Tracing the Woods family history

Metro Atlanta

Tracing the Woods family history

Photos: Former Lithonia mayor Marcia Glenn Hunter gathers with her sibling to look over family albums. They have traced their ancestry back to Sierra Leone and a captive who was sold into slavery in Newtown County, Georgia. Mother Maggie Woods was the first black City Council member in Lithonia.

Marcia Glenn Hunter, the former mayor of Lithonia, holds one of the sculptures she brought back from Nigeria. She has traced her family's roots back to Sierra Leone. Their ancestors were sold into slavery in Walton County and then moved to Lithonia.

Marcia Glenn Hunter traced her ancestry back to Samuel Wood, a slave born in 1790 in Africa and then brought to work a plantation in Newton County. This page from the 1870 Census lists Samuel Wood at age 80 . It reports him being born in Africa and identifying as an African.

Another ancestor, Wallace Wood, is listed on this paper. It shows the assets of slaveholder Cary Wood, who died in 1857.

Glenn Hunter's mother, Maggie Woods (right), raised eight children by herself by working as a domestic in the Atlanta area. In 1972, she became Lithonia's first black councilwoman. Since then, three of her children have become leaders in the small southern DeKalb County city.

Marcia Glenn Hunter's mother, Maggie Woods (left), was the first black woman on the Lithonia City Council. Her sister Barbara Lester became a city councilwoman. Marcia Glenn is at right.

Marcia Glenn Hunter, shown here with her siblings and a playmate in the mid -1940s, grew up in a three-room shack in Lithonia and never knew any of her grandparents.

The siblings look over family photo albums. Seated (from left) are Laverne Baker and Barbara Lester. Standing (from left) are Jerome Woods, Roger Woods Jr., Brenda Drucilla Woods, sister-in-law Mary Woods, Kenneth Woods and Marcia Glenn Hunter,.

In this Nov. 2,1999 ,photo, Marcia Glenn (left) celebrates with her sister Brenda Woods after winning re-election as mayor of Lithonia. She received 80 percent of the vote.

This family tree is a result of Marcia Glenn Hunter's research into both sides of her family.

John and Mary Webb are the great-grandparents of the current Wood clan in Lithonia.

The marriage license of Solomon Webb and Mary Webb in 1871 shows the wedding of Marcia's maternal great-grandparents in 1871.

Marcia Glenn Hunter (standing), the former mayor of Lithonia, looks over family albums with her sisters and brothers.

When Lithonia was planning its 150th anniversary celebration, former mayor Marcia Glenn Hunter worked with Mayor Darold Honore. Looking at historical documents in the mayor's office are (from left) Marry Ann Cowan, Marcia Glenn Hunter, Darold Honore and Kathleen deCocq.

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Marcia Glenn Hunter, the former mayor of Lithonia, holds one of the sculptures she brought back from Nigeria. She has traced her family's roots back to Sierra Leone. Their ancestors were sold into slavery in Walton County and then moved to Lithonia.

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