Zadock WOODS^[1]

1773 - 1842  (69 years)

• Name	Zadock WOODS
  Born	18 Sep 1773	Brookfield, Worcester, Massachusetts
  Gender	Male
  Noteworthy	Killed during Dawson’s Massacre during the fight for Texas independence from Mexico. He was 69.
  Military Event	War of 1812 - Battle of New Orleans; War with Mexico
  Military Flag	Y
  Cause of Death	Killed in Battle of Salado Creek "Dawson's Massacre"
  Died	18 Sep 1842	Bexar County, Texas
  Buried	Monument Hill, La Grange, Fayette, Texas
  Person ID	I12908	Main
  Last Modified	17 Dec 2023

  
  

  Family	Minerva COTTLE,   b. 28 Jul 1776, Woodstock, Windsor, Vermont ,   d. 28 Mar 1839, Woods Fort, Fayette, Texas  (Age 62 years)
  Married	1797	Woodstock, Windsor, Vermont
  Children	1. Ardelia WOODS,   b. Troy, Lincoln, Missouri ,   d. ?, Troy, Lincoln, Missouri + 2. Minerva WOODS,   b. 30 Oct 1798, Woodstock, Windsor, Vermont ,   d. 10 Jun 1897, W Point, Fayette, Texas  (Age 98 years)   3. Norman B. WOODS,   b. 13 Oct 1805, Troy, Lincoln, Missouri ,   d. 16 Dec 1843, Perote Prison, Perote, Veracruz, Mexico  (Age 38 years)   4. Montraville WOODS,   b. 17 Nov 1806, Troy, Lincoln, Missouri ,   d. 15 Jul 1857, W Point, Fayette, Texas  (Age 50 years)   5. Leander WOODS,   b. 12 Jul 1809, Troy, Lincoln, Missouri ,   d. 1832, Velasco, Brazoria, Texas  (Age 22 years)   6. Henry Gonzalvo WOODS,   b. 18 Feb 1816, Troy, Lincoln, Missouri ,   d. 2 Aug 1866, W Point, Fayette, Texas  (Age 50 years)
  Last Modified	19 Dec 2023
  Family ID	F4314	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Married - 1797 - Woodstock, Windsor, Vermont  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Notes

  One of Austin's original "300" received title to a league and a labor of land, 5-15-1827 in Matagorda County. He eventually moved to a settlement "Woods Prairie", ten miles west of LaGrange, Texas. His home, Wood's Fort, was a community stockade for protection against the Indians between 1828 and 1836 Zadock was born in Brookfield, Massachusetts; the family migrated from there to Vermont; from there they established Woods Fort along the Cuivre River in St. Charles, Missouri. Next came the move to Texas with Stephen F. Austin’s "Old three hundred". He was killed at the battle of Salado Creek during the Dawson's Massacre battle. Zadock was 69 years old at the time and insisted on being included in the fighting. Family tradition says that he rode round and round the fort on his horse until they allowed Grandpa to go. A source copied from Austin Colony Pioneers says that Zadock was at Gonzalez when the Mexican Army demanded that the citizens of Gonzalez return the cannon that had been given to them by the Mexican Commander to defend themselves from indians. This incident help to kick off the battle for Texas Independance. The Woods and Cottle families were descendants of three Mayflower Passengers. Norman Woods is a 7th generation descendant of William Bradford through his mother, Minerva Cottle. Zadock is a 6th generation descendant of Francis Cooke. The Cottle family is also a descendant of Kenelm Winslow, brother of Edward Winslow who was also a Mayflower passenger. Zadock Woods was born in Brookfield, Ma., Minerva in Woodstock, Vt., and Norman in Troy, Missouri in Woods Fort. Zadock was a partner in a lead mine with Moses Austin in Troy, Missouri,but the business failed and they lost their money. It was then thatMoses Austin heard about the land being offered to Americans who would bewilling to go to Texas . Joseph Cottle, Minerva's father was a Deacon in the Universalist church, but was very put out with Zadock when he built an inn and tavern on his property in Troy. The tavern became a gathering place to drink and carouse and Joseph was very uphappy about his son-in-law's involvement in this enterprise. Unhappier still was the Woods and Cottle clan when Zadock began drinking and getting into fights. The second term of the Lincoln County, Missouri court came to order in Woods Tavern with Zadock being charged with two counts of assault and battery. The jury of old friends found him not guilty of one charge and fined him one dollar for the second charge. Daniel Boone was a frequent visitor to Woods Fort. Lieutenant ZacharyTaylor made his headquarters at Woods Fort. The junior officers of Zachary Taylor build a miniture spinning wheel for Minerva, which is said to be in a museum in Burnet, Texas. Zadock signed up as a scout with James Callaways Rangers in 1814 to fight the British. He participated in the Battle of New Orleans. Zadock Woods is buried on Monument Hill in La Grange, Texas with the other Dawson men and Norman Woods was buried in the moat at Perote Prison in Mexico. ----- On September 18, Caldwell sent a small band of rangers to draw the Mexicans toward the battlefield he had chosen. An estimated 850 Mexican soldiers moved out of San Antonio to attack the Texans. A separate company of 54 Texans, mostly from Fayette County, under the command of Nicholas Mosby Dawson, arrived at the battlefield and began advancing on the rear of the Mexican Army. The Mexican commander, General Adrian Woll, afraid of being surrounded, sent between 400 and 500 of his soldiers and one or two cannon to attack the group. The Texans were able to hold their own against the Mexican rifles, but once the cannon got range the Texan fatalities mounted quickly. Dawson realized the situation was hopeless and raised a white flag of surrender. In the fog of war, both sides continued to fire and Dawson was killed. The battle was over after a little more than one hour. It ended with thirty-six Texans dead, fifteen captured and three escaped. At the front, Caldwell's men had repelled several Mexican charges and inflicted heavy casualties. Woll was forced to retreat back to San Antonio. The next morning Caldwell's troops located the Dawson Battleground and buried the dead Texans in shallow graves. The dead Mexicans were not buried. Caldwell then unsuccessfully pursued Woll's forces south as they retreated from San Antonio. Caldwell returned to San Antonio, after the Mexicans successfully recrossed the Rio Grande. In late summer of 1848, a group of La Grange citizens retrieved the remains of the men killed in the Dawson Massacre from their burial site near Salado Creek. These remains and the remains of the men killed in the failed Mier Expedition were reinterred in a common tomb in a cement vault on a bluff one mile south of La Grange. The grave site is now part of the Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery State Historic Sites.

  
  

• Sources

  [S44] Orcutt_001 gedcom file, Robert Waddell.