#52 Ancestors Week 34 - Benjamin Franklin Wood

Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small has a weekly challenge to write the stories of your ancestors. This is week #34 and the suggested theme is find an ancestor on a Non Population Census Schedule.  I'm sure I have lot of Indiana farmers on the agricultural census. Unfortunately the Indiana schedules are not digitized.  So I have highlighting one of my husband's ancestor, Benjamin Franklin Wood.

Benjamin was born in 1810 in North Carolina. His father had been born in Maryland but by 1793 was in North Carolina.  He sold his property there in 1809 and went to Tennessee. His family joined him shortly after that. 

Not a lot is know about Benjamin. Most of his children were born in Alabama.  He is in the 1850 census in DeKalb County, Alabama.  DeKalb was created in 1836 just 10 days after the signing of the Treaty of New Echota where the federal government paid five million dollars for the Cherokee land which opened that land up for new settlers.In 1839 he received $6 as an heir of his father's will.  I have seen trees that show he was in Texas and participated in the Mexican American War. His daughter and son-in-law lived in Texas.  The 1850 census, court records in Cannon County, TN where he is disputing his father's will are two of the three documents I have for Benjamin.

The third is the 1860 Mortality Schedule in DeKalb County, Alabama.

Benjamin is listed on line 32:

Benjamin F. Wood, age 49, born in North Carolina, died in March, occupation was painter, died of typhoid pneumonia and had been ill for 15.

There is still much to learn about Benjamin. I do not know who he married.  Due to the age of his wife in the 1850 and the children listed, I believe he was married more than one. I believe he had eleven children, but have not had much luck finding information on most of them.  So the search is ongoing.