John Smith Hood was born on May 31, 1821 in the village of Jefferson, Jefferson Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania.(1)  He was the first child born to the union of John Hood (1799-1843) and Letitia (Smith) Hood (c.1803-1887).  The exact reason as to why he was named "John Smith Hood" is lost to us and leaves us with intriguing questions: Was he named "John Smith", after his maternal grandfather, or was he named "John" for his father and "Smith" for his mother's family?  Could it have been his name satisfied both reasons (killing two birds with one stone)?

As a young boy in the late 1820's and early 1830's, he undoubtedly received an education of some kind, but it is uncertain where exactly he went to school and for how long.  He may have gone to school in Waynesburg, PA where his family was living in the 1820's.  He may have continued going to school in Waynesburg after his father moved the family to Blacksville, (West) Virginia in 1832, as it appears to the author that Pennsylvania had a better system for educating its young than did Virginia. (2)

While a teenager in the mid-1830's, he left home and went to Waynesburg to learn the saddler's trade.  Finishing his training in 1839 or 1840, he left Waynesburg and relocated at Granville in Grant District, Monongalia County and, "...immediately engaged in the business for which he had prepared himself." (3)  He continued in the saddler's trade in Granville until the death of his father in 1843. (4)

In 1843, John Smith Hood's father died suddenly and unexpectedly.  John Smith Hood was the only son of legal age in the family, so it fell upon John to manage his father's affairs and settle the estate.(5)
 

Mary Maria Smyth was born on October 11, 1825, most likely in the vicinity of Maidsville in the Cass District of Monongalia County.(6)  She was the daughter of Hynson Smyth and Catherine (Bowlby) Smyth.  Her father was a farmer who had managed to accumulate a modest amount of wealth over the course of his life.  Next to nothing is known about her life prior to her marriage to John Smith Hood.(7)

About the time that John Smith Hood was in Waynesburg learning the saddler's trade, his father had moved the family from Blacksville (in Monongalia County) to a place near  Jimtown (or possibly Hamilton) in the Cass District of Monongalia County where he operated a store.  Hynson Smyth and his wife would have been about the same ages as John and Letitia Hood.  They may have crossed paths as a result of doing business at the Hood store, or since both families belonged to the Methodist denomination, they may have attended the same church (the Smyths attended the Bethel M.E. Church in Maidsville).  In either case, this, most likely, is how John Smith Hood came to make the acquaintance of Mary Maria Smyth.
 
 

John Smith Hood and Mary Maria Smyth were married on February 4, 1844.(8)  They made their home on the old John Hood farm, living in a separate dwelling from Letitia Smith Hood.(9)  One would expect that John and Maria were very happy once they were wedded, but the burden of John's responsibility with his father's estate and with the care of his mother and younger siblings may have always hung in the background. Unfortunately, this was not the only trial they would face in the early years of their marriage.

In late 1844 or early 1845, a son was born to John and Mary, and this must certainly have seemed like a blessing to a young man a lot of responsibility.  Tragically, this son died (of unknown causes) a few months after his birth and was never given a name. John had his unnamed son laid to rest in the family graveyard that later became the churchyard at the Mt. Hood Methodist Episcopal Church in Lowesville where his father and sisters were buried earlier.(10) 

Closing of accounts in the course of settling his father's estate appears to have been no easy task for John Smith Hood.  Through one of his business enterprises, John Hood had apparently conducted some business with a man named Peter Davis who later turned out to be untrustworthy.  On September 14, 1844, Hood, Boyers & Co. filed two suits, one against Peter Davis, John H. Bowlby and Matthias W. Davis, and the other suit against Peter Davis and Robert Tibbs.  The case against Davis and Tibbs lasted until April 14, 1846 when two bills of exception were filed, and this is the last mention of this case.  In the other case, it dragged on further until the plaintiff agreed that they would renounce their claim against John H. Bowlby and Matthias W. Davis if they (Bowlby and Davis) agreed to pay their share of the court costs.  Once that obstacle was removed, the case was finally concluded on September 13, 1848 with the court ordering Peter Davis to pay Hood, Boyers & Co. $519.39, with 6% interest on $340.58 of that amount from the date of judgment.(11) 

