In Massachusetts Soldiers & Sailors of the American Revolution Asahel Wood is described as 5 feet, 5 inches tall, with a black complexion. He was 32 years old when he enlisted in 1781, and his occupation was given as farmer.
Asahel probably lived in several different places. He might have been born on September 27, 1749, or 1750, in Westborough, Massachusetts to Solomon and Patience Woods. In 1775, when he first enlisted, he was in Hatfield, Massachusetts. When he enlisted for a second time in 1781, he did so in nearby Conway, Massachusetts, where he operated a gristmill and had the duty of ringing the meetinghouse bell. It was said that he was “respected by everybody old and young.” (History of Conway (Massachusetts) 1767-1917, p. 112) As bellringer, it seems he might not have been paid. He announced that he “proposed to discontinue ringing the bell but once a day, unless some encouragement was given him, by subscription or otherwise.” (History of Conway (Massachusetts) 1767-1917, p. 62) It isn't known whether his request was granted.
Asahel married Tilah Sauls of New Braintree, Massachusetts in Conway in November of 1801. Their twins, Patience and Asahel, were born in New Braintree in January of 1803, but the boy must not have survived, as a second Asahel was born in March of 1804.
Asahel was a private in the Massachusetts Line. In 1775, he was in Capt. Reuben Dickinson's Co., Col. Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge's 25 th Regiment. He served for three months and one day at Prospect Hill and Cambridge, Massachusetts. On September 28, 1775, his name appeared on a list of soldiers who qualified for a coat for serving at least six months. In the last years of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) it had become difficult to recruit enough soldiers, so the army began offering bounties. Asahel received one in April of 1781, for enlisting to serve for three years. An 1835 pension report shows that Asahel Wood was placed on the roll in 1818, and was allowed an annual allowance of $96. He received a total of $449.33. He was 61 years old when he applied for his pension and his death date on the report is given as December 22, 1822. He died at the age of 73, in Hardwick, Massachusetts. Tilah died of paralysis in New Braintree in 1846. She was 84 years old.
Military Service
Sources Consulted
Massachusetts Soldiers & Sailors of the American Revolution, pub. Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1891, Vol. 17, pg. 718
History of Conway, Massachusetts, 1767-1917, Rev. Charles Stanley Pease, 1917, pp. 62, 112