D. ROBERTSON WOOD

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 625-626
Berkeley

D. ROBERTSON WOOD, who is giving an excellent adminis-
tration of his official duties as national bank examiner for
West Virginia, with residence and headquarters at Mar-
tinsburg, Berkeley County, is a native of Virginia, and
both he and his wife are representatives of old and dis-
tinguished families of that historic commonwealth.  He
has honored his native state by his character and achieve-
ment, and a brief outline of his career is published in the
work entitled, "Men of Mark of Virginia," by Tyler.

Mr. Wood was born at Turtle Rock, Floyd County, Vir-
ginia, on the 1st of February, 1877, and passed his early
years on the home farm of his father, his educational
advantages of preliminary order having been those of the
local schools. In his native county he took a collegiate
preparatory course in Oxford Academy, and he then en-
tered William and Mary College, where he continued his
studies. He was later graduated from the National Busi-
ness College at Roanoke, Virginia, and from 1900 to 1903,
inclusive, he was principal of the English department in
this institution. In the latter year he became cashier of
the Floyd County Bank, at Floyd, Virginia, a position
which he retained until 1907, when he came to West Vir-
ginia and assumed the office of cashier of the Union Bank
& Trust Company in the City of Bluefield. His exceptional
ability as a banking official eventually led to his resigna-
tion of his position with the institution above mentioned
in order to accept the important position of which he is
now the incumbent, that of national bank examiner for
Northern West Virginia and Western Maryland. He is
one of the loyal and progressive citizens of Martinsburg,
is a democrat in politics, holds membership in the local
Rotary Club, and he and his wife are members of the
First Presbyterian Church of Martinsburg.

Capt. Richard J. Wood, father of him, whose name
initiates this review, was born in Montgomery County,
Virginia, in 1828, a son of John Richard Wood, born in
1799, a son of Richard Wood, born in 1769, and whose
father, John Wood, born in 1745, removed from Franklin
County, Virginia, to Montgomery County, that state, in
1815, he having settled near the Blue Ridge Mountains,
in that part of the- county that is now included in Floyd
County. Henry, a son of John Wood, became a pioneer
in the State of Missouri.

Richard Wood, great-grandfather of the subject of this
sketch, was twice married, his first wife, Rachel Cochran,
having become the mother of two children, John R. and
Annie. The family name of his second wife was Bram-
mer, and they became the parents of six children: Alexan-
der, German, Jeremiah, Edward, Peter and Henry.

John R. Wood married Lucinda DeHart, daughter of
James and Ellen (Dennis) DeHart and a granddaughter
of Aaron DeHart, who came from his native France and
established his home in Virginia. John R. and Lucinda
Wood became the parents of seven children: Annie, Stephen
H., Mary, Delilah, Richard J., Leah and Rachel. The
daughter Annie became the wife of Rev. John Hubbard.
Stephen H. Wood married Rachel Thomas, daughter of
Joseph and granddaughter of Charles Thomas, the latter
of whom came to America from Wales. Mary became the
wife of Perry Slusher. Delilah married Richard Hatcher.
Richard Johnson wedded Judith Ann Shortt. Leah became
the wife of George Slusher, and Rachel married Samuel
F. Turner.

Capt. Richard Johnson Wood ambitiously made the
best of his rather limited educational advantages in his
youth, and took special pride in the fact that one of his
teachers was Nathaniel Henry, a son of the distinguished
Revolutionary patriot, Patrick Henry.   Captain Wood
passed his childhood and youth on the home farm and
early became a member of the Virginia State Militia, in
which he succeeded his uncle, Capt. Alexander Wood, as
drillmaster and captain. When the Civil war was precipi-
tated Captain Wood promptly tendered his aid in defense
of the Confederacy and enlisted as a private in Company
D, Fifty-first Virginia Infantry. He was in active service
in the present West Virginia and also in Tennessee, took
part in many engagements and nearly lost his life from
an attack of fever while in the vicinity of Memphis, Ten-
nessee.

On the 5th of February, 1852, Captain Wood married
Judith Ann Shortt, who was born in 1832, a daughter of
John Young Shortt and Judith (Thomas) Shortt, her pater-
nal grandparents having been Reuben and Lydia (Clark)
Shortt, and her great-grandparents, Obediah and Mary
(Bilbo) Shortt. Obediah Shortt was born in Virginia,
where his ancestors settled upon coming from Scotland
in the early Colonial era. Of the children of Obediah
Shortt were Susan, Reuben and Nancy, the last mentioned
having become the wife of Isaac Robertson.  Reuben
Shortt became a clergyman of the Baptist Church. His
wife was a daughter of John and Susan (Nix) Clark. Rev.
Reuben and Lydia (Clark) Shortt had the following named
children: John Y., Joseph Nix, Calvin, Mary (Polly),
Lydia, Susan and Nancy. John Young Shortt, maternal
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, wag born in
1796, and his wife (Judith Thomas) was born in 1803, a
daughter of Pleasant and Mary (Cannaday) Thomas and a
granddaughter of Charles and Judith (Ripley) Thomas,
the original representatives, of the) Thomas family in
America having come from Wales.  Mary (Cannaday)
Thomas was a daughter of James Cannaday, who was a
patriot soldier in the command of General Greene in the
War of the Revolution. The children of John Y. Shortt
were: Lydia, Naaman J., Susan, Judith Ann, Martha Eliza-
beth (Betty), John P., Lycinda, Eeuben, Charles and
Pleasant. Calvin and Reuben, Jr., sons of Reuben and
grandsons of Obediah, were soldiers in the War of 1812.
Reuben died in service at Norfolk, Virginia.