On September 26, 1846, another son was born to John Smith and Mary (Smyth) Hood.  This son lived and was named John (John Smith Hood was called "Smith", so naming his son "John" was unlikely to cause any confusion in the house).  This must have been received as a very, welcome blessing after what John Smith and Mary (Smyth) Hood had been through thus far.(12)

Although John Smith Hood was charged with settling his father's estate, his next youngest brother, William, apparently made some attempt to seize part or all of his father's estate.  On September 8, 1847, John Smith Hood, along with his mother and other brothers and sisters (the heirs of John Hood) filed suit in Monongalia County Chancery Court against William Hood.  To settle this dispute among the heirs, the court appointed a three-man commission to assess the value of the land, then to divide up according to its quantity and quality.  The commission made its final report to the court on April 7, 1848.  From this settlement, John Smith Hood received a 27-acre tract of land near Lowesville.(13)

On December 18, 1848, a daughter was born to John and Mary whom they named Margaret Helen.

In the latter half of the 1840's, John Smith Hood began to make the transition from saddle-making to farming.(14)  Although Smith Hood states that John Hood (the father of John Smith Hood) ran a number of farms, it appears that he was more of a merchant than a farmer.  It's quite possible that John Smith Hood's father-in-law, Hynson Smyth, encouraged him and aided him into making the transition to farming. 

In 1849, John Smith Hood is recorded as owning a ½-acre tract of land along the Monongahela River (presumably Lowesville).  This appears to be one he has purchased and is not connected to the land he obtained from his father's estate.(15)
 

By 1850, John Smith Hood was in the final phases of closing out his father's estate.(16)  He and his young family were living in a house of their own on the old John Hood farm where his mother was living.(9)

The 1850 census provides an interesting snapshot of life in the John Smith Hood home.  We find John Smith Hood listed as a saddler with a personal estimated worth of $200. His wife, Mary, and children John and Margaret at home. There is another individual listed in the home, one Zackwell P. Ridgeway.  He is a saddler who is a little older than John, and his estimated personal worth is equal to $1600.  All we are told about Ridgeway is that he is a saddler, but the record does not state if he is a partner, an employee or an apprentice.

During the decade of the 1850's, John and Mary added to their family. Alfred (Jr.) was born to them on February 20, 1851.  Thomas M. was the next one born to them on April 20, 1853, followed by Rebecca C. on September 30, 1855 and Ida Ellen on May 11, 1858.(17) 

The spring of 1861 proved to be a busy one for the Hood family.  To begin with, the family added a new son named Smith on January 2, 1861.  Since John Smith Hood was already called "Smith" by those who knew him, his son Smith would be given the nickname "Bud".  Also in the early part of 1861, John Smith Hood purchased the William Hayhurst farm (amounting to about 175 acres) onto which they moved their family from the old John Hood farm on April 1, 1861.(18)
 

When the Civil War broke out in April of 1861, John Smith Hood was a middle-aged man with a family of small children.  He is thought to have sympathies for the southern cause in the war.  None of his sons were old enough to enlist for military duty, and although John Smith Hood could have enlisted, it seems that a soldier's pay would not come near to matching what he was making from farming.  In addition to that, enlistment would mean leaving Mary all alone to run the farm and raise the family.

It has been said that his brother, William Hood (1822-1899), served in the Confederate army and was held as a prisoner-of-war at Camp Chase, but there has been no independent confirmation of either of these claims.(19)

It has been hinted by one relative (20) that John Smith Hood may have provided aid to the Jones Raiders in the Spring of 1863.  Gen. William E. "Grumble" Jones led a raiding party of Confederate Cavalry into West Virginia to attack the B & O railroad as well as to gather horses, cattle, other provisions and possibly recruits for Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania later that year.(21)  Although we may never know with certainty if John Smith Hood provided any aid to the Jones Raiders, it cannot be denied that he was a in good location to provide them assistance.

The Jones Raiders entered Morgantown from direction of Kingwood on April 27, 1863. After a day of foraging in the city and surrounding countryside, they bivouacked ten miles south of Morgantown that night on the road to the town of Independence (in Preston County).  This would have put them near the Hood home, but on the other side (i.e., the eastern side) of the Monongahela River.  They returned to Morgantown the next day (April 28) to continue their work.  That evening, the left Morgantown in the direction of Fairmont on the west side of the river, which means they would have them passed within a couple of miles of the Hood home (if not actually stopping there).(22)

Whether or not John Smith Hood aided the Jones Raiders, it would be safe to assume that this was not an easy time for Mary Maria (Smyth) Hood.  With everyone in the area in hysterics about the Jones Raiders, she was in her seventh month of pregnancy with her daughter, Carrie M., who was later born on July 8, 1863. 

