When stripping away centuries of family lore, oral traditions, and romanticized genealogies, very few primary, 17th-century historical records remain for John Woodson Sr. of Virginia. Genealogists and historians point out that the vast majority of the famous details – including the 1644 massacre defense – originate from a family manuscript written by Charles Woodson in 1785, over 140 years after the events occurred.

The following details are explicitly verified by surviving 17th-century records (such as the Virginia Colonial Muster of 1624/1625 and early court records):er 140 years after the events occurred Evaluating the claims piece by piece reveals what stands as absolute, verifiable fact versus what remains unproven tradition:

*John Woodson and his wife, Sarah, arrived in Virginia in 1619 aboard “the George”, a London based ship, from where most Shropshire emigrants embarked.
*As of the January/February 1624/1625 census, they lived at Peirsey’s Hundred (previously known as Flowerdew Hundred) on the south side of the James River. No children were recorded.
*John and Sarah, maiden name unknown, did have two sons, John and Robert. This is proven by a January 1660/1661 court record of Sarah’s oral Will (under her later married name, Sarah Johnson), which leaves bequests to her sons: John Woodson and Robert Woodson.

THE WOODSON FAMILY OF VIRGINIA – A BRANCH OF THE PENELLS OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Penhull was a mannor, for Walter de la Pole gyvethe a rent to the Priory out of hys land de la Bech, in Pensex, beeing of the fee of Alured de Penhull, and Sampson Trien selle the to the Priory for fyve marckes of sylver by Alured de Penhulle’s consent the land whiche hee heald in the same place of the fee of Penhull and Radulphus de Suddington, which I thincke shoulde bee Sodington, grauntethe hys landes at Penhull which hee healde of Alured de Penhull to the Priory of Worcester.

Theare is allso in Lindrege a place called Wodeston, which imparted a name to a family, for An. Do. 1302, beeinge 31 Ed. 2, dyed William de Wodeston, but thys family as it seemethe ceasynge, John Pascall, of Wodeston, in hys pyous charity to the Priory of Worcester, graunted them, by consent of hys wyfe, Cristine, for the benefytt of theyre and theyre auncestors’ soules, landes in Lindrege, Wodeston, Wodenhull and otherwheare 2. Witnessed by Rafe de Morhinton, Simon de Sibb, and Baldwin de Comen, Knightes, Magister William de Powike, Rafe Parson, of Lindrege, Osbert Baret, Alan de Bradwas, Miles de la Lawe, and Godfrey de Doddenhull, which maye bee Woudenhull, for Godfrey de Wodenhull had a manor heere of hys owne name, Roger Sampson houldinge of itt, as appearethe largely by thys gvyfte. But Wodeston hathe nowe for many yeeres *continued in the family of Penell, descended from the coheyre of Lowe, of “the Lowe” in Shropshyre, and from auncient Townley, who by his longe induringe habitation at Rowden bearethe the name of that place, a thinge vsuall in very good familyes. (Thomas Habington, ‎John Amphlett. A Survey of Worcestershire, vol. 1, p. 336, 1894).
The Lindridge estate was held by William Pennell in ca. 1520.

*Pennell v Myll. Plaintiffs: William, great-grandson and heir of Thomas Pennell. Defendants: John Myll. Subject: Contempt of a commission in a former suit for a messuage and land at Pensax in the lordship of Byrmyche alias Lindridge. Worcestershire. 1538-1544. (C 1/1052/4-5).
*1. … Pennell, b. ca. 1430.
*1.1. … Pennell, b. ca. 1460.
*1.1.1. William Pennell, of Lindridge, b. ca. 1490, m. “a dau. of Roger Mounde” of Lindridge, sister of William Mounde: 1580/81: Bond from William Mounde of Woodston in the parish of Lindridge, yeoman , to John Burye of Newnam in the parish of Knighton , co. Worcester, gent. ‎(James Harvey Bloom, Original Charters Relating to the City of Worcester, p. 70, 1905).
*1.1.1.1. Thomas Pennell, b. ca. 1520. “Thomas Pennell of Wodsonne“, recorded 12 Nov.1571. (C 78/43/33). He m. Agnes, dau. and co-heir of Humphrey Lowe, “of the Lowe”. Arms: Quarterly: 1 & 4, Argent, on a fesse gules, three garbs or (Penell); 2 & 3, Gules, a wolf passant argent (Lowe). (Visitation of Worcestershire, 1634, p. 78). Humphrey Lowe was thehe was the last male heir in his direct line. Historical county records show that the Penell estate of Lindridge included Upper and Lower Woodson Farms during the 16th and 17th centuries (The Victoria County History for Worcestershire).

