Background
Abraham Wood was born in 1610 in Bury, United Kingdom. He was a son of Francis Wood and Marie (Chadwick) Wood.
explorer fur trader Landowner military
Abraham Wood was born in 1610 in Bury, United Kingdom. He was a son of Francis Wood and Marie (Chadwick) Wood.
In 1620, Wood came to Virginia as an indentured servant on the English ship "Margaret and John". He was one of the few survivors, when the ship was attacked by two Spanish vessels in the West Indies, and turned to the Virginia colonies.
In 1625, Wood began serving to Captain Samuel Mathews (Governor) and was living in Jamestown. In May 1638, Wood patented four hundred acres in Charles City County and, the following year, patented another two hundred acres in Henrico County. By successive patents, Abraham became one of the greatest landowners of the colony.
In 1644, Wood became a member of the House of Burgesses for Henrico County and served in that capacity for two years. He sat for Charles City County in 1654 and 1656. Besides, in 1655, he was a justice of Charles City County. Also, the same year, in 1655, Wood was appointed to a committee to review Virginia's laws.
In 1658, the period of the provisional government, Wood became a member of the Virginia Governor's Council and served on it for at least twenty-two years. According to correspondence, he kept his seat till 1676. Also, in 1676, Wood was appointed a member of the special commission of oyer and terminer for Virginia to settle the affairs of the colony after Bacon's Rebellion.
As for his military career, Wood began it in 1646 as a captain of militia in Fort Henry. The same year, in 1646, he undertook to maintain a fort and garrison in Fort Henry (now Petersburg) and in return was granted the fort with its buildings and other privileges. This became both the residence and the business headquarters, from which he traded and sent his agents on expeditions into the western country. He himself accompanied Edward Bland on his expedition to Occoneechee Island in 1650. In 1656, Abraham became colonel of the Charles City and Henrico regiment, the group of the militia, most actively engaged in Indian fighting. He was later made a major-general and for a decade ranked with the governor as one of the chief military figures of the colony.
The story, that Wood or his agents during the following decade reached the Mississippi River is unproved and improbable. In September 1671, Wood sent out a small party under Captain Thomas Batts with a commission "for the finding out of the ebbing and flowing of the Waters on the other side of the Mountains in order to discover the South Sea". This expedition achieved the first recorded passage of the Appalachian mountains. The next party, sent out by Wood in April 1673 under James Needham, traced the trail to the present site of Tennessee and opened the trade with the distant Cherokee Indians. Because of the opposition of the Occaneechi Indians, they were forced to return to Fort Henry. They again started out on May 17. Having successfully reached the Cherokees, Needham came back to Fort Henry in September 1673. He was murdered the following year, while making the second journey to the Cherokees. Bacon's Rebellion temporarily interrupted the explorations of the western country.
Wood's last recorded public service was in March 1680, when he was conducting negotiations with the threatening confederacy of hostile Indians. It is thought, that he died shortly after this time. The exact year of his death in unknown, however, some sources note, that Wood died between 1681 and 1686, possibly in 1682.
Abraham Wood was one of the most interesting and important figures in the history of early colonial Virginia. He gained prominence as the explorer of the 17th century colonial Virginia, landowner, fur trader, member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, member of the Virginia Governor's Council and high-ranking militia officer.
Wood discovered, at several times, several branches of the great rivers Ohio and Mesechaceba. The first English expeditions to reach the southern Appalachian Mountains were also sent out by Wood.
Ann Gough was Wood's wife.