Once the Jones Raiders had left the Monongahela Valley, there was no more military action in the area, and it can be presumed that life settled back into a routine of sorts and remained that way until the end of the war.  Mary gave birth to her last child, James, on January 11, 1866.
 
 

John Smith Hood ran a large farming enterprise, focusing largely on livestock.  He often had 500 to 600 head of sheep on his farm as well as 80 to 100 head of cattle, horses, hogs and the like.  He owned enough farmland that he was able to grow hay, corn, oats and wheat in large enough quantities to feed all of his livestock, never having to buy food for them.  Each year, he managed to fill three barns with hay, corn, oats and wheat, amounting to about 500 tons.  He also sold eggs, farm butter and maple syrup that they produced on the farm.  The proceeds from the eggs, butter and syrup was enough to support the family.(23)

Of all his farming activities, it appears that sheep farming was his bailiwick.  He purchased a Southdown Ram and some ewes in Vermont and introduced them into northwestern West Virginia, and also purchased registered Leicester sheep.(24)

As the year 1870 began, the John S. and Mary Hood homestead had all of their children living at home with them, a couple of these children now being adults in their young 20's.  This stands in stark contrast to how John Hood (1799-1843) had his sons John Smith and Alfred leave home while they were very young.  This hints that John Smith Hood questioned his father's decision to have him leave home at a young age.  It may also be the case that John Smith Hood did not have the need to force his children "out of the nest" at an early age.  In the 1870 census, John Smith Hood reported that the value of his real estate holdings amounted to $17,500, and that the value of his personal estate equaled $2,000.

Tragedy struck the Hood family that year:  their daughter, Margaret Helen Hood, died on June 30, 1870, a young lady of 21 years of age.  It had been nearly 25 years since they had lost their first child, and the loss of Margaret Helen must have come as quite a shock.  They laid her to rest  next to her unnamed brother in the family burying ground that eventually became part of the Mt. Hood M.E., South Church.(25)

In 1870, John Smith Hood and William Wisman, forming a partnership under the name of "Hood and Wisman", purchased a tract of land from Levi Lowe on which there was a large flour and woolen mill and several dwelling houses (being all of the village of Lowesville except for a small store building and two cottages).  With the purchase of these assets they engaged in the milling business.(26)  The mill was built about 1867 to replace and earlier one that had burned down.  It was a three-story frame structure with a stone dam across the river that provided year round power to the mill.  Wiley reported that the value of this mill (in 1882) was $8000.(27)   In 1872, John Hood (the son of John Smith Hood) purchased the interest of William Wisman and the firm from then on was known as John S. Hood & Son.(28) 
 

By 1871, John Smith Hood owned a total of 348.5 acres of land, all near where Big Indian Creek flows into the Monongahela River, including the cliff.  The assessed value of all this land and buildings on them was $5,784.00.  Also, he and his mother jointly owned a 54 acre tract of land near the river that was assessed at $864.00.

Tragedy, once again, struck the Hood family early in 1872.  Their youngest child, James, died on January 23, 1872, having just turned six years of age.(30)   This loss must have been painful, coming almost eighteen months after death of their daughter, Margaret Helen.  James was buried in the same row with his brother and sister in the Hood family graveyard (which eventually became the location of the Mt. Hood M.E., South Church).

During the early 1870's, John S. and Mary Hood's "nest" began to empty.  Their sons John and Alfred married and established homes of their own as did daughter Rebecca. Their son, Thomas, showed promise as a scholar and pursued further education in the field of medicine.  The homeplace must have suddenly seemed quieter than it previously had been.
 

Beginning around 1875, John Smith Hood entered a period that was marked by growing wealth and ease.  By owning high-quality sheep and the land on which they grazed and the mill in which the wool was carded, we would say (in modern business parlance) that he had a "vertically-integrated business".   In holding his costs down, he would have realized substantial profit even if he sold carded wool at something less than current market value.

