Individual Details
Dr. John Scudder Wood
(25 Jul 1817 - 1850)
Dr. John S. Wood died of cholera in 1848 on his way to California as physician to a train of emigrants.
27 Mar 2024 RICHARD RIECK wrote:
The California newspaper "Blue Lake Advocate" of October 3, 1957, has a short paragraph which states that "John [Wood] died of the Cholera on a trip to California." According to the article Wood married Mary Ellen Buchner on May 25, 1845 in Lafayette County, Missouri and they had two children.
Your post indicates that John Scudder Wood, spouse Mary Ellen Buckner, died of cholera en route California in 1848.
I have compiled a database of the names of 7,200 individuals who died on the trail to California. Unfortunately, I can identify no cholera deaths on the trail in 1848. I can, however, document the names of 284 cholera fatalities in 1849, 493 cholera deaths in 1850, 693 in 1852 from cholera, 76 (almost all Mormons) in 1854 from cholera, and 79 (again, almost all Mormons) in 1855 from cholera.
So, if Wood died of cholera it had to have been in 1849, 1850 or 1852. I am writing to ask how reliable the death year of 1848 is, or, alternatively, the reliability of cholera being the cause of death. I realize that you can only report information from sources which may not be totally reliable or consistent.
Thank you for considering my request.
Richard Rieck
Professor Emeritus
Dept. of Geography
Western Illinois Univ.
Rex wrote back the same day:
Thank you for sharing the newspaper article, which I was not aware of. The information on Dr. John Scudder Wood that I “posted�?is in my online Roots Magic family tree. I did not check the information before adding it to my tree at the time because his wife, Mary Ellen Buckner, is a very distant relation of mine, my seventh cousin three times removed.
I do try to have complete and accurate information, so I have looked again at John Scudder Wood and found that FamilySearch Family Tree indicates that he died in 1850. It does not say where, and there is no citation of a source to prove the fact, but the 1850 date is at least consistent with your research on cholera deaths.
John Scudder Wood has an online memorial at:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/248113656/john_scudder_wood
Find-a-Grave states that he was buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Independence, Missouri, the same as his wife. However, there is no image of the grave and no information about a plot, so this cannot be considered proof that he is really buried there.
The newspaper article states that John S. Wood and Mary Ellen Buckner were married 25 May 1845 in Lafayette County, Missouri. However, several sources clearly show that they were married 29 April 1845. See: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:66J8-LF9K
Rex Wilson
Later that day Richard Rieck replied:
Rex,
Thank you for the very prompt response to my message.
1850 seems a reasonable date for his death.
I had looked at the FindAGrave post for Scudder before contacting you. It was common for the families of individuals who died on the trail to erect memorial markers/cenotaphs in an eastern cemetery in the family plot. More often than not the markers do not indicate that the person is still buried alongside the trail and that their remains are NOT below the marker. Often FAG posters just assume that couples are buried in the same cemetery (even if no marker is present). I published an article about this practice several years ago which I have attached (no need to comment on it). Imagine trying to transport a body in a homemade coffin in midsummer heat in a wagon that only covered 15 miles a day. If the death occurred more than a few dozen miles from the Missouri River return of the remains was more or less an impossibility. Most trail grave markers disappeared in prairie fires and other mishaps in a few months or a year or two. So returning at a later date to recover the remains was normally impossible.
We both are aware that published obituaries often have minor errors in them so I am not surprised about the slight discrepancy in marriage dates. Because my research is limited to trail fatalities (and not genealogy) this is not an issue with me and I only use such information to be reasonably sure the various sources are dealing with the same individual and not someone who is radically younger or older ("Senior" vs "Junior") or from a different part of the country.
Again, I appreciate your quick and positive response.
Richard
27 Mar 2024 RICHARD RIECK
The California newspaper "Blue Lake Advocate" of October 3, 1957, has a short paragraph which states that "John [Wood] died of the Cholera on a trip to California." According to the article Wood married Mary Ellen Buchner on May 25, 1845 in Lafayette County, Missouri and they had two children.
Your post indicates that John Scudder Wood, spouse Mary Ellen Buckner, died of cholera en route California in 1848.
