My Genealogy Hound

RICHARD F. WOOD was born on a farm near Chester, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, in the William Penn house, July 10, 1840. While Richard F. Wood was still very young, his father removed to the township of Concord and rented a farm of Mr. Perkins, where the family remained for a short time and then removed to Plymouth township, Montgomery county, where they lived two years. The family next spent five years on the Yerkes farm in Lower Merion township and then went to Swedesburg, near Swedeland, residing on the Abraham Supplee farm for six years. They afterwards lived on the Rambo farm in the upper part of Upper Merion township for ten years, and it was here that Richard F. Wood was reared. He received his education in the public schools, acquiring a knowledge of the ordinary branches of learning. In 1868 his father bought of Mr. Fulride the farm where Richard F. Wood now lives, and his son Richard managed it as a tenant for a year before the elder Mr. Wood removed to it. The father and son then tilled it on shares until the death of the father in 1872. A year later the farm was sold at executor’s sale and Richard F. Wood purchased it, although he did not have even his stock paid for. This was a venture that required courage, as the farm was worth a great deal of money.

Mr. Wood has managed his farm with great care and success, hard work never having been distasteful to him. The buildings on the farm have all been built by him except the barn and the sheds adjoining it. The house, one of the farm residences for which Norriton township is noted, was built in 1883. For thirty-one years Mr. Wood attended the market in Norristown, being found every market day at stall No. 82, which was known by all the patrons of the market as the Mr. Wood stall. In 1900 he purchased in Upper Merion township the Mansell farm, including one hundred and ten acres of improved land with good farm buildings. In politics he is a Republican and cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. He has never sought or held office.

Aaron Wood (father) was born in Delaware county December 16, 1801, and, as above stated, was a farmer. For over half a century he attended the Philadelphia market. In politics he was a Whig until 1856, when he became a Republican, remaining so until his death. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and was a regular attendant at the meetings of the Society.

Aaron Wood married Louisa Morton, who was born March 31, 1804, a daughter of Enoch and Catherine Morton. Aaron Wood died in 1872, and his wife died in July, 1868. Both are buried at Gulf Mills. They had the following children: (1). Henry Painter, born August 25, 1826, married Margaret Barlow, and is deceased. (2). Mary Ann, born July 14, 1828, married Robert Pedrick, and is deceased. (3). Elizabeth, born March 12, 1830, married Tobias Martin. (4). Amos L., born January 23, 1832, died in childhood. (5). Henrietta F., born January 26, 1834, is unmarried and lives in Germantown. (6). Catherine M., born June 27, 1836, married John Martin, and lives in Conshohocken. (7). Phebe Ann, born September 12, 1838, married William McDermott, and after his death, married George Ramsey. They have lived in Roanoke, Virginia, eighteen years. (8). Richard F. was the next of the family. (9). Jemima F., born October 17, 1842, married George Colehour, and is deceased. (10). Margaret Jane, born April 27, 1845, died in infancy. (11). Martha Cogal, born May 8, 1846, married Joseph Skidman, and is deceased. (12). Susan Flower, born April 24, 1848, married Ellwood Prizer, and lives in Germantown.

Richard F. Wood married Martha J., daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Terrill) Ramsey. Samuel Ramsey was born in Bridgeport and lived in the vicinity of that place until his marriage, after which he lived on the John Hampton farm for one year. He then purchased a farm which was in two states, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Part of it was in Cecil county, Maryland, and part in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and it was in sight of the state of Delaware. In fact the property was located on the corner formed by the three states. He remained there ten years and then, selling his farm, went to Philadelphia and engaged in butchering for about four years. Samuel Ramsey died while in the prime of life and was buried in Philadelphia.

Isaac Hughes Ramsey, grandfather of Mrs. Richard F. Wood, married Martha Biddle, and his father, Benjamin Ramsey, married Lydia Potts. The Ramsey family are of Scotch origin.

Samuel and Sarah Ramsey had the following children : (I). Martha Jane, born October 12, 1844, is the wife of Richard F. Wood. (2). William W., was born January 29, 1847. (3). Matthew J., born April I, 1849, married Mary Roberts, and lives in Philadelphia, where he is employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad. He has held a position with that corporation for thirty years. (4). Samuel G., born August 22, 1851, died in Marida, Yucatan, of yellow fever, May 19, 1903. He was general manager of the Peninsula Consolidated Railroad in Mexico. He was in the railroad employ for thirty-five years, beginning as a telegraph operator in Merion, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. (5). George W., born August 13, 1853, married and lives in North Carolina. He is a clerk in the railroad office of the Southern Railroad, between New York and North Carolina.

Mr. and Mrs. Richard F. Wood were married November 23, 1865, and they have the following children: (1). William R., born August 25, 1866, married Miss Alice G. Hardy, and has one child, Allan, born March 12, 1902. William K. Wood is farming on the place adjoining his father’s farm. (2). Sarah L., born November 7, 1868, died December 15, 1890. (3). Horace G., born November 17, 1871, is unmarried, and resides in Portsmouth, Virginia, where he has charge of the stationary department of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. (4). Anna C., born January 19, 1874, married Irvin C. Hoover, and has one child, H. Conrad, born February 4, 1899. Mr. Hoover is in the railway mail service. (5). Martha R., born April 21, 1876, is a stenographer in the real-estate office of Myers & Earth, in Philadelphia. (6). Helen R., born July 18, 1879, is unmarried and resides with her parents. (7). Gertrude R., born July 29, 1881, also lives with her parents. The family attend the First Baptist church of Bridgeport, the mother and four daughters being members.