Ruth Sheppard (Cary) Wood (1825 - 1907)

Born 24 Sep 1825 in Madison County, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Wife of David Wood — married 27 Oct 1842 in , Union, Ohio

Descendants

Died 13 Mar 1907 at age 81 in Cortland, DeKalb, Illinois, United States

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Biography

Ruth Cary, daughter of Ephraim and Matilda (Gandy) Cary, was born 24 September 1825 in Madison County, Ohio.

At the age of two, she moved with her family to Marvin Township, Union County, where she later married, on 27 Oct 1842 David Wood.

In her younger days, Ruth attained great skill in the art of spinning— flax in winter and wool in summer. Ruth S. Cary Wood was well known for her spinning business in Cortland and Sycamore.

The following account is often told in the Joiner family and was published in "Portrait and Biographical Album of DeKalb County, Illinois, 1885":

"David Wood spent his early life in Union Co., Ohio, and emigrated thence to the place known as Ohio Grove - Cortland where his widow RUTH CARY WOOD now lives, and where he died, March 24, 1861. Having been brought up on a farm and received a common-school education, he continued working his father’s farm on shares for a time. In September of 1835, in company with George Gandy and four or five others, they arrived to this DeKalb county and lived with the Indians for a brief period. He made a claim on section 1, township 40 north, of range 5 east, now known as Cortland; he erected a log house and lived here until 1841, when he returned to Ohio, where he was married. He returned to this DeKalb county in the fall of 1843, at which time the land came into market, and he entered it and bought the land. In 1855 he built a frame residence, which his Wood family is still occupying. Once in early day, he went to St. Charles with an oxen team to get provisions, and on his return, the oxen team gave out. So, David remained overnight under an oak tree, but could get no sleep, as he had to stir around continually to keep from freezing. He had some beef with him in the wagon, and the wolves were nearby, howling around, all night. The next morning he had to break the ice to get his team over the Fox river to get home to his worried dear wife and children."

Sources

See also:

• Rev. Dr. Darrell and Sally Ann Joiner, "The Traveling Joiners: A Genealogy of the Joiner Family and Other Related Families"; privately pub 1971, 39 pages.
• Darrell and Sallyann Joiner, Cary Family History, 1971.
• US Census Records, 1810-1860
• Illinois, Wills and Probate Records, 1772-1999
• Ohio, County Marriages, 1774-1993