| Notes |
- http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=woodscottle1&id=I0021
Excerpt from a diary entry of William Barrett Travis records him as Zadock B. Woods.
One of Austin's original "300" received title to a league and a labor of land, 5-15-1827 in Matagorda County. He eventually moved to a settlement "Woods Prairie" , ten miles west of LaGrange, Texas. His home, Wood's Fort, was a community stockade for protection against the Indians between 1828 and 1836
Zadock was born in Brookfield, Massachusetts; the family migrated from there to Vermont; from there they established Woods Fort along the Cuivre River in St. Charles, Missouri. Next came the move to Texas with Stephen F. Austin;s "Old three hundred" He was killed at the battle of Salado Creek during the Dawson's Massacre battle. Zadock was 69 years old at the time and insisted on being included in the fighting. Family tradition says that he rode round and round the fort on his horse until they allowed Grandpa to go.
A source copied from Austin Colony Pioneers says that Zadock was at Gonzalez when the Mexican Army demanded that the citizens of Gonzalez return the cannon that had been given to them by the Mexican Commander to defend themselves from indians. This incident helped to kick off the battle for Texas Independance.
Texas Land Grant Receipt 20 May 1830
Rec'd of Mr. Zeadock Woods fifty five bushels and three pecks of corn at one dollar per bushel on account of fees due by his ?? on land in this office. San Felipe de Austin
20 May 1830
$55 3/4
Samuel W. Williams
Commissioners fees $15
Austin 10
Title 10
Stamp 2
-------------
$ 37
The Woods and Cottle families were descendants of three Mayflower Passengers. Norman Woods is a 7th generation descendant of William Bradford through his mother, Minerva Cottle. Zadock is a 6th generation descendant of Francis Cooke. The Cottle family is also a descendant of Kenelm Winslow, brother of Edward Winslow who was also a Mayflower passenger.
Zadock Woods was born in Brookfield, Ma., Minerva in Woodstock, Vt., and Norman in Troy, Missouri in Woods Fort.
page 18 of Missouri History 1908, Volume II states that Zadock Woods owned 5 slaves in 1799 in Missouri.
Zadock was a partner in a lead mine with Moses Austin in Troy, Missouri, but the business failed and they lost their money. It was then that Moses Austin heard about the land being offered to Americans who would be willing to go to Texas .
Some sources say Joseph Cottle was a Deacon in the Universalist Church. However, in 1794 Joseph Cottle was Clerk of the Baptist Society in Woodstock, Vermont. He wrote a letter to the authorities in Vermont protesting the states decision to pay ministers of the Gospel of the Congretionalist Church. He siged the document as:
Church Clerk of the Baptist Sociey in Woodstock. I do not know if this Baptist Society became the Universalist Church later or not, but in 1794 they were called Baptist. Joseph was very upset with Zadock when he built an inn and tavern on his property in Troy. The tavern became a gathering place to drink and carouse and Joseph was very uphappy about his son-in-law's involvement in this enterprise. Unhappier still was the Woods and Cottle clan when Zadock began drinking and getting into fights. The second term of the Lincoln County, Missouri court came to order in Woods Tavern with Zadock being charged with two counts of assault and battery. The jury of old friends found him not guilty of one charge and fined him one dollar for the second charge.
Daniel Boone was a frequent visitor to Woods Fort. Lieutenant Zachary Taylor made his headquarters at Woods Fort. The junior officers of Zachary Taylor build a miniature spinning wheel for Minerva, which is said to be in a museum in Burnet, Texas. (Brown's Free Museum)
Zadock signed up as a private with James Callaways Rangers in 1814 to fight the British. He participated in the Battle of New Orleans.
Zadock Woods is buried on Monument Hill in La Grange, Texas with the other Dawson men and Norman Woods was buried in the moat at Perote Prison in Mexico.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: James B. Schwabe, comp., Ancestors and Descendants of Sylvanus and Abigail (Sherman) Cottle (East Alton, Illinois, 1985). L. U. Spellmann, ed., "Letters of the `Dawson Men' From Perote Prison, Mexico, 1842-1843," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 38 (April 1935). Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin. Houston Wade, comp., The Dawson Men of Fayette County (Houston, 1932). Leonie Rummel Weyand and Houston Wade, An Early History of Fayette County (La Grange, Texas: La Grange Journal, 1936). E. W. Winkler, ed., "The Bexar and Dawson Prisoners," Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association 13 (April 1910). Norman B. Woods Papers, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.
List of American Settlers
in the Colorado District,
Austin's Colony,
March 4, 1823
List of Families
Woods, Zadock 50 (farmer, owns horses and farming tools; Martin 37
1820 TX Census Index --Woods, Zeddock TX BASTROP CO. AUSTIN,MEXICO TERR. 1826
Paul N. Spellman
Copied from Woods Cemetery Book
The history of Woods Prairie Cemetery goes back
to the very beginning of the settlement of Texas.
Zadock Woods came to Texas in 1823 and went
back to Troy Missouri in 1824 and brought his
family back to what would become Fayette
County, Texas.
He was married to Minerva Cottle and they had 5
children who came to Texas with them. Minerva,
Montreville, Norman B., Henry Gonzales and
Leander.
He built a fort at Woods Prairie in 1828 on his son
Montrevilles land. It was the settlers protection
against the still marauding Indians.
The last Indian threat was the Battle of Plum
Creek in 1840. The next threat was from Mexico. Many of the
men from Woods Prairie joined a company to fight
the Mexicans when they invaded Texas.
