Camp Wood

Camp Wood Welcome home, y'all! Camp 🌳 Wood was founded in 1905 by John Pugh Wood and his bride, Sarah "Sallie" Frances E. Milford.

Camp Wood has been home to over 5 generations of the Wood family! The history preserved within and around Camp Wood is truly amazing!

⭐️ATTENTION⭐️There will be a "Spring Cleaning Day" at Camp Wood this Saturday, May 9th at 9:00 a.m.. The concrete needs ...
05/06/2026

⭐️ATTENTION⭐️
There will be a "Spring Cleaning Day" at Camp Wood this Saturday, May 9th at 9:00 a.m.. The concrete needs pressure washed, tables and chairs need to be wiped down, and both houses need swept and dusted. There's also some yard work needed. The sheds need to be cleaned some too. Both cabins need a thorough cleaning, as well. If family can help it'll go pretty fast. All volunteers are greatly appreciated! Sharon Wood will have cleaning supplies. Thank you!
If weather is bad we will do it the next weekend.

🌳 Today, March 24th, 2026 is Bennett Hampton Wood’s 188th 🎂 Birthday! We Wood(s) decendants wouldn’t be here if not for ...
03/24/2026

🌳 Today, March 24th, 2026 is Bennett Hampton Wood’s 188th 🎂 Birthday!

We Wood(s) decendants wouldn’t be here if not for ole Hamp...

*Image is an AI/Photoshop generated likeness of Hamp Wood

🌳 Let's take a trip back to Waterloo, Alabama in late 1844. Although Bennett Hampton "Hamp" Wood's early life and formal...
03/02/2026

🌳 Let's take a trip back to Waterloo, Alabama in late 1844. Although Bennett Hampton "Hamp" Wood's early life and formal education are not well-documented, it is known that he spent his formative years in the pioneer village of Waterloo, under the guidance of his father, Bennett Allen Wood, and mother, Margaret Elizabeth Ford. Bennett Allen, an American Colonial veteran, undoubtedly imparted valuable skills to his three sons; including the youngest Hamp, oldest John Ford, and middle son Nelson-such as marksmanship, hunting, fishing, trapping, and blacksmithing. Around the nightly fireplace communion, Bennett Allen likely regaled his boys with tales of his experiences fighting alongside General Andrew Jackson in New Orleans, the Revolutionary War exploits of General George Washington, and the Pioneers' battles against notable Cherokee Chiefs like Dragging Canoe and Doublehead. These intimate moments fostered an environment where Hamp and his older half brothers were inspired to become men, start families, and eventually prepare for the impending Civil War on the horizon...

🌳 Through bitter tragedy, sheering pain, sudden death and hollowing loss... This mysterious life, with God's blessings, ...
02/22/2026

🌳 Through bitter tragedy, sheering pain, sudden death and hollowing loss...

This mysterious life, with God's blessings, ultimately bestows amazing blessings. On October 2, 1835 a twenty nine year old Mary Ellis Wood suddenly passed away from an undetermined illness. On that hollow autumn day, deep within the wilderness of Waterloo, Alabama she left behind her grieving husband, Bennett Allen Wood, and their three small children; Sarah, Nelson and Melissa. Shortly after Mary's death, out of sheer necessity, Bennett remarried. His new bride was Margaret Elizabeth Ford, who in 1838, birthed the ultimate blessing to our existence...

Bennett Hampton "Hamp" Wood

🌳 In our distant past, less than a great grandfather's memory away, men strategically provided. Men forcefully built liv...
02/17/2026

🌳 In our distant past, less than a great grandfather's memory away, men strategically provided. Men forcefully built lives from raw means of nature, men vigorously fought human challenges and men selflessly sacrificed wants and even needs-to no end. Back then, men believed aimlessly and men shamefully sinned, while ironically loving their family deeply. Bennett Hampton "Hamp" Wood was no exception to this rule. He fulfilled all these deeds, coping as a truly flawed man, while dealing with the emotional and physical aftermath of all his demanding responsibilities, gifted strength by his difficult era. Hamp faced those heavy burdens, as a professional carpenter by trade & soldier by responsibility. His bloody time served as a Union Prisoner, cutting through his swollen southern pride-like a dull knife-shaped Hamp's future motivations. His precise training as a Civil War soldier, coupled with the lifelong inspiration from his cherished father's successes, molded Hamp into the strong man he became... as a Reverend. A Constable. A Carpenter. A Soldier. A husband. And, as a Father.
Now... a memory. A legend.

Melton HollowLauderdale CountyWaterloo, Alabama in 1999Melton Hollow is the true original home of the entire Wood family...
02/16/2026

Melton Hollow
Lauderdale County
Waterloo, Alabama in 1999

Melton Hollow is the true original home of the entire Wood family in our area of northwest Alabama. This obscure and heavily wooded hollow, hidden away in a secret corner of time, rests near northern banks of our Tennessee river. Melton Hollow was homestead by my 4th Great Grandpa, Bennett Allen "Cotton" Wood, in the early 1850s. Great Grandpa Bennett was born around 1798 in Tennessee and died between 1855-1859. Bennett married twice and his second wife, Margaret Ford, is my 4th Great Grandma. One story that I can recite concerning the Hollow is when Grandpa Bennett was asked his name by a census worker he looked around the dense Alabama forest he called home and said, "My name? My name... It's Wood." After Grandpa Bennett Allen's death, his youngest son by Margaret and my 3rd Great Grandpa, Bennett Hampton Wood, assumed the Melton Hollow and developed it into a functional farm, eventually giving rise to his son and my 2nd Great Grandpa John Pugh's home that we all visit for our yearly reunion at Camp Wood.

