Woods Cemetery

Brothers Sebern (1809-1865), Allen (1814-1887) and John Woods and their families were living in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, in 1840. They traveled to the Republic of Texas with their parents, John (1785-1863) and Mary (b. 1790) Woods, in the fall, settling in what was then Jasper County. Sebern and Allen received land grants from the Republic of Texas in about 1842. They worked to build a community and in 1844 organized a Baptist Church in the home of Sebern and Nancy (Marshall) (1819-1893) Woods. The area became part of the newly formed Newton County in 1846. John Woods moved to Louisiana; Allen and his wife Mathilda Ann soon followed. She died in 1856, and Allen returned to Texas with his second wife, Eliza, in 1857. According to family history, Sebern set aside a tract of land for a cemetery. His grandson, T. R. Woods (1879-1945), later gave another tract, bringing the cemetery to 1½ acres. According to oral history, the earliest grave is that of John Woods, Sr. (1785-1863). The earliest legible historic gravestones are those of three of Allen and Eliza Woods' children. More than 20 marked graves date from 1900 or earlier. The almost 50 marked graves of children dating from before 1930 are a testament to the difficult conditions of pioneer life. Woods cemetery is the final resting place of more than 368 people. Many of these men and women were pioneer residents of Newton County, including ministers, public officials, farmers, educators, medical doctors, musicians, lawyers and laborers. The 42 veterans buried here before the dawn of the 21st century included one who fought in the U.S. wars with American Indians, eight veterans of the Civil War, and several who saw conflict in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam. (2000).