The Penell family of Worcestershire – specifically the prominent branch seated at Woodstone Manor in the parish of Lindridg – were recorded during the 1634 Heraldic Visitation as being “descended of a younger house of Penell in co. Chester”. The Earl of Chester’s Garbs: The golden wheat sheaves (three garbs or) on a shield are the traditional, definitive heraldic emblem of the Earldom of Chester. Before the College of Arms strictly regulated duplication across different counties, it was common for families connected by ancient feudal service to a great lord (such as the Earls of Chester or the local Barons) to adopt the lord’s colors and charges. The Penells likely retained this shield from their historical attachments. When the Heralds visited Lindridge in 1634, they thoroughly examined the Penell family’s deeds, and seals. If the Penells were just local Worcestershire farmers who had recently assumed arms, the Heralds would have rejected the shield and designated the family as “ignobilis”. Instead, they officially confirmed the arms and wrote in the registry that the family was “descended of a younger house of Penell in co. Chester”

*1.1.1.1.1 .William Penell, b. ca. 1550, “of Woodson in the parish of Lyndrydge co Worcs gentylman”. Historical county records show that the estate now represented by Upper and Lower Woodson Farms belonged entirely to the Penell family during the 16th and 17th centuries (The Victoria County History for Worcestershire).

1. William Penell of Woodson in the parish of Lyndrydge co Worcs gentylman. 2. George Blunte of Soddington ale Syllington co Worcs esq. Agreement that Penell shall by fine with proclamation within 1 year acknowledge property in the town and parish of Alveley (lately Anne Penell widow,mother of William, or her assigns, or of John Burton,his assigns) heretofore the inheritance of Humfrey Lowe deceased, and any other property of his in the said town and parish, to be Blunt’s by his gift. Signature of William Penell. Witnesses: Edward Newport, Peter Blounte, Anthony Nyles. 10 January, 1598. (Shrop. Arch., 2028/1/2/73).

(*This 1598 document has major bearing regarding the economic state of the family, and it introduces the potential for younger siblings.
*It is an agreement to execute a Fine with Proclamation (a formal, court-sanctioned land sale).
*Through it, William Pennell is selling or permanently transferring the entire Lowe family inheritance in Alveley to George Blunte of Sodington.
*In the 1586 deed (see as follows) Agnes (called “Anne”) tried to lock the Lowe estate down tightly for William and his direct heirs.
*However, by January 1598, Agnes was either deceased or had relinquished control, and William immediately liquidated the property to the Blounts of Sodington.
*If there was a younger brother living in the area, this sale completely stripped away any remaining hope he had of ever inheriting or leasing the “Lowe” family lands.
*He was officially cut off from his mother’s ancestral property in Alveley.
*William Pennell retreated fully to his paternal estate: Woodstone in Lindridge.
*If a younger, disinherited brother was landless and living as a tenant on William’s remaining lands, he was doing so entirely within the bounds of Woodstone.
*H e and his children would be known to the parish simply as the “Woodsons” (the people from Woodstone) to differentiate them from William Pennell, “Gentleman and Lord of the Manor
*A younger son of Thomas and Agnes would have been born. c a. 1560, and would have been a struggling tenant in Woodstone precisely during this 1598 window when his older brother William was selling off family assets.
*His son , born c a. 1590, would choose to risk everything by migrating to the early Virginia colony.

This is both the suggested ancestry of John Woodson of Virginia and the reason for him emigrating.

