Zilmon S Hood, brother of Steven Reed Hood, paid 1834 property tax in the Capt. David District, Franklin Co., GA. The document mentions Steven Reed Hood.

On 17 Feb 1839 in Franklin County, William W. Hood sold 137 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek to his son, Stephen R. Hood, witnessed by his son-in-law, Francis T. Cook. The deed shows his name as William W. Hood, Senior.

Stephen Reed Hood married Jane Sewell on 23 May 1841 in Franklin Co., GA (Their marriage certificate is extant). At the time, Steven Reed Hood, was a Justice of the Peace in Franklin Co., GA.

On 15 Jan 1842 in Franklin County, William sold an additional 137 acres on Beaverdam Creek to his son, Stephen R. Hood. His name on the deed is shown as William W. Hood, Senior and he signed the deed as "W. W. Hood".

On 28 Mar 1844 Stephen Reed Hood, Justice of the Peace, performed the marriage ceremony joining his sister, Mary Ann Hood, to her intended, Asa Ware, in Franklin Co., GA.

Extant land ownership tax records show Stephen Reed Hood owning land in 1845 in the Captain David District, Franklin Co., GA.

Tax records show Stephen Hood and his family moved to Jackson, Co., GA before 1849. Extant land ownership tax records show Stephen Reed Hood owning land in 1849 in the Captain Pool District, Jackson Co., GA.

The November 1850 US Census of Subdivision 45, Jackson Co., GA enumerated the household of 33 Y/O Stephen Reed Hood, born in GA, and his 29 Y/O wife, Jane (Sewell) Hood. Living in the household were their children: 8 Y/O Angeline Hood; 6 Y/O John S. Hood; 3 Y/O William H. Hood and 8 months old James M. Hood. Stephen was a farmer with 170 acres of land valued at $500.00 cash.

The birth records of their children indicate that Stephen and his family migrated from Jackson Co., GA to the Coats Bend area of Cherokee Co., AL between 25 Nov 1855, the birth date of their last Georgia born child, Huldah Hood, and 14 Feb 1857, the Cherokee County, Alabama birth date of George Washington Hood, their first child born in Alabama. Stephen's Hood's daughter, Angeline (Hood) Turner, aged 13 at the time of the migration, related the difficulties encountered during that adventure-filled covered wagon journey many years later. Stephen Hood became a large landowner in Cherokee Co., AL. His occupation was farmer and he was the first Minister of the Advent Christian Church in North Alabama and, about 1857, was the founder of the Lebanon Advent Christian Church which was located in Coats Bend near the Coosa River and eight miles north of Gadsden, Alabama. See attached photo of the Lebanon Advent Church taken in early 1970s.

The 1860 US Census of Kings Hill, Cherokee Co., AL enumerated the household of 42 Y/O Stephen Reed Hood, a Baptist minister and farmer, and his 39 Y/O wife, Jane (Sewell) Hood. His estate was valued at $3000.00. Also living in the household were their children: 17 Y/O Angeline Hood, born in GA; 15 Y/O John S. Hood, born in GA; 13 Y/O William H. Hood, born in GA; 11 Y/O James H. Hood, born in GA; 9 Y/O Mary Hood, born in GA, 7 Y/O Simeon Hood, born in GA; 5 Y/O daughter, Huldah Hood, born in GA; 3 Y/O George Hood, born in Alabama, and 6 months old Susan Hood, born in Alabama.

Stephen Reed Hood supported the War for Southern Independence and in 1861 he helped organize the Cherokee Beauregards, a local home guard unit in Cherokee County, AL. He was also elected Captain and his oldest son, John S. Hood, who was his only child of military age during the War Between the States joined the company as a private. To note its location and martial spirit, the unit was named after Cherokee County and Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, the hero of Fort Sumter and the Battle of First Manassas. The Cherokee Beauregards (around 115 men) did its initial training in Dublin, Alabama (now Leesburg), and mustered into Confederate service in Montgomery on September 17, 1861. The unit then became Company "D" in the 22nd Alabama Infantry Regiment. Stephen Hood was again elected captain.