The year 1875 also marks the time period when John Smith Hood slowly began to transfer the wealth that he had accumulated.  He never made a will (hence dying intestate), but made advancements to his children and the church in various forms from 1875 until his death.  It appears that two of the early beneficiaries were son John, getting a start in the milling business, and son Thomas, receiving cash to cover educational costs concomitant to pursuing an M.D. degree.(31)

Although this was a time of ease for John Smith Hood, farming still continued to pose challenges for him.  In an 1876 newspaper article concerning inadequate laws governing dog control in Monongalia County, it mentioned that:  "J.S. Hood, residing in the upper end of this [Grant] District, lost by dogs this winter a select lot of Southdown and Leicesters, loss about $100, and the original costing up to $15 to $25 per head."(32) 

The 1880 census record paints a picture of an older couple who now only have their youngest children at home.  John Smith Hood is recorded as being a farmer with wife, Mary, keeping house.  Children Ida,  Smith and Carrie are living at home with them.(33)

On March 28, 1881, John Smith Hood's son, Alfred Hood Jr., purchased a 1.75-acre tract of land and a two-acre tract of land from Samuel C. Lough  for $700.  This appears to be Alfred Hood's first purchase of real estate, and he appears to have paid fair market value for this land and home.  Alfred may have done this with the aid of his father, being his share of the inheritance.(31)

By 1884,  John Smith Hood's land holdings had increased to 472 acres (with an assessed value $8,496.00).  This is in addition to the 71-acre tract at Lowe's Mill, held in the name of J. S. Hood & Son which was assessed at $2,485.00.(34)

In 1887, John S. and Mary Hood helped their daughter, Ida, purchase a seven-acre tract of land from Mary Rice that would serve as her home.  This was done before Ida was married, so the deed to this home was under her maiden name, Ida Hood.(31)(35) This may have served as Ida's share of her inheritance (as mentioned earlier), but there still seems to be some confusion over it. 

John Smith Hood's land holdings grew to 658 acres by 1890.  Some of this new land was what he inherited from his mother's estate as well as the purchase of his brother's (Joseph) share of the Letitia Hood estate and his sister's (Maria Trippet) share of the estate.  This is in addition to the 71 acres accompanying the mill held by John S. Hood & Son.(36)

In 1890 or 1891, John Smith Hood and his son, John, had made substantial improvements to the mill at Lowesville.  The tax records show an additional $700.00 added to the assessed value for the mill owned by J.S. Hood and Son for those improvements.(37)

As mentioned earlier, one of the benefactors of the wealth that John S. and Mary Hood had accumulated over their life time was the Church.  In the Spring of 1893, John S. and Mary Hood donated land (in the Indian Creek / Lowesville area) to the Southern Methodist Episcopal Church.  The deed for this gift (dated May 9, 1893) begins with the phrase,  "In consideration of the love they [John S. & Mary Hood] bear for the cause of Christ and from all earnest desire to promote His heritage on earth...", then goes on to state that J.S. Hood and Mary deed land to the trustees of the M.E. South Church (the trustees being C.C. Markley, J.S. Hood, J.D. Fisher, Alfred Hood, William A. Wisman, George D. Robey, John Hood).(38)   This land included the Hood family cemetery.  A structure was built later on the land and was known as the Mount Hood Church, M.E., South.

Although he was a man of faith, one cannot jump to the conclusion that John Smith Hood was a teetotaler.  In fact, he is known to have made and enjoyed corn liquor. On his farm he had big still under which he had dug a large hole for the fire.  Once the corn liquor was distilled and captured in jugs, the jugs were kept in a small building (perhaps the same one where the still was).  John Smith Hood carefully kept track of all of his corn liquor, maintaining a record of his inventory by cutting hash marks in the door of the building for each jug.(39)

By the mid-1890's, John Smith Hood's holdings in real estate had grown to over 800 acres.(40)

On February 4, 1896, John Smith Hood and his wife, Mary, sold an 88 3/4-acre tract for land (for $3000) to their son, Alfred Hood, Jr..  This tract of land was originally conveyed to J.S. Hood by the heirs of John Hood, deceased.(41)  This sale may have included all or most of the sheep flock.  It has been reported that Alfred Hood owned 1000 head of sheep at one time(42), but up until this point, the tax records show that he never owned enough land for grazing such a large flock.  If so, this may have been the time when John Smith Hood "retired" from the sheep herding business.

