Happy Holidays! Almost 15 years in the searching and we are still trying to locate my great grandfather and his twin sons. John (Thomas) Woods/Wood played minor league baseball in Illinois, Virginia, Georgia and Florida from 1910-1917. It appears that he was injured in a baseball accident in 1916 when he played for Portsmouth, Virginia. He was there that he was given the nickname of "Smokin Joe" Wood by the media. He did sign a contract with Detroit Tigers in 1917 but never appeared on their roasters. Last address given at the time was Green Springs Cove, Florida. John married his first wife Minnie (Ella) Huenecke in Chicago, Illinois in 1903 and had one son Robert Steven Woods 1904 Chicago. What happened to Minnie is still a mystery. It was said that Minnie and Robert went back home and stayed with Minnie's parents Robert and Caroline Huenecke in Chicago. We have also been told the Minnie also had twin sons and that when John left the Chicago area he took the twins with him ( another fact that is not proven). It is possible that John gave the twins up for adoption or perhaps remarried. According to a family will Minnie did died before 1916. The twins would have had to been born between 1906 and 1912, and that Minnie never saw her twin sons again after John took them. We did find John playing ball for Rock Island, Illinois in 1911 . As you can see we have so many unanswered questions and with the commonness of the Woods name researching is some what difficult. If anyone has any information that might help, I would love hearing from you. We have traced this family back to Ireland and England and have a great deal to share. Sincerely, Patti Woods Crick gabbycrick@aol.com