My earliest known Wood ancestor was a ship captain by the name of Jonathan Wood. He was the father of my illustrious ancestor,
Abinah Belford Wood. Most biographies of his descendants that mention Jonathan do mention that he was a captain of sea-faring vessels, although some get more creative in telling Jonathan's story than history can actually prove.
Jonathan Wood's birth date is unknown, but given that he was a sea captain by 1756, it is estimated he was born in the 1720s or 1730s, which also makes him an older man in his forties or fifties when his children were born. There are no definite clues to his parentage, because there were several Wood families in the Colonies at the time of Jonathan's presumed birth. Thus it is difficult to pinpoint who his parents were, though several possibilities.
Jonathan could possibly be the son of a Benjamin Wood, born about 1685 and died 1738 and an Elizabeth Cole who are mentioned in book "John Wood of Rhode Island and his Descendants on the Mainland" by Bertha Cook (published 1966). This Benjamin Wood supposedly bought the original Wood family homestead in New Jersey, which was named Hopewell. Another possibility in Jonathan's parentage was Samuel Wood, who lived and died in Salem, New Jersey in 1775. This Samuel and his wife Elizabeth did have a son Jonathan, but it is very likely that his son Jonathan was the Revolutionary War captain who
died at Valley Forge in 1777, making him not a part of this particular line of Woods from New Jersey.
As of this writing, not definite proof is given. What is known is he was a captain, or master, of ships.
Ship Master
Jonathan seemed to have sailed many ships in and out of the Port of Philadelphia and is listed as Jonathan Wood or J. Wood in several editions of the newspapers
The Pennsylvania Gazette and
Pennsylvania Journal. While one cannot be absolutely certain all of the listings for Captain J. Wood are indeed Jonathan, the timeline seems to suggest they all were voyages he accomplished. Were it not for the fact that Jonathan were a ship's captain, he likely wouldn't be in the news at all, as Great Britain forbade newspapers in the colonies on practice that newspapers encouraged sedition. However, shipping news, public notices and the like could be printed if the newspaper in question had a government’s imprimatur, or official license, to be in business.
Why get into seafaring in the first place? It was difficult to move around the eastern seaboard pre-Revolution, since the roads were very terrible. Ships were the best way to move people and goods about the colonies. Since the colonies were still importing raw goods from the West Indies and shipping finished goods to Great Britain and beyond, the need for ships and extraordinary captains to command these vessels was crucial.
Why Philadelphia? Because by 1750, it had surpassed Boston as the major colonial shipping port, and would not be surpassed by NYC until the 1820s. There were numerous advantages to why it surpassed Boston; cheap labor, trees, forges and skilled shipbuilders were just a few of the reasons. It was also on the Delaware River, as was Cumberland County, New Jersey, so a commute on a ship by river wouldn't be too far-fetched an idea for that time.
The life of a seaman in the time was difficult. As Sam Willis writes in his article "
American Independence and the Naval Factor" from
Naval History Magazine, "Operating vessels in currents near shore was the ultimate test of seamanship. The slightest misjudgment could endanger the lives of all on board."
An article that offers some insight into how seafaring men were paid is Richard J. Blakeman's article "
Pieces of Eight, Pieces of Eight: Seamen's Earnings and the Venture Economy of Early Modern Seafaring." However, while the article did include some data for masters (or captains), much of it was devoted to the other officers (or specialists) on the ship as well as the more common and unskilled mariners. The statistical data and information was from the latter part of the 17th century, but is still useful in extrapolating how seafarers were paid in the 18th century as well. Blakeman does point out that more experienced seafarers ended up making higher wages, and of course masters were in a different class economically than the rest of the crew, especially since they often held the highest responsibility aboard a vessel. He also points out the various ways that men were paid.... sometimes there was a monthly wage, but often sailors were paid by the voyage, and unemployment between voyages was common. Personal trading in ports often resulted in goods that could be brought home and could be then sold for substantial amounts of monies, especially by the elite officers of a ship. This trading made up a good amount of a seaman’s annual income.
