Joseph Wood was born near Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, the son of Samuel and Sarah Steadwell Wood.

There are a number of versions of what become of Samuel Wood. The first is that his father died in Illinois.

Another version is that Samuel and Sarah joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and started towards Nauvoo, but Samuel became discouraged and taking their oldest son, Warren, said he was going back home. They separated at Sandusky, Ohio.

A third version by Shirley Horton, Jan. 1962 gave the following: " Samuel Wood was a periodical drinker, when drunk he was cruel. During one drinking spell Sarah left him and went to Nauvoo to join the saints. Warren remained with his father. It was believed that Samuel later married Lucy Fifield and later Cathering Farrington. It is supposed that Warren died in the Civil War.

Sarah and her two sons, Charles and Joseph, continued on their way to Nauvoo, III., determined to be with the saints. They endured all the hardships of pioneer life besides the opposition of those who did not believe in this new religion. It took faith and courage to go on, but Sarah had both and did her part to help the cause along.

Mrs. Sarah Steadwell Wood then married Captain James Brown on January 10, 1845 in Nauvoo, Illinois as his fourth wife but second polygyny wife. When Captain Brown left with the Mormon Battalion. Sarah traveled to Salt Lake Valley with his other wives.

These were troublesome times, persecution was so great the Mormons were forced to abandon their homes and were driven out of their beautiful city of Nauvoo, which was built on the banks of the Mississippi River. Their temple was burned and they had to flee for their lives across the river. They traveled on to Winter Quarters, Neb. On the west bank of the Missouri and suffered from cold and privations. Many lost their lives. Six hundred were buried in the little cemetery there. Sarah's son, James Harvey Brown, was born at Winter Quarters on Oct. 8,1846 - her bedroom was a wagon box set on the ground, but being of sturdy stock and having faith in the Gospel, Sarah survived the ordeal. History tells us that the early pioneers suffered more hardships and sickness and death while traveling from Nauvoo, III., to Winter Quarters, Neb. than during any other part of the journey.

Capt. Brown made arrangements for his three wives, Esther Jones, Sarah and Abigail Smith Abbott and their families to stay at Council Bluffs until he could bring them to the Rocky Mountains. Capt. Brown had planned to return to Winter Quarters to bring his families West, but there were other duties her was called to by the Church. (He was sent to Calif. to receive the pay for Company C of the Mormon Battalion). So when Brigham Young and other church authorities returned East in the autumn of 1847, Captain James Brown sent wagons and provisions for his family and the family of Stephen Abbott, whom he had promised to care for, so that they might come to Utah. They joined him in Ogden, or as it was then called, Brownsville, in 1848.

It was during these strenuous times that grandmother, Sarah Steadwell Wood Brown lived, with her three sons, Charles Wood about 10 years, Joseph Wood about 8, and baby James Harvey Brown. We have no history of her life, but older members of the family say she was a very intelligent woman, who did her own thinking and was a good manager. Her husband, Capt. James Brown, sent her money to buy the wagon and two span of oxen for the journey to Utah

Sarah was not too happy living in polygamy. Quoting Shirley H. Horton, "Father (Ithamer Sprague) set up his blacksmith shop in Salt Lake City. His wife and children had died crossing the plains. One day Captain James Brown, who was the founder of Brown's Fort (they call it Ogden now) came to see father. He was in sore need of a blacksmith and asked Father to join the new community in that capacity. Father decided he might as well, so he moved up to Brown's Fort. Capt. Brown as a widower had married Sarah Steadwell Woods in the Nauvoo Temple. She went by the name of Sally Woods." It was decided that Sarah would be happier married to Mr. Sprague.

Sarah and Ithamar were married in 1849 according to the U.S. Census 1850 of Weber County. They later divorced. Sarah later married Alonzo Harrington LeBaron, divorced; then she married a Mr. Reed, divorced; then she married Henry Lewis, and divorced.

Around 1860 Joseph Wood then living in Ogden, co-founded the adjoining community of Huntsville, Utah. Huntsville's first known settlers arrived in the fall of 1860. They were Jefferson Hunt, for whom the town was named; his sons Joseph and Hyrum Hunt and their families; Charles and Alice Wood; Joseph Wood and his mother Sarah Steadwell Wood Brown; Nathan Coffin and his mother Abigail; the Edward Rishton family, and the James Earl family

Joseph married Elizabeth Allen Slater, daughter of James Slater (1806-1854) and Mary Tyson Slater (1811-1865), both of England.  With his wife and his mother, Joseph settled in Huntsville. The much married Mrs. Sarah Lewis provided a jarring note. In the mid-1860's she became acquainted with the Reorganized Latter-day-Saint missionaries who opened the Utah mission and after several polygmous marriages, became an avid reader of Josephite tracts.

Wood was also suspect to local authorities. He came to the rescue of a man who was being severely beaten, allegedly on orders from local authories and then protested the fact in the community. When he refused the bishop's request to destroy the RLDS tracts a church court was convened to consider his rebellion. That night he was warned by a close friend who had the reputation as the local Danite, that the outcome would likely involve blood atonement. Wood did some quick repenting, confessed his sins, settled outstanding tithing, burned the tracts, and (while still on a sort of probation) laid plans for leaving Utah.

Joseph mortgaged his farm and bought wheat. Then in early 1867 he and his family left Huntsville in a sleigh. He took the wheat to Salt Lake City, traded it for flour, and then left with his family for the boomtown of Austin, Nevada.

Flour was selling at $25.00 per cwt, and Wood realized $3,000 on the trip. He bought a small ranch on the Reese River near Austin where he farmed and operated a smithy. He stayed in Nevada until the boom collopsed and conditions in Utah made him confident enough to return. In 1878 he moved to Cache Valley and settled near his brother Charles in Lewiston. The next year he moved to Gentile Valley, Idaho, where the hard winter of 1879-1880 wiped out his herds. He returned to Cache Valley in a wagon pulled by a cow and a horse and settled in Trenton near Goodwin Brothers Ranch.

Active in the Liberal Party and the Raid, Wood acted as a "spotter", informing deputy marshalls of the presence of polygamists--the Clarkston incident has been mentioned. He was largely responsible for the founding of the New West School in Trenton in 1883. He was one of the fusion ticket of Liberals and Republicans who won control of the Trenton school board and who ordered the school closed to the local LDS congregation. Though he did not join another church, he actively encouraged the New West and aided the variouis non-Mormon Sunday Schools in Trenton. He died January 8, 1925, and is buried in the Cornish Cemetery.

Joseph Clarence Wood b. 6 Jan 1865; md. Mary Hill in 1887 (div)

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