The 22nd Alabama Infantry was organized in Montgomery in the fall of 1861, and Zachariah C. Deas, a former soldier in the Mexican War and a wealthy cotton broker in Mobile, recruited men from Walker, Clarke, Cherokee, Mobile, Pike, Choctaw, Montgomery, Calhoun, and Randolph Counties. Deas was elected Colonel of the regiment and received a Confederate States Army commission on October 25, 1861. Also, Colonel Deas used his own funds ($28,000.00 in gold) to equip the regiment with the latest British Enfield rifles. Thus, the 22nd Alabama Infantry Regiment (almost 1,000 strong) was one of the best equipped units in the Confederacy. Completing its organization in Montgomery in November 1861, the unit was sent to Mobile, AL where it trained extensively and defended that city (along with the 19th and 25th Alabama Infantry Regiments) during the winter of 1861-1862 (Brewer 1872:624; Faust 1986:212).

Unfortunately, like many army camps in the north and south during the Civil War, illness and disease was a serious problem. This was the time before modern medicine and little was known about diseases, the causes, and prevention. Consequently, there was poor sanitation (particularly in the early years of the war), food storage problems caused numerous cases of diarrhea and dysentery, there were outbreaks of typhoid fever (caused by dirty water), malaria and yellow fever were problems in summer, and men from rural areas had little resistance to communicable diseases such as measles and mumps. Also, these diseases were often complicated by pneumonia (Beller 1992:25-26). As a result of these conditions and the close quarters, there was a serious measles epidemic that broke out among the troops in Mobile that winter. Consequently, many men became seriously ill or died. Those that did survive were often too weak to serve further, and were discharged from the service and sent home (Driskell 1997:4).

By April 1, 1862, the 22nd Alabama Infantry could only muster 435 officers and men that were fit for duty. This was less than half of the men the regiment had started out with in the fall of 1861 (Deas 1862:1). Captain Stephen Reed Hood also became ill that winter and received a surgeon's certificate of physical disability which was endorsed by General Braxton Bragg, the Gulf District Commander. Consequently, Stephen Hood reluctantly resigned his commission on January 10, 1862. He then returned to Cherokee County and resumed his career in the ministry, serving in that capacity until his death on September 13, 1883. His 17 year old son, Private John S. Hood, however, continued to serve in the regiment. During the winter and spring of 1862 there was a major crisis in the western Confederacy. It began with the Union capture of Forts Henry and Donelson in Kentucky in February 1862, and the resulting loss of Kentucky, the City of Nashville (an important industrial center, army supply depot, and Tennessee state capital), and all of middle Tennessee. Consequently, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Albert Sidney Johnston (Commander of the Western Department), and General P.G.T. Beauregard rushed troops to plug the gap in the Confederate defense line, form a new army in Corinth, Mississippi (designated the Army of the Mississippi), and initiate a counter offensive (Sword 1994:11).

Stephen Reed Hood was enumerated in the 1866 Alabama State Census of Cherokee County.

The 1870 US Census of Attalla, Etowah Co., AL enumerated the household of 51 Y/O Stephen Reed Hood, a gospel minister and farmer, and his 48 Y/O wife, Jane (Sewell) Hood. His post-war estate was valued at $2000.00 (quite a recovery). Also living in the household were their children: 28 Y/O Angeline Hood; 20 old James H. Hood; 18 Y/O Mary Hood, 17 Y/O Simeon Hood; 14 Y/O Huldah Hood; 13 Y/O George Hood; 10 Y/O Susan Hood; 7 Y/O Laura Hood and 5 Y/O Joseph Hood.

The 1880 US Census of Etowah Co., AL enumerated the household of 62 Y/O Stephen Reed Hood, minister of the gospel. Also living in the household was Stephen's 58 Y/O wife, Jane (Sewell) Hood, and their 15 Y/O son, Joseph B. Hood, born in AL. His main livelihood remained farming and by 1880 he owned 380 acres of land valued at $2325.

Phillip Matthew Turner, Sr. donated the land on which the Lebanon Advent Church and Cemetery were located in Coats Bend, Etowah Co., AL. NOTE: Phillip Matthew Turner, Sr. was the father-in-law of Stephen Hood's daughter, Angeline (Hood) Turner. The church is now disbanded and the original log church, later covered with clapboard siding, was torn down in the 1970s. The pews were distributed among the parishioners. The Lebanon Cemetery was established adjoining the church with the first burial in 1858 and is well maintained. I spent many "Decoration Days" (later named Memorial Day) at this church and adjacent cemetery as a child in the 1930s and 1940s. See attached photo of the Lebanon Advent Church taken in early 1970s.