This George Blount of the 1598 deed, supra, was the third cousin (twice removed) to Sir George Blount of Kinlet*. The Sodington line descends from Sir John Blount’s first marriage to Juliana Foulhurst. This branch inherited the original family home at Sodington Hall. The Kinlet Line descends from Sir John Blount’s second marriage to Isabell Cornwall, heiress of Kinlet. This branch inherited the Kinlet estate in Shropshire. Sodington Hall (in Mamble, Worcestershire) and Kinlet Hall (in Shropshire) are located less than 8 miles apart.

Sir George Blount of Kinlet, m. Constance Talbot. She was the sister of Margaret Talbot, who m. (1) Sir Richard Ligon, of Arle, Madresfield, brother of Thomas Ligon, who m. Frances Dennys (cousin), having issue: Thomas Ligon, who m. (Oct. 10, 1602), Elizabeth Pratt; having issue: Col. Thomas Ligon, who m. Mary Harris, born in 1625 in Ludlow, by deposition, sister of Major William Harris, of Virginia. By his first wife, Mary Russell, Sir Richard Ligon had issue: Katharine Ligon, who m. Fleetwood Dormer, Esq., who m. (2) Mary Harris, second-cousin of the said Mary and William Harris.

When property or manorial rights (like the profitable saltpits in Droitwich) were contested, members of both branches frequently appeared in the same court documents as witnesses, executors, or co-defendants. The Sodington branch eventually acquired the Mawley Hall estate, which sits virtually on the doorstep of Kinlet. This acquisition further condensed the physical space between the two family seats.

The Pennell family of Woodstone (“Woodson”) were acting as direct trustees, land allies, and witnesses for Sir George Blount of Sodington and Sir Walter Blount.The Sodington Blounts, the Harrises of Ludlow, the Ligons of Madresfield, and the Pennells of Woodstone were an inseparable, localized web of families living within a 10-mile radius where Worcestershire and Shropshire meet. By identifying that the Pennells’ estate of Woodson (Woodstone) in Lindridge sits right at the geographic heart of the Blount/Ligon/Harris territory, the missing geographic anchor of the Virginia Woodsons is suggested.
Agnes (Ann) Pennell of Lowe in the parish of Alveley widow enfeoffs William Mounde of Lyaridge co Worcs yeoman and Hugh Lowe of Alveley yeoman in that messuage or tenement called le Lowe in the parish of Alveley new occupied by Agnes, with all appurtenances and a cottage, within the lordship and parish of Alveley which she had by feoffment of Humfrey Lowe deceased her late father, by the arbitrament of Walter Blownt esq,to these uses:- to use of Agnes for her life and after to use of William Pennell gentleman, her son and heir, and heirs of the body of William Pennell, in default remainder to the right heirs of Agnes. Warranty Mark of Agnes. sealed and delivered with livery of seizin by Agnes to both feoffees. Witnesses Thomas Warter, Humfrey Lowe, Thomas Dedson, Morres Powell. 13 June 28 Elizabeth (1586). (Shrop. Arch., 2029/6).

(Alveley is situated ca. 15 miles from Pickthorne, the home of Richard Cocke of Virginia, Michael Holland of Pickthorne (ancestor of Michael Holland of Goochland), whose father had married a second-cousin of the said Richard Cocke, and of a Potter family, later associated with Michael Holland of Goochland).

The deed specifies that the land goes to William Pennell (son and heir) and the “heirs of the body of William.” It then notes: “in default remainder to the right heirs of Agnes.” If Agnes had a younger son, he would automatically be included under the umbrella of her “right heirs” under common law if William’s direct line died out. Legal documents of this era were highly efficient; they rarely named younger children individually in land settlements unless those children were being given an immediate, active share of that specific property.

This specific deed handles the estate of “le Lowe” in Alveley (which Agnes inherited from her father, Humphrey Lowe). It has no legal bearing on Woodstone (Wodsonne), which was her late husband Thomas Pennell’s paternal estate. Even if Agnes chose to settle 100% of her maternal Lowe property onto her eldest son William to boost the primary family line, Thomas Pennell could still have independently provided for a younger son out of his own Woodstone lands.

