Biography

The available public record shows only that Charlotte Woods was born in the last quarter of 1843, but an exact date of 04 October 1843 is given in the family tree created about 1970 by her grandson-in-law, Maine farmer Clifton Nathaniel Walker – husband of her granddaughter Nellie Burkett Childs. Charlotte's father’s name, James Woods, is given in the Walker tree; it can also can be found in census records – as can the first name of her mother, Elizabeth… who was born Elizabeth Francis, of Castle Cary, Somerset.

Charlotte married Edwin Childs in the first part of 1865, their union no doubt hastened by the fact that she was pregnant, at the time, with their first child, James... born very shortly after their marriage, in the second quarter of the year^[1]. The couple emigrated to Massachusetts in 1867 with James and their second child, a newborn daughter – christened in London on 20 May as Anna, although in all later records found to date, she appears as Achsah (presumably named after her aunt, Edwin’s youngest sibling); the shipboard passenger list and dual immigration records appear to either ignore Anna/Achsah entirely, or show her (with her given name misspelled) separate from her parents and brother, or in one case, to apparently but confusingly note her only alongside James’s name, as “Inf”. The family sailed aboard the shipPropontis, arriving in Boston in June; they settled west of Boston in the small town of Medway, joining Edwin’s mother Elizabeth, her second husband, Henry Giles, and three of Edwin’s siblings, all of whom had emigrated a year previous.

A Boston immigration record from late August, 1889, suggests that Charlotte may have been able to revisit England that year; the age given for a passenger of her name aboard the shipCephalonia, 45, is correct, as is the information about her place of birth, her residence, and her current nationality^[2].

Edwin, who lived until 1900, survived Charlotte, who passed away in Medway in 1895... too soon to see her first recorded grandchildren, a daughter and son of the couple's son Henry Thomas Childs and his first wife,Mayflower descendant Mary Shapleigh (Mason) Childs. Charlotte and Edwin are buried close by one another in West Medway's Evergreen Cemetery.

Sources

1. ↑ "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2X99-9RM : 1 October 2014), James Childs, 1865; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Yeovil, Somerset, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
2. ↑ Passenger immigration record, "Massachusetts, Index to Boston Passenger Lists, 1848-1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9KC-TH4L?cc=2304666&wc=ST5R-BZ9%3A1499865801 : 25 October 2016), 007620032 > image 1643 of 3949; citing NARA microfilm publication M265 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration 1969).

• Birth year/quarter/location: "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2N4F-2RY : 1 October 2014), Charlotte Woods, 1843; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Yeovil, Somerset, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England; month & day from family tree created by Charlotte's grandson-in-law, Clifton Nathaniel Walker -- husband of Nellie Burkett (Childs) Walker -- with assistance from her great-grandson Thomas Childs Jane, circa 1970.

• Death 16 Jan. 1895: from family tree (see above) created by Clifton N. Walker & Thomas Childs Jane; confirmed by "Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7BP-HTY : 10 March 2018), Charlotte Childs, 16 Jan 1895; citing Medway, Massachusetts, v 455 p 515, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 961,516.

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