Another good read on colonial ships is Kellie Michelle Vanhorn's thesis, "
Eighteenth-Century Colonial American Merchant Ship Construction." In her thesis, Vanhorn discusses more the operation of shipbuilding and the differing types of ships used, but it helps to flesh out the story of Captain Jonathan Wood a bit more.
The question remains whether or not he actually owned any of the ships he captained. Evidence seems to suggest that he was more a rented captain than an owner of a vessel, given that the sloops and brigs he sailed are also listed in the shipping news from Philadelphia as being captained at times by other men. Often merchants in the area would actually own the ships and then the crew was hired to sail them. He appears to have been a popular sea captain, given the number of journeys he made
Here are some of the journeys that he made from the port of Philadelphia:
On 27 May 1756 he was cleared to take Sloop Merry-Ann to North Carolina.
On 22 September 1757 he was cleared to sail the Sloop Betsy to Saint Kitts. This journey was met with adventure, as Saint Kitts (formally Saint Christopher Island) was colonized by both the French and the British, and the two colonial powers continued to fight over the island until it was ultimately ceded to the British with the Treaty of Versailles in 1783. From tales written in
The Pennsylvania Gazette from the time period, often French would take British ships and vice versa. It seemed to be the ultimate cat and mouse game. On 22 Oct 1757, Jonathan and his sloop and crew were taken captive by the French. On 25 Oct 1757, the British freed him and his crew.
On 7 May 1761 he was cleared to sail the Sloop Rachel to Newfoundland and returned to Philadelphia on 6 August 1761.
On 29 April 1762 he arrived from Lisbon aboard the Brig Rebecca and Susannah.
On 13 May 1762 he was cleared to sail for Barbados aboard the Brig Rebecca, a ship owned by a Philadelphia merchant by the name of Richard Waln, who called Jonathan his "Respected Friend." This journey was fraught with danger, as there actually was an embargo on Barbados as a result of Britain's involvement in the Seven Years War with France and the Anglo-Spanish War with Spain (which was a result of the Seven Years War). Despite the embargo, Waln insisted Jonathan take the unarmed vessel to Barbados anyway with a load of flour, bread, and over 3000 white oak barrels, but also instructed Jonathan to stay in Barbados no more than twenty days. Jonathan arrived sometime in late June, as by 16 July 1762 he insisted he had to return to Philadelphia, despite the lack of a convoy of ships returning to the colonies and a light load of freight. A few days out on the return journey, the Rebecca was captured by an armed privateer polacca captained by Joseph Raymond, who was working for the French. While Raymond took no gear or cargo, he did demand a ransom of 2000 dollars, and took first mate Jonathan Montgomery as hostage. Jonathan Wood and the Rebecca returned to Philadelphia 19 August 1762, where he was promptly relieved of captaining the vessel by Waln. (Montgomery remained a captive of the French at Bordeaux for over a year and returned to Philadelphia in November of 1763.)
On 16 December 1762 he was cleared to sail for Antigua aboard the Brig Kensington. This trip for one reason or another took almost a full year, as he arrived back in Philadelphia on 15 September 1763.
On 6 October 1763 he again was cleared to sail to Barbados on the Brig Rebecca, but he didn't actually make the trip until 16 February 1764. He returned to Philadelphia on 17 May 1764.
On 31 May 1764 he was listed as part of the outwards and on 7 June 1764, he was cleared to sail for Madeira on the Brig Rebecca. It is not known when he returned from this trip.
On 28 March 1765, he arrived from Lisbon aboard the Brig Rebecca and Susannah, and on the 18th of April he announced intent to sail to Madeira aboard the same brig. However, before that trip, he made a quick trip to Barbados upon the Brig Rebecca and Susannah, arriving in Philadelphia on 29 August. On 12 September, he finally was cleared to sail to Madeira aboard the Brig Rebecca and Susannah. It is not known when he returned.