Zadock Woods was an old man but joined
anyway.He and 35 others were killed in the
Dawson Creek Massacre. They were later buried
on Monument Hill.
TEXT OF THE DAWSON MASSACRE
Occurred in this vicinity on September 18, 1842
when Captain Nicholas Mosey Dawson and 53
men from La Grange, in attempting to join Captain
Matthew Caldwell (Old Paint) and his company of
Texas Volunteers during the Battle of Salado, were
surrounded by Mexican Forces and 36 slain, 15
were taken prisoner, only 3 escaped.
The site of the fort is marked with a granite
monument. It is about a quarter of a mile north of
the Woods Prairie Cemetery.
TEXT OF THE MONUMENT AT WOODS
FORT.
Site of Woods' Fort
Used by colonist of this vicinity as a protection
against Indian attacks 1828-1842
Fortified residence of Zadock Woods
Veteran of the War of 1812
One of the Old "Three Hundred"
of Austin's Colonists.
Oldest man killed in the "Dawson Massacre"
September 18, 1842
Texas Land Title Abstracts
District: Colorado; Fayette
County: Fayette
Grantee: Zadock Woods
Patentee: Zadock Woods
Patent Date: 11 Dec 1841
Patent #: 714
Patent Volume: 1
Acres: 177.10
Class: Fay. 1st
File: 12
District: Brazoria; Matagorda
County: Matagorda
Grantee: Zadock Woods
Patent Date: 15 May 1827
Patent #: 562
Patent Volume: 2
Survey/Blk/Tsp: 15
Acres: 4578
Class: Title
ZADOCK WOODS
[688]
18 Sep 1773 - 18 Sep 1842
BIRTH: 18 Sep 1773, Brookfield, Mass.
DEATH: 18 Sep 1842, Battle of the Salado
BURIAL: Monument Hill, La Grange
EVENT: 1 league (4428.4 Acres)
LAND GRANT: 15 May 1827, Matagorda Partner, Francis, Ezekial, Emily, and Jerome
Tidbits of Lincoln County History
Last updated: update: 4 Dec 1999
From the book A History of Missouri, by Edward Houck, published in 1908 by R.R. Donelly & Sons:
Lincoln County was formed in 1818 from St. Charles County.
Perhaps the first white men to camp in what is now Lincoln County, were members of La Sueur's expedition . They camped on the Cuivre River, which after killing a buffalo bull and cow, they called the "Riviere aux Boeufs."
About the year 1800, there was a small settlement in the "Forks of the Cuivre" where the North fork joins the West fork, in about the center of Lincoln County. The first settlers there were James MACKAY, Richard TAYLOR, and James LEWIS who had a flour mill there in 1799.
Some early residents of what is now Lincoln County, and where they served in the Revolutionary war:
Joseph BROWN of the Virginia Continentals.
William BUTLER of the Virginia State Troops.
James CANNON of the South Carolina Militia.
Thomas GRAVES of the Virginia Militia.
Thomas HAMPTON of the Maryland Militia.
Hezekiah MURPHY of the Maryland Militia.
Robert McNAIR of the Pennsylvania Militia.
Adam ZUMWALT of the Virginia State Troops.
John BASCO of the North Carolina Continentals.
John CHAMBERS of the Virginia Continentals.
In May of 1820, Malcolm HENRY was elected as delegate from Lincoln County to the State Constitutional convention, held in St. Louis in June, 1820. Malcolm HENRY was of Scotch parentage, and born in York County, S.C. He moved to Lincoln County, near Troy in 1817.
From the book Map of Lincoln County Missouri, first published in 1860 by Edmund Ellis, reproduced in Atlas Form by the Lincoln County Genealogical Society, 1993:
Some of the first families in Millwood, then known as "Forks of the Quivre," were the JAMESONs, COTTLEs, HAMMONDs, SITTONs, PARKs, and HUSTONs. In the 1820s, the WOMMACKs, GILMOREs, CLAREs, KINIONs, HALLs, WILLIAMS, STEPHENS, KIMLERs, RICKS, HENRYs, YOUNGs and others arrived. In the 1830s many families came from Virginia, Maryland, and Kentucky, including the MUDDS, PORTERS, SANDS, and DYERS. Later immigrants included the BLACKS, BAUERS, STANEKS, NORTONS, PEASELS, HORAS, HAVLICKS, KUMBERAS, and others.
The first families in Monroe, the oldest town in Lincoln County, were those of Ira and Almond COTTLE. The COTTLES and Nathaniel SIMONDS donated 50 acres of land for the county seat to be organized there.
Ninevah was founded in 1855 by Joseph S. WELLS. Ninevah later became Olney.
Troy was formally laid out in Sept. of 1819 by Joseph COTTLE, Lee F. T. COTTLE and Zadock WOODS, Son in law of "Deacon" Joseph COTTLE.
Louisville was laid out in 1831 by Hannible MARSHALL, Enoch EMERSON, and Dayton CRIDER. Other early residents were Col. Meredith COX, a Mr. SCROGGINS, and a Mr. BROWN.
Name: ZADOCK WOODS
State: MO
County: St. Louis County
Township: Petitioners
Year: 1810
Record Type: Resident's List
Database: MO Early Census Index
Zadock Woods
LAND CERTIFICATE FOR MISSOURI BETWEEN 1808 AND 1812
06/16/1810 CERTIFICATE NUMBER 375
Zedock Woods
1805 tax list St. Charles, sec 3
4 family 1 horse 6 cattle
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1773 - 1842 (69 years)