Lilla Mae Holloway. He is a grandson of Charles Lafayette Woodham and Eliza Jane (Jane) Hall; great grandson of Moses Woodham and Elizabeth V. Peacock; g.g. grandson of Edward Christopher ("Chris") Woodham and Joanna Riley; g.g.g. grandson of Aris Woodham Jr. and Rachel Richardson; g.g.g.g grandson of Aris Woodham Sr. and Rachel Beasley; and 5th great grandson of Edward Woodham Jr. (Revolutionary War soldier).
He is a graduate of Dothan High School. One of his first jobs was while he was still in school as a clerk for Cox Grocery in Dothan. He received an Associate of Arts degree in 1963 from Chipola Junior College, Marianna, Fla. and a bachelor's degree in criminology & corrections from Florida State University in 1965. He went to work as a Florida State Trooper in 1966. He became an assistant counselor for the Gadsden County Juvenile Court in 1967 and served until the governor appointed him sheriff in 1971.
W. A. was named Gadsden County's "Law Enforcement Officer of the Year" in 1973. He had been honored by the Big Bend Law Enforcement Association for "heroic actions" leading to apprehension of a kidnapper. He was elected to the Board of Managers of the Florida Sheriffs Self-Insurance Fund in 1984. He was appointed by the governor to the Florida Governor's Commission on Child Support Enforcement in 1985.
He has also been elected vice president, chairman of the board and president of the Florida Sheriffs Association.
After 27 years in office, W. A. has become the "Dean of Florida Sheriffs"; he has now served longer than any other current sheriff in the entire state of Florida. It looks like the folks of Gadsden County like what he has been doing, for they keep re-electing him. W. A. is a Democrat, as were all his ancestors before him.
W. A. was married in 1964 to Donna McClellan and they had three daughters: Amy Joe, Laurie Beth and Emily Ann. He and his second wife Karen live in Quincy. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church. He was elected president of the Rotary Club of Quincy in 1986.
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