On 26 Dec 1765 he announced intent to sail to South Carolina aboard the Sloop Little Betsy and on 8 May 1766 he announced intent to sail to Maryland aboard the Brig Rebecca and Susannah, but it is not known whether he actually made these two trips.
On 21 July 1768, Jonathan was cleared to sail to Monserrat aboard the Schooner Hannah.
On 29 July 1772, he was cleared to sail to New York aboard the Sloop Charlotte.
On 12 May 1773, he was cleared to sail to Tortola aboard the Brig Prince of Wales.
On 30 March 1774, he was cleared to sail to North Carolina aboard the Schooner Nancy.
By 1778, the industry of shipping in Philadelphia was effectively shut down due to the Revolution and also because of British occupation of Philadelphia. After the Revolution, the West Indies were closed to American ships, and the trade fell on hard times as well. Perhaps this is why Jonathan decided to change occupations when he did.
There was an article on 27 July 1785, page 3 of The Pennsylvania Gazette which has under the Cleared section, "Sloop Charming Nancy, J. Wood, Maryland," so perhaps Jonathan came back to sail one last time after moving to Hopewell.
Married Life
At some point, Jonathan had married, though no marriage bond or record has been located as of yet. His wife was a woman by the name of Reumah, whose surname is still unknown, though some Ancestry trees erroneously have given her the surname of Wealth or Wealthy, due to the fact that one biography on her son Abinah stated that she came from a "wealthy family" and as a result, there may have been someone who read that as her having the surname of Wealth or Wealthy.
Reumah's date of birth, like Jonathan's, is unknown, as is her origin. Given that the couple's youngest known child, Mary, was born in 1784, Reumah was likely a good deal younger than Jonathan. Because her will mentions "a legacy due me from New Orleans," speculation suggests that she came from New Orleans or had family there. This likely became the basis of the suggestion in the aforementioned biography that she was born of a wealthy French family in Louisiana. As of this writing however, no research has uncovered a link to New Orleans, but the possibility remains.
Even the spelling of Reumah's first name is speculation. Her husband, Jonathan Wood spells her name as Reumah in the deed selling his property to Jacob Bryan as well as in his will, but it is also spelled Reuhama by Jonathan Elmer, who was in charge of the probate of the will. Reumah's own will is recorded with a spelling of Reuhama. Her name is spelled Rhuma on the quit claim she filed in conjunction to the deed transferring property from son Abinah to John Shepperd. The deeds David Duffle signed in conjunction with selling the land Reumah had given him list her name as Reumah on one deed and Reuhama on the other. Because many of her female descendants have the Reumah spelling and Jonathan spelled in as such in his will, it is the preferred spelling currently. It would seem unlikely that son Abinah would name his daughter after his mother and spell it as Reumah if that was the incorrect way to spell it. As both the deed and quit claim mentioned previously and her own will state she made her mark of an X while others made their own seal (signature), perhaps the Reuhama spelling of her name was incorrect because it was spelled by someone who did not know and signed by someone acting in her stead?
The couple had at least six children; Benjamin, Joseph, Anne, Hannah, Abinah and Mary, though it is not known where in the birth order all of them were.
Hopewell Township
By 1780, Jonathan had settled on some land in Hopewell Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey. Again, speculation and knowledge of history suggest that he settled here around the time of the American Revolution, though he could have had the land before that. Family stories state that son Abinah was born at Hopewell on 7 July 1777 and daughter Mary was born at Hopewell in October 1784. Daughter Hannah was likely also born here, though her birth date is unknown (the 1830 census enumeration suggests she was born sometime 1771 and 1780).