The 1900 census shows that John S. and Mary Hood were living by themselves at this time.  They reported to  the enumerator that they had been married 56 years.  Iris Hood Reid had personal memories of John Smith Hood and his family around this time frame.  "He was a real gentleman, I tell you.  He wouldn't work unless he had to.  I can still see him, riding on his beautiful, black stallion, wearing his white, linen suit."  When  asked if J. S. Hood tried to live like a southern plantation owner, she agreed emphatically.  "They had everything...": a big house, lots of coal on their property and a big still.  John Smith Hood sold lots of whiskey.  They also had lots of money.  She stated that John Smith Hood paid someone to saddle his horse for him when he went riding.(43)

Other superlatives have been used to describe his success.  Smith Hood stated that his father was, "...one of the leading farmers and stockman in the county."(43)  Another source said that John Smith Hood was, "...one of the most enterprising and successful business men of Monongalia County...."(44)

What was the secret of his success?  There may have been more than one "secret", as different people give different reasons for his success.  Iris Hood Reid said that ALL of the Hoods (John Smith Hood, Bud Hood, Jim Hood and others) were, "...the BEST salesmen there were."  They had contacts for buying and selling in Pittsburgh.(45) Smith Hood claimed that his father's success was due to the fact that he was: "Always keeping the highest grade of cattle and sheep.  He was a fine judge of stock and specialized in sheep."(46)   John Smith Hood himself claimed that, "...he is indebted to neither friends nor relatives, but to...singleness of purpose--the prosecution of his business to the exclusion of all else--coupled with fair business tact and acumen.  He first engaged in business in a small way, but by unyielding perseverance, close application to business and judicious investments, he had become one of the most prosperous and opulent business men of this county.  He is an affable and congenial gentleman, and by his straightforward business methods has deservedly won the confidence and esteem of a host of admiring friends."(47)

John Smith Hood died on June 30, 1901 in Monongalia County of "Old Age", having turned 80 years of age the month prior.(48)  He was buried on July 2, 1901 in the churchyard of the Mt. Hood, M.E., South, church at Lowesville.  His grave lies not far from those of his parents, his sisters and the children that passed on before he did.

"After [their] father's death, the seven sons and daughters met with their mother in the home and agreed that the advancements [that John Smith Hood made]...were correct, also that, legally, most of their father's accounts would be barred by statute of limitations and not one would take advantage by reason thereof.  They, with their mother concurring, agreed that the two [daughters, Ida and Carrie,] who had not been helped should take the books and decide just how much each of the other five were indebted to the estate.  Further, that the oldest and youngest sons should be the administrators of the estate, which they did without compensation except actual expenses.  Further, that we convert the entire estate into cash, pay debts and funeral expenses, set aside a specified amount for mother's use the rest of her life, any of which left at her death to be divided equally between the seven children of their estates.  From the balance in the Administrator's hands, payment be made each of the seven, equally giving full consideration to the advancements as determined and fixed by the two selected who were Ida E. Wisman and Carrie M. Talbott.  All the aforesaid plan was completed.  Mother, her sons and daughters, with their wives and husbands, joined in executing deed conveying all real estate."(49)

"There were never any disagreements in the family, and [were] fast about the settlement of John S. Hood's estate should be known by his posterity"(49) 

Mary Maria (Smyth) Hood continued to live at the homeplace until her death on January 10, 1905.(50)  She is buried next to her husband in what once was the churchyard of the Mt. Hood, M.E., South, Church.

CHILDREN OF JOHN SMITH HOOD AND MARY MARIA (SMYTH) HOOD

1.      UNNAMED SON
                Born 1844/45
                Died 1844/45

2.      JOHN HOOD
                Born Sept. 26, 1846
                Married Malinda Emma ("Minnie") Morgan, Nov. 5, 1872, Monongalia County
                Died Nov. 24, 1941, Lowesville

3.      MARGARET HELEN HOOD
                Born Dec. 18, 1848
                Died June 30, 1870

4.      ALFRED HOOD (JR.)
                Born Feb. 20, 1851
                Married Mary Ellen Wisman, Sept. 26, 1871, Monongalia County
                Died Oct. 2, 1929, Terra Alta, Preston County, WV