Captain Richard J. and Judith Ann (Shortt) Wood be-
came the parents of seven sons and two daughters, the
daughters, Rachel and Susan, having died in infancy. The
names of the sons are: Jefferson P., Daniel H., George
B., Greenville D., Amos D., Sparrel A. and D. Robertson.
Jefferson P. Wood married Malinda, daughter of Jonathan
L. and Julina (Burnett) Brammer, and they had six chil-
dren: Stanton H., Dora, John E., Benjamin Frederick, Ger-
trude and Ethel. Jefferson P. Wood became a prosperous
farmer and served a number of years as justice of the peace.
Daniel Hillsman Wood first married Ruth Corn, the children
of this union being Susan Della, George C., Katherine and
Mai. By the second marriage there have been no children.
Daniel Hillsman Wood is a farmer in Patrick County,
Virginia, and has been a representative in the State Legis-
lature. George Bunyan Wood married Elizabeth Brammer,
sister of the wife of his brother Jefferson, and he is a
farmer in Virginia, with prominence in public affairs in
his community. Greenville Darius Wood married Melissa,
daughter of Andrew and Sonora (Turner) Graham, and
she died without issue, his second marriage having been
with Lillie Barnard, daughter of John C. and Mary Eliza-
beth (Turner) Bamard, the children of this union being:
Richard Hugh (a physician), Susan Lee, Elizabeth, Green-
ville D., Jr., and John. Greenville D. Wood is a merchant
and farmer. Amos DeRussia Wood married Ann Chap-
man, daughter of Judge David E. Johnson, of Bluefield,
West Virginia, and they became the parents of three
children: Sara Pearis, Richard J. and John David. Amos
DeEussia Wood is a successful physician at Bluefield.
Sparrel Asa Wood married Jessie Scales and after her
death wedded India Goodwin, daughter of Judge Goodwin,
of Nottawax, Virginia, the one child of this union being
Judith Goodwin. Sparrel Asa Wood is now a teacher of
Latin in the public schools of Washington, D. C., he being
a graduate of William and Mary College.

February 18, 1908, recorded the marriage of D. Robert-
son Wood and Miss Gertrude Christian Howard, daughter
of Lieutenant Peter and Belle L. Howard, and a grand-
daughter of Major and Caroline Amanda (Latham) Howard,
a great granddaughter of Rev. Peter Howard and a great-
great- granddaughter of Sir William and Hannah (Psalter)
Howard. Sir William Howard was born in the north of
England and became a member of the British Army. His
wife not being of the nobility, he was disinherited because
of their marriage. About 1763 they came, with their two
children, to Virginia, where Sir William engaged in the iron
business, in Shenandoah County. He manufactured am-
munition and guns for the Patriot Army in the Revolntion.
In the war period he served as auditor of accounts for the
Continental forces at Richmond, Virginia. After the war he
settled in Montgomery County, Virginia, where he passed
the rest of his life. He became a clergyman of the Bap-
tist Church and was otherwise influential in its affairs. He
was a man of fine presence, with the bearing of an Eng-
lish gentleman and with a style of apparel that befitted his
station. Peter Howard, second son of Sir William, was born
September 4, 1762, became a Baptist clergyman, and in the
Revolution he served in turn in the Fifth and Third Vir-
ginia Regiments, under Colonel Buford. He died in Floyd
County, May 9, 1827. His second wife (Sarah Striekland)
was born March 12, 1761, and died November 23, 1846.

Major Howard was born in Floyd County, September 8,
1795, and there he died July 26, 1869. His son Peter was
born June 3, 1832, and became a merchant at Floyd Court
House. He served as first lieutenant in the Fifty-fourth
Virginia Infantry in the Civil war, and his death occurred
September 16, 1893. His wife, born August 9, 1850, died
September 10, 1892. They had eight children: Horatio
Seymour, Peter Tazewell, Grover Latham, Hope Chapman,
Gertrude Christian (Mrs. D. Robertson Wood), Maidai
Ethel, Ola and Annabelle. The lineage of the mother of
Mrs. Wood is thus traced: Daughter of Colonel Joseph
and Annie Amanda (Smith) Howard; granddaughter of
Colonel Ira and Pamelia (Lester) Howard; great-grand-
daughter of Reverend Peter and Sarah Striekland Howard,
the former of whom was a son of Sir William Howard,
previously mentioned. Col. Joseph L. Howard was born
May 21, 1821, and died May 7, 1889, in Floyd County,
Virginia, where he had been a merchant.  He was a
Colonel in the Civil war, and later a member for three
terms of the Legislature of Virginia. His wife was born
February 3, 1830, and died in December, 1883.  Col.
Ira Howard was born April 6, 1797, was a farmer and
merchant and was for twelve years a member of the
Virginia Legislature, his death occurring May 21, 1865.
His wife was born in 1798 and died June 25, 1835. The
father of Mrs. Wood, a merchant at Floyd Court House, died
September 16, 1893. His wife was bora in Pittsylvania
County, Virginia, a daughter of Col. Joseph Howard,
mentioned earlier in this paragraph.  Carolina Amanda
(Latham) Howard, grandmother of Mrs. Wood, was a
daughter of Henry and Mary Ball Latham, the latter a
daughter of Robert and Hattie (Ball) Green and a repre-
sentative of the distinguished Ball and Washington families
of Virginia. Mrs. Wood was educated at Oxford Academy,
Virginia College at Bristol and the Woman's College in
the City of Eichmond. She is an active member of the
Daughters of the American Revolution, and Daughters of
the Confederacy. Mr. and Mrs. Wood have three children:
Dexter Robley, born January 27, 1910, Virginia Hoard,
born December 28, 1912 and Catherine Ball, born August
6, 1915.