It is known that he did indeed own land in Hopewell until 24 May 1802, when a deed from Cumberland County was filed selling a parcel of land to Jacob Bryan for $101. This land was a portion of what Jonathan and Reumah owned and and was made of a stretch of land "beginning at a stone or stake set by the south side of the road that leads to the Baptist Meeting House towards Bridgetown and stands in the line of Joseph Brick's land a is a corner of Nathan Shepphard's land thence running by the same north forty seven degrees and a quarter west twenty perches to a post and a stone set for a corner on the south side of a swamp thence north forty one degrees and forty five minutes east eight perches to a post and stone thence south forty seven degrees east twenty perches by lands to a stone in the said Brick's line thence bounding there on south forty one degrees and three quarters west eight perches to the corner first named containing one acre of land."
The couple kept the remainder of their property.
Death
On 11 July 1802, Jonathan Wood filed a will with Cumberland County, New Jersey. His will stated: "Item I give and bequeath to my wife Reumah all my personal estate except what is to hereafter given away to her heirs and assigns forever, also the use of the place we now live on, with privilege to get firewood on a lot of wood land near Robert Parmer to her as longs as she remains my widow and no longer. Item I give & bequeath to my son Biney Wood a lot of sedar swamp, my time pice and all my lands is here by given to him his heirs & assigns not not to posses the land as long as my wife remains my widow. Item I give to my three daughters Ann Jones, Hannah Duffel and Mary Wood five shillings each to them & their heirs and I hereby nominate constitute and appoint my wife Rhuhama executor to this my last will and testament."
On 6 August 1802, an inventory was done on his personal estate by James Sheppard, putting the amount of personal effects after debts at $386.97. This inventory was signed by his executrix and administrator, Reumah, and witnesses Enoch Sheppard and and Lewis Humphreys (who was son Abinah's father-in-law). This appraisal suggests that Jonathan died sometime between 11 July and 6 August of that year, likely just a few days after he filed his will.
Reumah continued to live in Hopewell until at least 10 February 1810, when she signed a statement as the relict of Jonathan Wood late of Hopewell and was paid $100 by John Sheppherd to file a quit claim on the land Abinah owned as a result of Jonathan's will, releasing her claim to it as Jonathan's widow. Abinah and his wife Susannah sold the land to Sheppherd for $360 (roughly equivalent to $5800 in 2018, according to one inflation calculator). According to the deed, the land was "a tract of land & swamp in the township of Hopewell in the county of Cumberland aforesaid Beginning at a stone being a corner of land late William Mulford, Samuel Walter & Seeley Faithian [?] thence south eighty two degrees west ninety perches to a corner thence south fifteen degrees west forty perches to a small black oak marked for a corner thence south one degree west twenty four rods to a poplar for a corner thence south thirteen degrees east forty three rods to a small black oak for a corner thence north fifty nine degrees east twenty eight rods to a corner being a white oak thence north thirty five degrees east thirteen rods to a corner thence north thirty degrees east eighteen rods to a corner thence north fifty degrees east thirty four rods to a hickory marked for a corner thence north sixty one degrees east twenty eight rods to a corner near the road thence north two degrees west bounding on Samuel Watson forty four perches to the place of the beginning containing forty five acres of land and swamp be the same more of lots which the said Abina Wood became seized by virtue of the last will and testament of his father Jonathan Wood dated [marked blank] reference being there unto had will more fully & at large appear."
Reumah passed away around April of 1825, but her story will be told another day.
Sources Used and Referenced
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"U.S. Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820," database online, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 July 2016), Entry for Jonathan Wood; Cumberland County, New Jersey; Name on a petition, 25 Oct 1783, to the General Assembly from freeholders and inhabitants of Cumberland County recommending measures to make their court actions less expensive and provide a more equit...."; Document: Manuscript Collection, 1680s - 1970s, BAH: Legislative Records, 1782 - 1787 [New Jersey State Archives]; Call Number: Box 1-15, Folder 45; Page Number: 4; Family Number: 30; citing Census Publishing. State Census Records. West Jordan, Utah: Census Publishing, 2003-2009.
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Wood, J. H.; T. R. Wood; P. A. Wood; and G. E. Wood. History and Genealogy of the Descendants of Abinah Wood and Susannah Humphreys (Andover, Ohio: Press of the Citizen, 1903).