I have compiled a database of the names of 7,200 individuals who died on the trail to California. Unfortunately, I can identify no cholera deaths on the trail in 1848. I can, however, document the names of 284 cholera fatalities in 1849, 493 cholera deaths in 1850, 693 in 1852 from cholera, 76 (almost all Mormons) in 1854 from cholera, and 79 (again, almost all Mormons) in 1855 from cholera.
So, if Wood died of cholera it had to have been in 1849, 1850 or 1852. I am writing to ask how reliable the death year of 1848 is, or, alternatively, the reliability of cholera being the cause of death. I realize that you can only report information from sources which may not be totally reliable or consistent.
Thank you for considering my request.
Richard Rieck
Professor Emeritus
Dept. of Geography
Western Illinois Univ.
Rex wrote back the same day:
Thank you for sharing the newspaper article, which I was not aware of. The information on Dr. John Scudder Wood that I “posted�?is in my online Roots Magic family tree. I did not check the information before adding it to my tree at the time because his wife, Mary Ellen Buckner, is a very distant relation of mine, my seventh cousin three times removed.
I do try to have complete and accurate information, so I have looked again at John Scudder Wood and found that FamilySearch Family Tree indicates that he died in 1850. It does not say where, and there is no citation of a source to prove the fact, but the 1850 date is at least consistent with your research on cholera deaths.
John Scudder Wood has an online memorial at:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/248113656/john_scudder_wood
Find-a-Grave states that he was buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Independence, Missouri, the same as his wife. However, there is no image of the grave and no information about a plot, so this cannot be considered proof that he is really buried there.
The newspaper article states that John S. Wood and Mary Ellen Buckner were married 25 May 1845 in Lafayette County, Missouri. However, several sources clearly show that they were married 29 April 1845. See: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:66J8-LF9K
Rex Wilson
Later that day Richard Rieck replied:
Rex,
Thank you for the very prompt response to my message.
1850 seems a reasonable date for his death.
I had looked at the FindAGrave post for Scudder before contacting you. It was common for the families of individuals who died on the trail to erect memorial markers/cenotaphs in an eastern cemetery in the family plot. More often than not the markers do not indicate that the person is still buried alongside the trail and that their remains are NOT below the marker. Often FAG posters just assume that couples are buried in the same cemetery (even if no marker is present). I published an article about this practice several years ago which I have attached (no need to comment on it). Imagine trying to transport a body in a homemade coffin in midsummer heat in a wagon that only covered 15 miles a day. If the death occurred more than a few dozen miles from the Missouri River return of the remains was more or less an impossibility. Most trail grave markers disappeared in prairie fires and other mishaps in a few months or a year or two. So returning at a later date to recover the remains was normally impossible.
We both are aware that published obituaries often have minor errors in them so I am not surprised about the slight discrepancy in marriage dates. Because my research is limited to trail fatalities (and not genealogy) this is not an issue with me and I only use such information to be reasonably sure the various sources are dealing with the same individual and not someone who is radically younger or older ("Senior" vs "Junior") or from a different part of the country.
Again, I appreciate your quick and positive response.
Richard
Events
| Birth | 25 Jul 1817 | Kentucky |  | ||
| Marriage | 29 Apr 1845 | Lafayette County, Missouri - Mary Ellen Buckner | |  | |
| Death | 1850 | California | |||
| Burial | Woodlawn Cemetery, Independence, Jackson County, Missouri | |
Families
| Spouse | Mary Ellen Buckner (1824 - 1885) |
| Child | Emma S. Wood (1846 - ) |
| Child | Samuel B. Wood (1850 - ) |
| Father | David Wood (1789 - 1869) |
| Mother | Emma Scudder (1797 - 1840) |
Notes
Birth
or November 1817 Virginia, Union County, South Dakotaor 1818 according to Find-a-Grave
Marriage
California newspaper "Blue Lake Advocate" of October 3, 1957, has a short paragraph which states that "John [Wood] died of the Cholera on a trip to California." According to the article Wood married Mary Ellen Buchner on May 25, 1845 in Lafayette County, Missouri and they had two children.--------------------------------
John S. Wood
Sex Male
Spouse's Name Mary E. Buckner
Spouse's Sex Female
Event Type Marriage
Event Date 29 April 1845
Event Place Lafayette, Missouri
Endnotes
1. .
2. .
3. .
4. .
5. .
6. .