Abraham Wood

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Abraham Wood was an English fur trader (specifically the deerskin trade) and explorer of colonial Virginia during the 17th century. His base of operations was Fort Henry at the falls of the Appomattox in present-day Petersburg. He is sometimes referred to as "General" or "Colonel" Wood.

The first recorded English explorations of the southern Appalachian Mountains were by fur traders associated with Abraham Wood. Several exploration parties were sent by Wood into the mountains between 1650 and 1675. These parties explored the upper reaches of the James River and Roanoke River.

In 1671 the Batts-Fallam expedition reached the New River Valley and the New River. The New River was named Wood's River after Abraham Wood, although in time it became better known as the New River.

In 1673 Wood sent his friend James Needham and his indentured servant Gabriel Arthur on an expedition to find an outlet to the Pacific Ocean. Shortly after their departure Needham and Arthur encountered a group of Tomahitan Indians, who offered to conduct the men to their town across the mountains (Wood 1990, p. 33). The Tomahitans are sometimes thought to have been Cherokee, but in 1727 a delegation of Cherokee visiting Charleston referred to the Tomahitans as old enemies of their allies the Yamasee (Green 1992, p. 26n). After reaching the Tomahitan town Needham returned to Fort Henry to report to Wood. While en route back to the Tomahitan town Needham was killed by a member of the trading party with whom he was traveling (Wood 1990, pp. 36-38). Shortly thereafter, Arthur was almost killed by a mob in the Tomahitan settlement, but was saved and then adopted by the town's headman (Wood 1990, p. 38). Arthur lived with the Tomahitans for almost a year, accompanying them on war and trading expeditions as far south as Spanish Florida (Wood 1990, p. 39) and as far north as the Ohio River (Wood 1990, pp. 40-41) . During these expeditions Arthur probably became the first European to visit West Virginia.

[edit] References

Briceland, Alan Vance (1999), “Wood, Abraham”, in John A. Garraty (ed.), American National Biography (Vol. 23), New York: Oxford University Press, p. 748-749, OCLC 39182280 .

Drake, Richard B. (2001), A History of Appalachia, Lexington, Ky.: The University of Kentucky Press, ISBN 0-8131-2169-8, OCLC 43953981 .

Green, William (1992), The Search for Altamaha: The Archaeology and Ethnohistory of an Early 18th Century Yamasee Indian Town, Volumes in Historical Archaeology #21, Columbia, S.C.: The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, OCLC 27735429 .

Monaghan, Frank (1943), “Wood, Abraham”, in Dumas Malone (ed.), Dictionary of American Biography (Vol. 20, Werden-Zunser), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 454, OCLC 70543382 .