5.      THOMAS M. HOOD
                April 20, 1853
                Married Dora F. Foreman
                Died Sept. 27, 1944

6.      REBECCA C. HOOD
                Born Sept. 30, 1855
                Married Robert B. Tibbs
                Died Apr. 12, 1905

7.      IDA ELLEN HOOD
                Born May 11, 1858
                Married James Buchanan Wisman
                Died Jan. 6, 1929

8.      SMITH ("BUD") HOOD
                Born January 2, 1861
                Married Katie M. Amos

9.      CARRIE M. HOOD
                Born July 8, 1863
                Married Robert Talbott
                Died Feb. 17, 1938

10.     JAMES HOOD 
                Born Jan. 11, 1866
                Died Jan. 23, 1872

NOTES
(1)  All sources agree on the date and place of birth.
(2)  Conjecture on the part of the author.  It is evident that John Smith Hood knew how to read, write and perform mathematical calculations, but nothing has been found that identified where he learned such skills.
(3)  Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Monongalia, Marion and Taylor Counties: "At an early age, he went to Waynesburg to learn the saddler's trade.  Finishing the trade at eighteen...."
(4)  This has been inferred from sources, but not exactly drawn from them.  In writing of himself in the Biographical & Portrait Cyclopedia, John Smith Hood simply stated that he moved from Granville to Lowesville.  In the narrative written by Smith Hood, he wrote that John Smith Hood, being the only one of legal age, took charge of the home, store and shop, but he did not mention that his father has moved back home from Granville.  Nevertheless, the two sources appear to be giving us different facts relating to (what appears to be) the same event.
(5)  From the Smith Hood narrative, we are told that John Smith Hood took control of his father's affairs, but Smith Hood did not ever mention that his father came home to do so.  In John Smith Hood's semi-autobiographical write-up in the Biographical & Portrait Cyclopedia, only a little math is needed to see that he moved from Granville to Lowesville in 1843, the year that his father died, but makes no mention that it was connected to his father's demise.  I have "put two and two together" in stating that John Smith Hood returned home to manage his father's affairs.  Also, an unidentified document in the Hood vertical file at the Cornerstone Genealogical Society in Waynesburg, PA suggests that John Hood' business partner, William Lantz, may have also been named a executor of the estate.
(6)  The dates Smith Hood provides (presumably from the family Bible) and those on her gravemarker match).
(7)  Census records need to be checked one more time to see if she could either read or write.  This would indicate that she received schooling as a young girl.
(8)  Smith Hood gives the date as February 4, 1844.  However, the marriage bond on record in Monongalia County gives the issuance date of the bond as being February 5, 1844, and bonds for marriage were to be procured before the ceremony.
(9)  I take a good bit of artistic license with this statement.  Smith Hood said that John Smith lived with his mother until 1861.  What he may have meant to say was that they lived on the same farm as their mother, as the 1850 and 1860 census shows that the John Smith Hood was NOT living under the same roof as his mother and younger siblings.
(10)  Smith Hood mentions this unnamed son.  This son's grave is marked at Mt. Hood.
(11)  Law Order Book 2
(12)  The date of John Hood's birth comes from the Smith Hood narrative.  It was my great-uncle Russell Hood and Iris Hood Reed who told me that John Smith Hood was called "Smith".
(13)  Chancery Order Book 2, p.59 and p. 72
(14)  In John Smith Hood's semi-autobiographical write-up in the Biographical & Portrait Cyclopedia, he states that "abandoned" the saddle-making trade to take up farming about 1848.  This makes it appear as though he quit making saddles one day and picked up a plough the next day.  However, such a sudden switch of careers would have been unwise.  The 1850 census lists John Smith Hood's occupation as a saddler, but from the 1860 census onwards it lists his occupation as being a farmer.  Smith Hood said, "The last forty years of the life of John Smith Hood [1861-1901] were almost wholly devoted to farming and stock raising."  This supports the idea that the change from saddler to farmer was a gradual one.
(15)  Land tax records
(16)  See note (5) about the document on file at the Cornerstone Genealogical Society.
(17)  All dates from Smith Hood.
(18)  Smith Hood narrative.
(19)  Found in Callihan (1912), from a biographical piece on C.P. Hood (son of William Hood [1822-1899] and grandson of John Hood [1799-1843]).  This author has searched the Compiled Service Records at the National Archives but has not found a William Hood that matches the identity of our William Hood.
(20)  Russell Arnett Hood once said that his great-grandfather Hood, "...kept horses for a gang of horse thieves."  I never knew what to make of this remark until I learned that the people in that part of West Virginia looked upon the Jones Raiders as being mere horse thieves and not military invaders.
(21)  Grey Ghosts and Rebel Raiders, by Virgil Carrington Jones, EPM Publications (McLean, VA),  1956, 1984.
(22)  The Monongalia Story Vol. III, by Earl Core, McClain Printing (Parsons, WV).
(23)  The description of farm activities comes from the Smith Hood narrative. Although parts were worded awkwardly, it does seem as though he meant to say that the sale of eggs, butter and syrup alone was enough to support the family, leaving the reader to assume that other sources of income built John Smith Hood's wealth.
(24)  From the Smith Hood narrative.
(25)  Dates from gravestone and family Bible match.
(26)  This account comes from the John Smith Hood's semi-autobiographical account in the 1895 Cyclopedia.  Smith Hood says that this happened "about 1870", and that his partner was Silas Wisman, but this appears to be in error as Silas Wisman never mentions this venture in his semi-autobiographical account in the 1895 Cyclopedia.
(27)  Wiley's history of Monongalia County.
(28)  The Cyclopedia and Smith Hood sources match on this point.
(29)  From 1872 Land Tax records
(30)  Dates from family records and gravestone match
(31)  Smith Hood never gives names, he only states that two children received cash to buy or build a home, two children received real estate, one received cash for education and that two of the daughters received very little.  The author is attempting to discover who received what and when.
(32)  "The Weekly Register" (published in Wheeling), issue of March 31, 1876
(33)  1880 Federal census of Monongalia County, WV
(34)  1885 Land Tax record
(35)  1888 Land Tax record
(36)  1891 Land Tax record
(37)  1892 Land Tax record
(38)  Monongalia County Deed book 36, p. 327
(39)  Russell Arnett Hood and Iris Hood Reid both mentioned this
(40)  Biographical & Portrait Cyclopedia [1895]
(41)  Monongalia County Book 58, p. 78 
(42)  Russell Arnett Hood
(43)  Smith Hood narrative
(44)  Biographical & Portrait Cyclopedia, John Smith Hood article.
(45)  Iris Hood Reid
(46)  Smith Hood narrative
(47)  Biographical & Portrait Cyclopedia, John Smith Hood article.
(48)  Death date from family Bible and public records match.  Death record in Marion County (Book 2, p. 166) gives cause of death and date of burial.
(49)  From the Smith Hood narrative.  He did such a fine job writing this section that this author (John J. Hood) has elected to include the entire section with only minor editing.
(50)  Death date from the family Bible and gravestone matches.
 
