Pearle Ceary Woods Genealogical Collection 1749-2008

Access and use

Location of collection:
Wytheville Community College
F.B. Kegley Library
Wytheville Community College
Smyth Hall, Room 103
1000 East Main Street
Wytheville, VA 24382
Contact for questions and access:
POC: William A. “Bill” Veselik
Phone: (276) 223-4876
POC: George Mattis
Phone: (276) 223-4744
Fax: (276) 223-4745

Summary

Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The Pearle Ceary Woods Genealogical Collection consists of six albums of genealogical notes, family charts, census records, photographs and other documents relating to the Ceary family, Cary family, Cleaver family, Surratt family, Moore family, Collins family, Cooley family, Lee family, Welsh family, Leatherman family, Pearman family, Freeman family, Porter family, Ferguson family, Ewing family, and Sublette family.

Biographical / historical:

The daughter of Joseph Patrick Ceary and Stella Moore Ceary, Pearle Ceary was born on 11 October 1924 near Cripple Creek, Wythe County, Virginia. She graduated high school in 1942 and worked at Wytheville Knitting Mill. In September 1943, she moved to Baltimore, Maryland to work at Bethlehem Steel Company. She married Cecil Preston Woods on 23 May 1953; the couple stayed in the Baltimore area where they raised two daughters. Cecil Woods managed a hardware store while Pearle Ceary Woods kept financial accounts for the store.

After the death of her husband in 1988, Pearle returned to Rural Retreat, Virginia to live with her sisters. Until her death on 31 August 2008, she devoted herself to family and genealogical research. She compiled six albums of research on her family and that of her husband. Her cremains are buried in St. Peter's Cemetery in Wythe County, Virginia.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Patricia Woods Botelle, daughter of Pearle Ceary Woods, in 2009.
Physical description:
6 albums.