A Family Story

On the 18th day of April 1644, the Indians made a sudden attack upon the settlements in Virginia and killed about three hundred of the colonists before they were defeated. It was at this time Dr. John Woodson, while returning from visiting a patient, was killed by the Indians in sight of his home. The Indians then attacked the house, which was barred against them and defended by his wife, Sara, and a man named Ligon (a shoemaker) who happened to be there. The only weapon they had was an old time gun, which Ligon handled with deadly effect. At the first fire, he killed three Indians, and two at the second shot.

In the meantime, two Indians tried to come down through the chimney; but Sara threw her bedding on the fire and the resulting smoke caused the Indians to fall down the chimney into the cabin. She then scalded one of them to death with a pot of boiling water, which stood on the fire; then seizing the iron roasting spit with both hands, she brained the other Indian, killing him instantly.

The howling mob on the outside took fright and fled, but Ligon fired the third time and killed two more, making nine in all.

At the first sight of the Indians, Mrs. Woodson had hidden her two boys, Robert age 13 and John age 10. One was hidden under a large washtub and the other in a hole where they kept potatoes during the winter. She was hoping to save them in the event the Indians succeeded in entering the log cabin in which they lived.

"From this circumstance, for several generations, the descendants of one of these boys were called "Tub Woodsons" and those of the other were designated as "Potato Hole Woodsons" Robin, we are descended from Potato Hole Woodson. Not Potato Head…. (grin)