The Manor of Farley was historically owned by the Beauchamps of Powick and passed directly to Thomas Ligon of Madresfield upon his death in 1507. It remained a prized Ligon asset for generations. By the mid-17th century, the Lygons partnered with or transferred shares of this exact estate to their closest regional allies. A 1652 legal record explicitly shows Edward Pennell of Woodstone (Lindridge) acting jointly with Henry Bromley to sell the Manor of Farley to the Dangerfield family.Iindenture between Francis Blounte of Mawley, co.Salop, (and his nephew) Walter Blounte of Soddington, co. Worc., esq., Sir William Russell of Strensham, co. Worc., bart., and George Wylde of Droytwich [Droitwich], co. Worcs., esq., concerning messuages, lands and tenements in Cleobury Mortimer, co. Salop. 27 August 15 Chas I (1639). (Birmingham Arch., MS 3420/Acc 1932-043/395670).

Sir William Russell of Strensham was closely and directly connected to the Ligon family of Madresfield. Sir William Russell’s aunt, Mary Russell, married Richard Ligon (d. 1584) of Madresfield Court. This marriage made their son, Sir William Ligon (1567–1608), a first cousin to Sir William Russell’s father (Sir Thomas Russell).

The family ties were reinforced by a second cross-marriage in the previous generation. Sir William Russell’s grandfather, Sir Thomas Russell (d. 1574), married Margaret LIgon as his second wife. This meant that the Russells and Ligons were step-siblings and full-cousins simultaneously, creating an incredibly dense web of kinship. The Thomas Ligon (ca. 1577–1626) who married Elizabeth Pratt in 1623 was a first cousin once removed to Sir William Russell of Strensham. Their son, Thomas Ligon, who m. Mary Harris, was the second cousin to Sir William Russell of Strensham. Because Colonel Thomas Ligon is the son of the Thomas Ligon who married Elizabeth Pratt, the family generation shifts down by one step: William Ligon of Madresfield (1512–1567) was their shared great-grandfather.Sir William Russell is in the third generation from that ancestor (Grandson).Colonel Thomas Ligon (husband of Mary Harris) is in the fourth generation (great-grandson). This means that while Colonel Thomas’s father was a first cousin once removed to Sir William, Colonel Thomas himself was Sir William Russell’s second-cousin.

1.1.1.1.2. A younger son, born ca. 1560. From him also probably descended “Robert Woodsum of Ludlow”, fl. 1670. and William Woodson of Shrewsbury, fl. 1680. (Shrop. Arch., 3365/2269/114).
1.1.1.1.2.1. John Woodson, of Virginia, b. ca, 1590.

The case for this being John Woodson of Virginia can only rest on his associations in Shropshire being repeated in Virginia; the process of “continuation of association”, by which families of the landed and professional gentry continued to intermarry over successive generations, reinforcing mutually advantageous alliances. This is a simple case of Shropshire families ABCD being the same as Virginia families ABCD. Without this “continuation” any hypothesis of English ancestry is unlikely to be true. People of a certain class emigrated and lived near English associates in early Virginia. In effect, they were recreating English parishes – replacing lordship appointed squires with ones from their own circle.
I leave it to any reader to decide whether the Woodson associations in Virginia matched proposed ones in Shropshire:

