The soldier died shortly after discharge. His father was denied pension benefits. Both men and several witnesses had grown up on the same plantation.
Mother — 501,006 / —–
General Affidavit, Miles Spruill, 6 June 1891
66 years old; residence, New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina; post-office address, New Bern, NC
“I have been acquainted with Cooper Woods for 60 years and was well acquainted with his wife. His wife died four (4) years before the war. … He is the father of John Henry Woods deceased who was a young man grown at the commencement of the war …. I saw John Henry Woods shortly after he came out of the service … I live near Cooper Woods and see him almost every day. He is a very old man.”
Sworn Statement, Micahel McCray, 12 August 1891
74 years old; post-office address, New Bern, NC
“That he has been well and personally acquainted with Cooper Woods for thirty (30) or more years and know him to be the father of John Henry Woods deceased, That myself, Cooper Woods and John Henry Woods his son all belonged to same man hence my knowledge of the facts above stated”
General Affidavit, Patsy Sawyer, 20 January 1892
65 years old; residence, New Bern, Craven Co, NC
“That she has been acquainted with Cooper Woods for about 60 yrs … That they were all raised on one plantation and belonged to one family of people before the war. That she was not present at the marriage of Cooper Woods to Ellen (his wife) … That about August 1836 Ellen Woods gave birth to John Henry Woods who (I was reliably informed) died about the fall of 1865 or 1866… The facts above stated are known to me by reason of living on the same plantation with this family for several years before the war and being present at the birth of the Soldier”
Sworn Statement, Edna Hayes, 19 February 1892
“aged 63 years …
“That she has been well and personally acquainted with Cooper Woods for about 57 years or more. That about the month of July 1832 he was married to Ellen Mills who lived with him as his wife until she died which was about June 1858. That sometime after the marriage of Cooper and Ellen Woods I was carried away from the plantation and neighborhood where they lived and when I saw Cooper Woods again he was with the deceased John Henry Woods who was then a young man who told me that his mother Ellen Woods had died. That shortly afterwards, he left his father Cooper Woods and enlisted in the US Service.”
General Affidavit, Mary Ann Stamps, 9 February 1892
55 years old; residence, New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina
“Well and personally acquainted with Cooper Woods for 32 years … she saw John Henry Woods immediately after his return from the US Service. He was at his father’s (Cooper Woods) house and was at that time very sick with what I was told was lung disease … He died which to the best of my recollection was about the fall of 1865 or 1866.”
General Affidavit, Edna Hayes, 9 February 1892
63 years old; residence, New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina: post-office, New Bern, NC
“She was personally acquainted with John Henry Woods son of Cooper Woods prior to his enlistment and that shortly after his discharge (not more than a week) from the US Service she went to see him at his father’s house where she found him very sick … She saw the soldier about two (2) times a week from discharge to date of his death and all this time he was confined to his house and grew worse each day until he died … she never found the physician there at any of her visits.”
General Affidavit, Cooper Woods, 21 April 1892
82 years old; residence, New Bern, Craven Co, NC; post-office address, New Bern, NC
“That he is the father of the above named Soldier who was born in August 1836.
“That in the former affidavit he unintentionally stated that Soldier was born in 1841 whereas he should have stated that Soldier was born on the 16th day of August 1836. He therefore makes this affidavit to correct the error.”
Questionnaire (Form 3-514), 24 August 1894
Please furnish the names and post-office addresses of officers and comrades of Co L 1 Reg’t USC Vol Cavly
Name | Rank | Present Post-Office Address |
Henry Johnson | Sgt | 2522 1st St Extended, Washington, DC |
John Brinkley | Cpl | 728 Chester Ave, Phila, Pa. |
John T. White | Bugler | Watson, Desha Co, Ark |
Alex Reese | Pvt | Norristown, Montgomery Co, Pa. |
Edward Moore | “ | 912 Locust St., Camden, NJ |
Oliver Williams | “ | Ruddell, Hampton Co, [illegible] |
Chas H Reynolds | “ | Warwick, Orange Co, NY |
Robt Brown | “ | 1026 [illegible] 10 St, Camden, NJ |
London Hurdle | “ | Norfolk, Va. |
Daniel Keyes | “ | 220 Main St., Buffalo, NY |
Sworn Statement, John A. Jones, 5 January 1895
70 years old; residence, New Bern, Craven Co, NC
“My occupation is a house carpenter and I became acquainted with Cooper Woods the year of 1847 and we have been together often … I see him often & he has to go on his stick. This claimant is an honest good old man”
Sworn Statement, James Hayes, 5 January 1895
66 years old; residence, New Bern, Craven Co., NC
“I have known Cooper Woods the claimant for thirty five years more or less. I knew him before the War of 1861. I also knew his son the soldier who was named John Henry Wood but he enlisted under name of John Henry … I visit him in his last illness. Also I was present when he was berried [sic] and the claimant his father is an old man about 84 years of age or more & he is the father of John Henry & John Henry never was married & had no children.”
General Affidavit, Cooper Woods, February 1896
residence, New Bern, Craven Co, NC; post-office address, New Bern, Crave Co, NC
“I am old and dependent on hands of charity”
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