It's hard to believe that it's been 27 years since I last stepped foot in this most sacred and important place to my heritage, when it was all intact. It's even harder to believe that my Grandpa Rufus, the 2nd Great Grandson of Bennett Allen Wood, is now gone. Thankfully, Grandpa Rufus was with us that fall day in 1999 as we took a journey back through time to discover something invaluable about our history. I'll never forget that early November day. It forever changed my life by making me decide to move "down home" from Indiana to Alabama.

I might be a "Damn Yankee" from South Bend, Indiana who wont go home 😂 as Grandpa Rufus used to jokingly say, but for my last name's sake... I'm also proud to be from a long line of hard working farmers in the hills and hollers of Waterloo, Alabama.

🌳 "No matter the gravity of a man's sins, with immense guilt weighing upon his soul, he can always turn to the Lord for ...
02/15/2026

🌳 "No matter the gravity of a man's sins, with immense guilt weighing upon his soul, he can always turn to the Lord for solace and direction through forgiveness."

Bennett Hampton "Hamp" Wood, in his meager twilight, made a pivotal decision to follow in his father Bennett Allen "Cotton" Wood's deeply vast footsteps, as a lonely Reverend. A roaming man of the people, he became. A nomadic servant of the Lord, he embraced. It was truly a lingering shadow of respected honor Hamp sought to possibly match, or exceed. He eagerly danced within those pivotal memories of his father, attempting to locate his own honored direction that would separate himself as a true voice of God, despite sin. Becoming a servant of the Lord, Hamp dedicated his focus on spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to his fellow brethren within Waterloo, seeking to make God and his father Cotton proud. This was a task, a marathon, and an honor to attack... a feat that Hamp Wood well exceeded within, until his untimely 1907 death to Bronchial Asthma.

*Image of Hamp Wood is generated using Artificial Intelligence and Photoshop...

🌳☘️ Irish roots run deep within Waterloo, Alabama... My 3rd Great Grandfather William Louis Milford and 3rd Great Grandm...
02/12/2026

🌳☘️ Irish roots run deep within Waterloo, Alabama... My 3rd Great Grandfather William Louis Milford and 3rd Great Grandmother Frances Adaline Eakin were only 2nd generation Americans, having both paternal set of grandparents being immigrants from northern Ireland. Without this socially and economically successful couple, many of us wouldn't exist today. Their presence in Wrights Community, of Lauderdale County, Alabama spawned the Milford Schoolhouse to William's co-ownership of Gravelly Springs Store. William and Frances are absolutely vital to the lineage of all decendents from John Pugh Wood and Sarah "Sallie" Frances Elizabeth Milford Wood-founders of Camp Wood. My body will be laid to rest upon William and Frances' land, as many before me, in a cemetery they donated, founded and where their bodies rest... until the Lord returns to resurrect our spirits, together.

*The image of William and Frances are generated using Artificial Intelligence and Photoshop

🌳 An imagined Wood family photo in late 1957 that means so much to me personally. A family photo that never was, but now...
02/08/2026

🌳 An imagined Wood family photo in late 1957 that means so much to me personally. A family photo that never was, but now is, thanks to Artificial Intelligence and Photoshop-some 69 years later! I'm proud to have created it. From left to right is my Great Grandfather Benjamin McKinley Wood (58 years old,) Great Grandmother Fannie Elizabeth Crider (54 years old,) Great Uncle Eldred McKinley Wood (23 years old,) my Grandfather Rufus Ezra Wood (26 years old,) and my Great Uncle Paul Douglas Wood Sr. (27 years old.)

🌳 The late summer of 1905 was a momentous occasion with the completion of John Pugh's single room cabin at modern day Ca...
02/08/2026

🌳 The late summer of 1905 was a momentous occasion with the completion of John Pugh's single room cabin at modern day Camp Wood. At that time, Pugh and Sallie were parents to Finis Leonard (14 years old), William Claude (11 years old), Verdie Morris (9 years old), Benjamin McKinley (7 years old), Eugenia Estelle (3 years old), and a newborn baby Elsie Elizabeth. The living conditions for eight people in such a small space were undoubtedly cramped. However, despite their humble surroundings, they were a loving and happy family, thriving on their Waterloo farm. I have used Artificial Intelligence and Photoshop to create another imagined picture that holds great personal significance. The image features three generations of my great grandfathers, from left to right: Great Grandfather Benjamin McKinley Wood, 2nd Great Grandfather John Pugh Wood, and 3rd Great Grandfather Rev. Bennett Hampton Wood.

Address

1154 County Road 120
Waterloo, AL
35677

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