This entry is a follow-up on a previous post regarding the Woods family resettlement from southwestern Ohio to Platte Co., Missouri.
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Our conjectural Jeremiah Woods married either Virginia Soward about 1821, or Virginia Lowers on 10 May 1821, possibly at Batavia or Milford, Ohio.[1] He was age 23 and Virginia Lowers was 16. There is no hint that he was widowed. No available source records his trade, but it is likely that Jeremiah was a carpenter, possibly a contractor. It was the trade he was known to have followed in Weston, one followed by descendants, and one always in demand during the national expansion. Jeremiah and Virginia remained in Ohio for a decade, until the late 1830s. In the 1820s a similarly named family lived in Milford on the northeast edge of Cincinnati today.[2] A Jeremiah Woods purchased land in nearby Dearborn County, Indiana, in 1837,[3] but there’s no certainty that it was the person considered here or indication that he moved there. Within the next two years our Jeremiah moved his family to Missouri.
Jeremiah and Virginia Woods had nine children, born 1822-1840. All but the last were born in Ohio, according to later census. There was a gap in Virginia’s two-year births between 1833 and 1837 that suggests a failed pregnancy or birth. The gap between the birth of Louisa born in 1837 in Ohio and Samuel in Missouri in 1840 marks the move west.
The prevalence of large families in this study is somewhat notable today. The values of the culture at large proscribed artificial birth control generally until the late 1950s, though it was forbidden mostly only to Roman Catholics. Note that before the twentieth century, a young wife typically gave birth on a cycle of about two years, as long as she was physically up to it, usually into her late forties. A large family was of notable value on a farm or other family enterprise.
Families of fewer than perhaps five children, however widely spaced, often were considered unfortunate until mid-twentieth century. Childhood death by disease or accident claimed many more children than in current times.[4] Americans also typically saw family size as a legacy of name, a measure of influence, and a labor force for the family enterprise. Over-population in newly settled areas was not a serious concern, and most cities encouraged population growth to serve economic interests. Statistically, households included at least four persons until 1940, or two children or parents per couple, averaged across the population. The number dropped below three in 1975, and just 2.57 persons per household in 2004, or one resident child or parent for every two couples of all ages. While not exactly comparable, the figure suggests a birthrate that risks stagnating economic growth without immigration....[5]
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| Weston Missouri in 18960 |
Whether Jeremiah Woods moved his family by land or river, it was seven hundred land miles to Weston, Missouri, from southwest Ohio. They likely took little with them, but necessary family goods. With three teenaged sons, the move could be managed reasonably if they took only what they thought they would require. It would take a month or more by land, two to three weeks by river.
It was common to move accompanied by a few extended family members, who also may have arrived sooner or later, but no other Woods, Soward or Lower families have been found yet in Platte Co. at the time they arrived. In fact, sources indicate that Jeremiah was the first permanent resident in town. There may have been another Ohio family, not yet identified, who migrated with them. What is certain here is that the Woods family was in Ohio in 1837 for the birth of Louisa. In 1840 they were in Platte County when Weston was incorporated.
Jeremiah Woods was in his forties when he signed the petition to establish Weston township in Platte Co. in 1840. Virginia, sometimes called Jane, died in 1841, shortly after the move to Missouri and the birth of 11. Samuel.[16] She was 37 years old, having married at age 17 and borne nine children.
The following year Jeremiah was a trustee for the town of Weston when it was incorporated in 1842. He was described as a wealthy business leader when he purchased a home in 1847. Jeremiah was elected Justice of the Peace successively throughout his life. He was a carpenter and joiner, businessman, merchant, a Masonic Lodge founder and Knights Templar member. Jeremiah was elected mayor of Weston in 1855 and lost election to Justice of County Court in 1858. He was “universally esteemed for good natural sense and stern justice.”[17] In 1860 he was living with his daughter 10. Louisa and her new husband Henry Roney, a lawyer and later a circuit clerk and judge. Jeremiah died in 1866 at age 69, and is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Weston.[18]
[1] (FamilySearch Clermont, Marriage records 1821-1834 vol 2 img 34 of 318) [2] The 1830 Census in Milford includes a Jeremiah Woods family whose ages are a difficult match. (1830 United States Federal Census 1830; Milford, Clermont, Ohio; series M19, roll 128, pg 266, FHL film 0337939) [3] (US Federal Land Sales Records , Doc. #: 5037 Serial #: OH1480__.005) [4] Overall comparison figures are difficult to find. At the beginning of the Twentieth Century six to nine mothers and 100 infants died per 1000 live births. The 2015 infant mortality rate in US is 7 deaths per 1000 population. UK rate is 5, Europe is 3-4. (www.cdc.gov) This does not include other childhood death. Note that two of six Mordie Woods’ children died. [5] (Pearson Education, Inc. , U.S. Households by Size, 1790–2006 (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0884238.html) [16] (Platte County Historical Society p. 47) [17] (Paxton p. 46) [18] (Paxton p. 422) |