 

RESOURCES
*  History of Monongalia County, by Samuel T. Wiley, Kingwood, 1883
*  Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Monongalia, Marion and Taylor Counties, published by Rush, West and Company, Philadelphia, 1895 (Although this is a "vanity" history book, Alfred Hood [1825-1899] of Marion County wrote, by far, one of the better histories of the Hood family)
*  The Smith Hood narrative, written by Smith Hood (1861-19??) using, "..his personal memory and facts gained from others, and from records in the Bibles of John Smith Hood and wife Maria Smythe Hood on Feb. 20th 1948"
*  Monongalia County land tax records for various years.
*  Gravestone readings from the cemetery in Lowesville where the Mt. Hood M. E. South church once stood.
*  Monongalia County, WV Chancery Court Order Books and Law Court Order Books
*  Genealogical and Personal History of the Upper Monongahela Valley West Virginia, by James Morton Callihan, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., New York, 1912
*  Federal census records: 1830 Greene County, PA; 1840, 1850, 1860,1870, 1880 and 1900 for Monongalia County, (West) Virginia.
*  Interviews with Russell Arnett Hood (1899-1976) of Buckhannon, WV, a great-grandson of John Smith Hood and Mary Maria [Smyth] Hood.  These interviews were conducted between 1970 and 1976.
*  Interview with Iris Hood Reid of Morgantown, WV on August 29, 1986 (age 89 at the time of interview).  She is the granddaughter of James Hood (1827-1909), a brother to John Smith Hood.