Abraham Wood

Abraham Wood (1610–1682), sometimes referred to as "General" or "Colonel" Wood, was an English fur trader, militia officer, politician and explorer of 17th century colonial Virginia. Wood helped build and maintained Fort Henry at the falls of the Appomattox in present-day Petersburg. He also served in the Virginia House of Burgesses, and as a member of the Virginia Governor's Council. Early and family life Abraham Wood emigrated from England as a 10-year-old boy in 1620. The English ship Margaret and John, on which he sailed as an indentured servant or cabin boy, was attacked by two Spanish vessels in the West Indies; Wood was one of the few survivors; the attack led the vessel to turn to the Virginia colonies. Career By 1625, Wood worked for Captain Samuel Mathews and lived at Jamestown. He also filed land claims for areas on the lower Appomattox River in the 1630s, and in 1638. by which time he had turned to exploring the colony's interior, and traded for the beaver and deerskin with the native tribes. Upon being expelled from their villages at Bermuda Hundred and Swift Creek, natives had established a village near the falls of the Appomattox River, which would much later would become part of Petersburg. Natives revolted in 1644.