In the History of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, as excerpted below, there is a reference to a Thomas Woods in the county in 1671. Does anyone have a clue who this Thomas Woods might be, or from what family he is descended? If this record is valid, then this puts some Woodses in VA long before the emigration from Ireland of Michael Woods of Blair Park and his family. THE HISTORY of PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY VIRGINIA CHAPTER I THE INDIANS The following year, 1671, these local Indians were again visited by explorers with a commission, when Thomas Woods, Thomas Batts and Robert Fallan were sent out by Major Abram Wood "for the finding out the ebbing and flowing of the waters on the other side of the mountains in order to the discovery of the South Sea." They set out from Appomattox18 Town on September 1, 1671 and traveled from the Occaneechi Path due west two days and came to the Sapony Indian Town, about two o'clock. In the evening they reached the Saponeys west (probably Pintahae) where they were "joyfully and kindly received with firing of guns and plenty of provisions." After [p.9] securing a Sapon guide to show them a nearer way to the Toleras than usual they continued their journey about twenty-five miles and came "to the town of the Hanathaskies, lying west by north, in an Island in the Sapony River, rich land." Twice more in one day they passed the Sapony River; but after crossing the mountains the river became the Roanoke, a curious custom which it follows today. The river is called Roanoke at its head until it breaks through the Blue Ridge Mountains, when it becomes the Staunton until its conjunction with the Dan a hundred miles lower down; then it again becomes the Roanoke, which name it bears until its mighty waters reach Albemarle Sound. The travelers discovered a great river flowing north by west, which they named in honor of their chief, Wood River (now New River), and after taking possession of all this western domain in the name of the English monarch, they returned home by the same route, visiting the towns of the Tolero, Hanathoskies, and Saponies where they were well and kindly received. On October first they reached Fort Henry and closed their diary with the pious exclamation, "God's Holy name be praised for our preservation! NOTE: This book, by subscription, can be viewed at http://www.ancestry.com/ancestry/DBList.asp?GroupID=4