WOODSON

1. John Woodson (b. ca. 1590, d. 1644).
1.1. John Woodson (b. ca. 1627, d. 1684), sans issue. He was a neighbour of Richard Cocke Sr. and the Harris family near Curles Swamp. Mary Harris (sister of Major William Harris), was bapt. April 3, 1625, in Ludlow. In 1689, Mary (Harris) Ligon gave a deposition stating her age to be 64. She m.Thomas Ligon
1.2. Robert Woodson Sr. (b. ca. 1630, d. after 1707), m. Elizabeth Ferris. On 21 Oct 1687, he patented 450 acres on White Oak Swamp with Richard Farris, Giles Carter, Major William Harris, and Roger Cummings. (Deed recorded 1 May 1707).
1.2.1. Robert Woodson, Jr., m. Sarah Lewis, sister of William Lewis. They were children of John Lewis, son of Edward Lewis (of Diddlesbury), and Jane (Langford) Harris, relict of Roland Harris, and grandmother of Major William Harris and Mary Harris Ligon.
1.2.2. Elizabeth Woodson, m.* William Lewis (bapt. 16 March 1661, in Diddlebury), grandson of Edward Lewis and Jane Langford Harris, supra. Elizabeth Woodson and William Lewis had issue: Joseph Lewis, who m. Elizabeth Pleasants.
1.2.2.1. Sarah Lewis, m. James Cocke, son on James Cocke I (1666–1721) and Elizabeth Pleasants, son of Thomas Cocke Sr. (1639–1696) of Malvern Hills, named as “friend” in the Will of Major William Harris, son of Richard Cocke I of Bremo, neighbor of the said Major William Harris, p. 303.
1.2.3. John Woodson Jr. (d. 5 Dec 1715 at Curles, Henrico County), m. Judith, dau. of Stephen Tarleton. Granted 1,278 acres in Henrico County with Charles Fleming in 1714
1.2.3.1. John Woodson (d. 2 Dec. 1789, in Goochland, m. Dorothea, dau. of Colonel Isham Randolph (and granddau. of Col. William Randolph, who was named as a friend in the Will of Major William Harris. This marriage made John Woodson the uncle-by-marriage of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.
1.2.3.2. Tarleton Woodson* (d. before 3 Apr 1763, Chesterfield County), m. Ursula, dau. of Charles Fleming, on 23 Aug 1710 at the Henrico Monthly Quaker Meeting.
1.2.3.2.1.. Judith Woodson, m. Thomas Cheadle.
1.2.3.2.1.1. .Mary Cheadle, m. James Harris, son of Benjamin Harris (and Sarah Dumas), great-grandson of Major William Harris.

HARRIS OF LUDLOW

1. Rowland Harris, b. ca. 1665, d. 1605, m. Jane Langford, Sept. 14, 1595; she baptised, Oct. 10, 1567.
1.1. John Harris, bapt. March 5, 1604, m Margaret Holland.
1.1.1. Mary Harris, , bapt. April 3, 1625, in Ludlow. In 1689, Mary (Harris) Ligon gave a deposition stating her age to be 64. She m. Thomas Ligon: Sir John Talbot, of Albrighton, Sheriff of Shrop. (d. 1549), m. (1) Margaret, dau. of Adam Troutbeck, of Mobberley, Cheshire. 1.1. Constance Talbot, m. Sir George Blount, of Kinlet.* She was the sister of Margaret Talbot, who m. (1) Sir Richard Ligon, of Arle, Madresfield, brother of Thomas Ligon, who m. Frances Dennys (cousin), having issue: Thomas Ligon, who m. (Oct. 10, 1602), Elizabeth Pratt; having issue: Col. Thomas Ligon, who m. Mary Harris, born in 1625 in Ludlow, by deposition, sister of Major William Harris, of Virginia. By his first wife, Mary Russell, Sir Richard Ligon had issue: Katharine Ligon, who m. Fleetwood Dormer, Esq., who m. (2) Mary Harris, second-cousin of the said Mary and William Harris.

Mary Harris and her brother, Major William Harris, were second-cousins of Mary Harris, b. ca. 1620, Lady Dormer, m. (in 1673, as second wife), Fleetwood Dormer, b. May 21, 1616, son of Sir Fleetwood Dormer (obit. February 1, 1638), and Mary Isham. She was the aunt of Henry Isham, who resided at Bermuda Hundred, Henrico Co., who m. Katherine Banks, relict of Joseph Royal; their issue being: (1) Henry Isham (obit. 1678), (2) Anne Isham, who m. Col. Francis Eppes, (3) Mary Isham, who m. Col. William Randolph, named as a ‘friend’ in the Will of Major William Harris, as was Thomas Cocke, son of Richard Cocke of Bremo. Fleetwood Dormer’s first wife was Katherine Ligon, second-cousin of Thomas Ligon, whose son and namesake married Mary Harris.

