(I) Captain Henry Woodward, our first known ancestor, commanded the 10th Company, Virginia, Regiment, during the French and Indian Wars. (Map at right shows area)
(Footnote on Page 401, Vol. IV, Virginia Historical Collections, is the following:) "Henry Woodward, it appears, was an Englishman, who was first appointed Lieutenant upon the recommendation of James Aberoromby, and subsequently promoted. He was voted thanks and a gratuity of L30 by the Assembly for gallantry at Fort Necessity. He was present at the defeat of Braddock. The Assembly granted Capt, Woodward L75 as "A,
reward and compensation for his gallant behavior
and losses" in the battle near Fort Duquesne".
Captain Woodward was placed in command of Voss's Fort on the frontier, 10 June 1757, and served in the Cherokee Expedition, and remained in the service until 1762.

Large, land grants in Stafford and Cumberland, Counties of Virginia, were assigned him in recognition of his service.

At the close of the French and Indian Wars, Captain Henry Woodward and his wife, the former Sarah Shelton, who came of the noble family of Sheltons who trace their ancestry to Charlemagne and the Magna Charta Barons, settled in Stafford Co., Virginia, a short distance from Aquia Church, located on Aquia Creek, in Overwharton Parish, Stafford, Virginia. (Map of area at right above)

Here their three sons: (1A) James, (1B) Jesse and (1C) William Presley Woodward were born.

Supported by records in the Congressional Library, the original portion of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., was built from stone quarried on Captain Woodward's land. The southeast cornerstone was laid by President Washington with Masonic ceremonies 18 September 1793.

VI