The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: CT
Qualifying Service: Surgeon's Mate / Patriotic Service
Reentered 1777 - served CT Regiment in Continental Line
NSDAR RC #561419 states: SURGEON'S MATE; Colonel CHARLES WEBB
Additional References:
NSDAR RC #561419
Record of Service of CT Men in War of Rev, Vol I: F B Heitman, Officers of the Cont Army during War of Rev, Apr 1775-Dec 1783, pg 443; H Johnston, Rec of CTMen in Mil/Naval Svc during War of Rev, pg 603
No GPS data for grave site on Find-A-Grave in Sep 2024
Author: James Thomas Wood
Dr. Preserve Wood was the first resident physician in Newbury, later known as Brookfield, Connecticut. He was born in Danbury, Connecticut in May 1756 and was the son of “grand old Colonial” Captain John Wood and Abigail Gibbs and the great-grandson of Dr. Samuel Wood, Danbury’s first physician, who came from England. Dr. Wood was frequently mentioned in Society records as being prominent in the early affairs of Newbury, Connecticut.
Dr. Preserve Wood was appointed Surgeon’s Mate under Colonel Charles Webb’s Regiment, 19th Continental Army, on 20 July 1776 when he was only 20 years of age. The 19th Continental Army marched from Boston to New York and the regiment was ordered to Brooklyn on 27 August 1776 to help fortify the city. They were closely engaged in the Battle of White Plains, New Jersey on 28 October 1776, in the Battle of Trenton, New Jersey on 25 December 1776, and at Princeton, New Jersey on 8 January 1777. Dr. Wood re-entered service later in 1777 and served the Connecticut Regiment in the Continental Line. In addition, he was called upon by his brother, Dr. John Wood, a Danbury, Connecticut physician, to assist with the treatment of the wounded following British General Tyron’s raid on Danbury on 26 April 1777. Dr. Wood helped treat people with gunshot wounds and burns when the British burned 19 homes and 22 stores and barns. Dr. Wood also took the Oath of Fidelity to the Continental Government in 1777 which was recorded in Newtown, Connecticut.
Dr. Preserve Wood married Mercy Benedict, daughter of Lieutenant Thomas Benedict and Mercy Knapp, before 1783 in Brookfield, Connecticut. They had four children:
Mercy Wood, birthdate unknown, and married Dr. Noah Linley.
Preserve Benedict Wood, Jr., born around 1784 in Brookfield, Connecticut, and died in Brookfield on 16 October 1849. He married Eunice Merwin, daughter of Isaac Merwin and Mary Hawley, on 20 July 1803 in Brookfield, Connecticut. Eunice was born on 22 March 1783 in Brookfield, Connecticut, and died on 28 September 1848 in Brookfield, Connecticut.
Eurana “Rena or Rene” Wood was born around 1791 in Brookfield, Connecticut. She died on 4 May 1850 in West Hartford, Connecticut. She married Paul S. Hamilton.
Uriah Wood, born around 1800 in Brookfield, Connecticut, married Rebecca Nichols on 17 October 1821 in Danbury, Connecticut.
Dr. Preserve Wood died on 26 November 1806 in Brookfield, Connecticut at 50 years of age. He is buried in the Old South Cemetery, Sunset Road, in Brookfield, Connecticut. After his death, his wife, Mercy, remarried Deacon Eliakim Starr and she died on 30 March 1818 in Danbury, Connecticut. Dr. Wood had four brothers and three sisters and it has been stated that all of his brothers were heroes of the Revolutionary War.
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