In “Battle Oak legacy trees planted at historic Woods Cemetery in northwest Houston” (Houston Chronicle, 5 March 2020), Melanie Feuk writes:
“After the American Civil War, people who were formerly enslaved moved from Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina to a community in west Houston called Piney Point. Families left Piney Point in the early 1870s in search of more farmland. They settled in an area known then as “the Bottoms,” around Faulkey Gully in present day Lakewood Forest.
“Green’s ancestor, Willis Woods, was among the settlers who purchased land along Cypress Creek. Woods donated one acre for a family cemetery, which became the Willis Woods Cemetery. The settlement also included a church and a schoolhouse.
“The Bottoms was prone to flooding and families eventually sought residence elsewhere. Woods moved north across Spring Cypress Road on Hufsmith-Kohrville Road in the Tomball area. He married Sarah Amos of the Amos family in Kohrville. The school and church were moved north to Kohrville as well, leaving behind the Woods Cemetery.”
In “The Bottoms Cemetery, Harris County, Texas” (RootsWeb (which is funded and supported by Ancestry.com), 27 April 2003), Letty Harrington writes:
“This cemetery just west of HP (old Compaq) off of Jones Road in northwest Houston. We were told about it by a friend, Bill Starnes, who told us it was a neglected African American cemetery that was surrounded by new subdivisions. We hiked out there and found the excessively overgrown area behind a subdivision. It is on the right over the first bridge on Jones Road from Louetta. After photographing the cemetery, we researched it on line. In 1865, many freed slaves from Alabama and Mississippi came to Houston. Originally they settled in West Houston, but several families saved their money that they earned and purchased farmland in this area. Two of these families were the Woods and the Blackstocks. They built a church, school and cemetery and became successful farmers. The land for this cemetery was donated by pioneer, Willis Woods. Here is a great website about this community’s history.
“Census research shows the following: Strong Blackstock came from Mississippi as a freed slave. He married Daphne, also from Mississippi, and their first child was born in Texas in 1867. Some of their children are: Eliza (b. 1867), Linnas (b. 1872), Hannah (b. 1873), Mary (b. 1879), Strong, Jr. (b. 1886) and Leona (b. 1894). His wife Daphne was still alive in 1930, living with her daughter Leona and family. Son, Strong, is buried in this cemetery. Their were very likely more children which we will add as we check subsequent census years. Jake Woods was born in Mississippi in 1853. He married Julia Unknown in Texas around 1874. He is on the 1880 Census. There is also a Willis Woods living nearby him on that census who most likely was his brother. Jacob’s children were Willis (b. 1874), Jacob, Jr. (b. 1876) and Minger (b. 1879). All sons. His son Jacob, Jr. is listed on the 1930 census with his wife Annie (b. 1892) at age 54 living on Spring Cypress Road which was most likely his father’s original farm. We are still researching this family as well and will add information as we find it.”
In “The Bottoms” (Community Impact, 15 April 2014), Marie Leonard writes:
“After the Civil War, a group of freed African-American slaves from Alabama and Mississippi came to Houston. Ten families who saved money from lumbering and making charcoal when they first came to town moved to the northwest Harris County area and purchased land along a portion of Cypress Creek and called it The Bottoms—now known as present day Lakewood Forest.
“The families of Thomas Amos, Phil Blackstock, Runch Carrs, Richard Patterson, Sam Williams, Mango Weeds, Livington Stewart, Willis Woods and Kyle Williams were the ones responsible for purchasing the original land.
“Woods owned 310 acres in The Bottoms, but he donated a portion of his land so the community could build a church, cemetery, school and a Farmers Improvement Society—a Masonic organization.
“Because Cypress Creek was prone to flooding, the community eventually moved farther north up Hwy. 249. However, the school and church stayed open in The Bottoms for several years, requiring some children to walk several miles to school each day.”