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Doctor John Woodson (1586-April 19, 1644) immigrated from England to become one of the Early settlers of Jamestown. Born in England in 1586 to John Woodson(1542-1606)and Alice Hammon?(1516-1586), He entered Oxford University in 1608, and Married Sarah Winston in Dorcestershire, England. Leaving England for a new life in America, John Arrived on the ship "George Yeardley" on April 10, 1619 with the new governor George Yeardley3. Sarah Winston tended to the sick Mrs. Yeardley, starting an unbroken friendship between them4. John had agreed to come as a surgeon and Physicien in exchange for land5. In July 1619, The Virginia House of Burgesses was formed and convened. John Woodson, Among the first members, is listed in the Colonial Dame Register of Virginia as one of the Historical Founding Fathers of Virginia6. In 1620 he bought two servants (Slaves) and in 1623 they became his property8. He, as promised, was given a plantation named Fleur de Hundred, then in Henrico County, later Prince George9. On April 19, 1644, Dr. Woodson was killed in sight of his home by Indians led by the Chief Opechancano, the son of the famous chief Powhaten, and whom had killed 300 settlers the day before. Opechancano had also led the Indian Uprising of 1622, which Woodson and Sarah had survived, at Martin's Hundred. After killing John, the Indians attacked the house, defended by Sarah Winston and a shoemaker named Ligon. Ligon killed seven Indians with the old Woodsen Muzzleloading gun eight feet long, now one of the prized possessions of the Virginia Historical Society,and is on a permanent exhibit in the Virginia Museum in Richmond. Mrs. Sarah Woodson, now a widow, killed several Indians who came down the chimney: one with boiling water and another with a roasting spit. The sons of John Woodson, John (Jr.)(1632-1684) and Robert(1634-1716) hid in a tub and in a potato pit, respectively. Their nicknames were "Potato Hole" and "Tub"10. Several Weeks later, Opechancano was captured and executed, and the Indians were permanently driven out of that part of Virginia as a result11. After Dr. John Woodson's death, Sarah Woodson married a Dunwell and then a Johnson12. On her death she left a combination inventory and nuncupative which was recorded January 17, 1660/61. Bequests included John Woodson, Robert Woodson, Deborah Woodson, and Elizabeth Dunwell 13. Henry Morton Woodson in Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and their connections (Published in Memphis in 1915) states that 20 of the 25 charter members of The First Families of Virginia are decendents of Dr. John Woodson14. John Woodson is the Progenitor of the Woodson family in America. Among his decendents are Dolley Todd Madison(May 20, 1768-July 12, 1849), Wife of President James Madison(March 16, 1751-June 28, 1836) , and the infamous outlaw Jesse (Woodson) James(September 5, 1847-April 3, 1882)15.

References: Virginia M. Meyer and John Frederick Dorman, Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5, The Muster of the Inhabitants of Peirseys (Flowerdieu) Hundred taken the 20th of January,1624, page 23, published by Order of First Families of Virginia, 1607-1624/5, third edition, 1987.

Ibid. Woodson, page 708-716.

Colonial Records of Virginia, Lists of the Livinge and the Dead in Virginia, Feb. 16th, 1623, page 40, Genealogical Pub. Co, Baltimore, MD, 1964. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15

APVA - Jamestowne Rediscovery,  Woodson Gun photo,  10 1644 Indian Uprising,  10

James Deetz, Flowerdew Hundred, The Archaeology of a Virginia Plantation, 1619-1864, University Press of Virginia, Chartlottesville, VA, 1993.

Virginia Green, Woods on, .

Bob Juch, Some Descendants of Dr. John Woodson; . 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15

Henry Morton Woodson, His torical Genealogy of the Woodsons and their Connections, Memphis, 1915. 14

Sue Helveston, .

Joe Payne, .

Moody K. Miles III, .

Woodson GenForum, .

Natalie Fleming, .

Woodson Heraldry recreated from .

‡ The word hundred designates a demographic-geographic area that is capable of raising a hundred militiamen.