1.1.2. Major William Harris, bapt. Jan. 13, 1627, in Ludlow, Shropshire, neighbour of Richard Cocke, p. 303.
1.1.2.1. William Harris (b. ca. 1671), was involved in the determination of the lands of Thomas Langford, descendant of Jane Langford’s br., Feb. 26, 1731. (Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 214-215).
1.1.2.1.1. Thomas Harris, b, ca, 1695, m. Mary Jefferson (1701–1784), President Thomas Jefferson’s paternal aunt (the sister of his father, Peter Jefferson, b. 1708). The marriage of Thomas Harris to Mary Jefferson connects the Harris family to President Thomas Jefferson’s paternal lineage, whereas the John Woodson marriage connects to his maternal lineage.

Tarleton Woodson conveyed a tract of land to William Randolph (grandfather of Dorothea Randolph and Thomas Jefferson). The deed notes that this land was originally sold by Nathaniel Bacon to Tarleton’s grandfather, Robert Woodson, in 1674. This specific plot sat right on Curles Swamp, making the Woodsons immediate neighbors to the holdings of Major William Harris. Because Thomas Jefferson’s paternal great-aunt married a Harris, and his maternal aunt married a Woodson, the children of these two branches were cousins to Thomas Jefferson from opposite sides of his family tree. Thomas Harris and Mary Jefferson had several children who grew up as first cousins to Peter Jefferson, and first-cousins-once-removed to the President:

1.1.2.1.1.1. Benjamin Harris, named in both parents Wills.
1.1.2.1.1.1.1. James Harris, m. Mary Cheadle on December 10, 1769, at the Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting in Hanover County, daughter of Thomas Cheadle and Judith, dau. of *Tarleton Woodson.

There is clearly a consistent and strong relationship between the Woodsons and the Cocke/Harris/Ligon nexus of Shropshire and Worcestershire, and this invariably points to a shared area of origin.

Addendum.

The Penell family splintered into cousinships at an early date.
Tenants of Moor v Dean of Worcester. Plaintiffs: William Childe, gent, and the customary tenants and copyholders (now or in reversion), of manors of Moor (in Lindridge), Newnham, Lindridge, Knighton and Pensax, namely John Burye, Thomas Hereford, gent, Henry Howe, Roger Walter, Thomas Nott, Margaret Tyler, John Angell of Lindridge, Thomas Braw, Roger Pennell, Walter Warrold, Thomas Pennell of Wodsonne, William Mounde, John Monoxe, Thomas Brasyer, William Mille, Thomas Pennell of Pensockes [Pensax], Walter Dallowe, Roger Garner, Thomas Bodneham, William Burge, Thomas Foster gent, Thomas Mounde of Newnham, Roger Penny, John Puston alias Pooton, John Hill of Broaston, Thomas Tonerdyne, Thomas Burge, Thomas Morley, Thomas Mounde of Knighton, Roger Hill alias Roger Taylor, William Hill alias WilliamTaylor, John Mounde, Edmund Foster, John Comber alias John Smyth, Eleanor Mounde, Thomas Symondes, William Steward, Richard Nicholls, William Alter of Eston, Thomas Pannell of Eston, John Robyns, Thomas Whythed, John Nott, Thomas Warrolde, William Walker of the Wylde, John Angell of Pensax, Edward Cooke, John Burye, George Symondes, RIchard Perks, William Hill, John Comber and John Jennins alias John Hooper.
Defendants: Thomas Wilson, dean of Worcester Cathedral. Subject of decree: Customs of the aforesaid manors of Moor (in Lindridge), Newnham, Lindridge, Knighton and Pensax, Worcestershire, such as common of pasture, freebench for widows, the manner of surrender, admittance and forfeiture, etc. 1571 Nov 12. ( C 78/43/33).

by m stanhope, copyright B.T. Shannon, 2026