Letter from William Wood to his Father, Latane M. Wood

Contributed by Frances Henson Atkins (Trevilians, Virginia) and Porter C. Wright (Louisa, Virginia)

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This letter was dictated by William Wood to a young daughter of Mr. John Edwards, in whose home Wood had been taken after the experiences related in the letter. The two Wood boys, William and John, were sons of Latane M. and Cordelia Wood, and brothers of Mr. Alderman 0. Wood, who married Fannie E. Henson, daughter of Bartlett A. and Mrs. A. R. Henson on 22 December 1881. Mr. A. O. Wood was born in 1857 when his place of birth was given as "Missouri." Mr. A. O. Wood's daughter, Elsie, married Samuel B. Henson and this letter was made available to the Society by his granddaughter, Mrs. Frances Henson Atkins.

The General Price referred to in the letter has been identified as Major General Sterling Price, CSA, who was in command of cavalry of District of Arkansas and had previously been in Missouri. It would seem that the family of Mr. Latane Wood were residents of Missouri at the time the letter was written, although Mr. A. O. Wood moved to Louisa County from Albemarle County.

In the letter the words "knight after" were inserted in the text of the attending physician's statement by the young Miss Edwards and the spelling throughout the letter is distinctly hers.

Letter

"Spavina," near Maysville,

Benton Co., Ark.

Nov. the 14 th., 1864

Mr. Latney M. Woods

Dear Sir:

I write at the request of your Son, William. He says as the Command of General Price neared Maysville, Ark., he and his brother John & francis Mertain left the Command and wandered off a few miles in search of something to eat, we were captured by the hostile Cherokee Indians, commonly known here as Pin Indians. they took us to one of their Towns and kept us all night, the next morning they took us out to kill us they shot me first the ball passed through part of my neck and I fell as dead they then killed brother John and Francis Meekin [sic], shooting them first and then cuting them to peaces with their knives scalping them, stripping them to there shirts drawers, they there came to me and pronounced me dead, striped me and dragged me some 40 to 50 yds and laid me down, then draged my brother and laid him out beside me. they throwed francis Meekin into a gully and left us. as soon as they were out of hearing I got up and left, not knowing the country, I wandered about from tuesday, the day I was shot till Saturday, eating nothing but four apples I found in an old orchard. I had about given up to die when I heared a chicken crow. I crept to the plase, found a kind hearted white woman & her daughters, they treated me kindly, supplied my wants as far as able, but my feet were so badly frozen. I had been out in a hard snow storm that I could hardly sit up. the kind lady, not deeming me safe from the Indian, she not living more than 5 miles from the Indian line, put me on a horse and sent me three miles further on to another house where I stayed all night, the people, not deeming it safe for me to stay with them, sent me two miles further on to Mr. John Edwards where I now am. very kind, good Christian People - may God bless them for their kindness to me. they have sent for a Dr. he says chances are very mutch against my recovery, my feet are very badly mortified and the Dr. has taken off the big toe of my left foot and all but the little one of my right foot & all the skin from the bottoms of both feet the Dr. says Tetanus (my head is drawn back & keeps jerking) has set in & he says it is a very first sympton. I hope God for Christs sake has forgiven my sins. O, my dear Father, forsake sin, turn to God, seek your souls salvation and meet me in heaven, kiss little brother for me. tell him to be a Christian and meet me and his mother in heaven..

Mr. Woods - the knight after the above was written, your son died and was buried decently.

Clement Hayden,M.D”