Thanks for the link, Hazel. I want to mention to everyone that several future Union Parish residents are listed here. Colonel Matthew Wood was extremely influential in the early affairs of the parish. He married Hannah Payne and was a tavern keeper in Fort Dale, northwestern Butler County Alabama between about 1818 and the early 1830s. He was elected colonel of the Butler County militia in 1823. In the early 1830s, he moved from Fort Dale into southern Lowndes County (just north of Butler). In early 1835, he traveled to north Louisiana and bought land in what is now Union Parish. He remained there that year, and in December 1835 again purchased land. About three weeks later, he had returned to Lowndes County, sold his plantation there, and led a large group of Butler & Lowndes County settlers to north Louisiana. This is the first known migration of a large group of Alabama settlers into what is now Union Parish. They settled along Bayou D'Loutrein eastern Union Parish. Wood later served as the first president of the Union Parish Police Jury. His son-in-law John Taylor was the first parish judge, and son-in-law William Cleaton Carr was the first sheriff. In the link Hazel gave, notice that on 19 December 1817, the Georgia Legislature changed the following names and legitimatized these children of Matthew Wood: [Paine should be Payne] Jane Paine to Jane Wood Samuel Paine to Samuel Wood Thompson Paine to Thompson Wood Willis Paine to Willis Wood I knew of this act before, but I did not know that these children were officially "legitimatized". Here is the tradition I have heard - this is all tradition; until now I've not had any verification of this: Matthew Wood was married to another woman in Georgia, and about 1812 he went to south Louisiana with Daniel Payne. I've been told that he returned to Georgia about 1815, divorced his first wife, then married Hannah Payne (sister of Daniel), who had borne him the four children named above. The Georgia legislature then legally changed the children's names from "Payne" to "Wood", but there was no real proof that Wood was their biological father. I have always wanted to know if this tradition is correct. Thanks to Hazel, looks like we have a pretty good idea that Wood was the natural father. For the Georgia Legislature to take this action, he undoubtedly went before them and declared he was their father. Wish we could get a copy of this act of the Georgia Legislature. Jane Wood (formerly Payne) married Union Parish Judge John Taylor in Alabama and moved with her father to what is now Union Parish in February 1837. She was buried in the Taylor/Liberty Hill Cemetery. The other Woods lived in Union, Lincoln, and Claiborne Parishes. Thanks, Hazel!! Tim -----Original Message----- From: hazelcraig@bellsouth.net [mailto:hazelcraig@bellsouth.net] Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2004 12:00 PM To: LAUNION-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [LAUNION] ROLL CALL - MCMURRAIN Tim: Thank you so much for taking over our site.. While everyone's attention is high. Just today received following from a County Coord. in Ga. (A McMurrain connection) Go to: http://www.westberry-moses.com/main/files/namechange.pdf What a find. It is a list of legal name changes in Georgia. Good luck finding your missing relative. Many, many worked their way from VA, NC thru GA, to AL, MS, LA etc. Hazel Welch Craig hazelcraig@bellsouth.net P.O. Box 291 Camden, TN. 38320 ==== LAUNION Mailing List ==== List manager launion-admin@rootsweb.com ============================== Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237