The children of Stephen Reed and Jane (Sewell) Hood were:
1) Angeline Hood b. 22 Oct 1842 Franklin Co., GA, d. 05 Mar 1939 Wharton Bend, Etowah Co., AL, m. Phillip Matthew Turner, Jr. 23 Dec 1873 Etowah Co., AL, bur. Lebanon Advent Cemetery, Coats Bend, Etowah Co., AL.
2) John S. Hood b. October 1845 GA, d. 01 Jun 1862 of disease during the Civil War near Corinth, MS.
3) Rev. William Hamilton Hood b. 11 Jan 1848 GA, d. 10 Feb 1923 Etowah Co., AL, m. 1) Charlsie A. Croft 23 Sep 1868 Gadsden, Etowah Co., AL, 2) Lougenia Manley Hudson on 31 Jan 1895 in Etowah Co., AL, 3) Myra Weaver on 15 Dec 1904 in Gadsden, Etowah Co., AL, bur. Lebanon Advent Cemetery, Coats Bend, Etowah Co., AL.
4) James Milton Hood b. 28 Feb 1850 Jackson Co., GA, d. 30 Dec 1914 AL, m. Mary Ellen Hale in Jan 1874 in Cherokee Co., AL, bur. Cedar Hill Methodist Cemetery, Leesburg, Cherokee Co., AL.
5) Mary Elizabeth Hood b. 26 Oct 1851 GA, d. 18 May 1882 Etowah Co., AL, m. 03 Feb 1874 James Madison Hooper, bur. Lebanon Advent Cemetery, Coats Bend, Etowah Co., AL.
6) Simon Martin Hood b. 10 Mar 1853 Franklin Co., GA, d. 02 Jan 1932 Etowah Co., AL, m. 1) Margaret "Maggie" Ethel Hale on 15 Jan 1874, 2) Laura Lee Cunningham on 10 Dec 1902, 3) Mary Frances Bond Kilgore on 29 May 1909, bur. Shady Grove Cemetery, Cherokee Co., AL.
7) Huldah J. Hood b. 25 Nov 1855 GA, d. 03 Nov 1891 Etowah Co., AL, m. James Alexander McCluskey on 22 Oct 1876 in Gadsden, Etowah Co., AL, bur. Lebanon Advent Cemetery, Coates Bend, Etowah Co., AL.
8) Rev. George Washington Hood b. 14 Feb 1857 Cherokee Co., AL, d. 09 Jun 1931 Athens, Howard Co., AR, Occupation: preacher and farmer, m. 1) Celia Catherine Hale on 31 Aug 1876 in Cherokee Co., AL, 2) Mary Elizabeth (Boothe) Keys on 25 Jul 1917 in Van Buren, Crawford Co., AR, 3) Alice Rowes on 03 Dec 1924 in Nashville, Howard Co., AR, 4) Clara Collins on 08 Mar 1929 in Sallisaw, Sequoyah Co., OK, bur. in White and Shelby Cemetery, Central City, Sebastian Co., AR.
9) Susan (Susie) A. Hood (Susan A. Hood Hale) b. 02 Jan 1860 Cherokee Co., AL, d. 26 Aug 1903 Cherokee Co., AL, m. David Crockett Hale on 13 Oct 1879 in Etowah Co., AL, bur. in Lebanon Advent Cemetery, Coats Bend, Etowah Co., AL.
10) Laura Celia Hood b. 01 Dec 1861 Cherokee Co., AL, d. 02 Jun 1941 Etowah Co., AL, m. Augustus "Guss" Beauregard McCluskey on 28 Dec 1879 in Gadsden, Etowah Co., AL, bur. in Lebanon Advent Cemetery, Coats Bend, Etowah Co., AL.
11) Joseph B. Hood b. 29 Jan 1865 Cherokee Co., AL, d. 11 Oct 1933 Jenny Lind, Sebastian Co., AR (Reportedly via suicide), m. Unmarried, Occupation: coal miner, Great Western Coal Co., AR, bur. in Old Jenny Lind Cemetery, Jenny Lind, Sebastian Co, AR.

Sources:
1) "The John and Richard Hood Clan of Halifax County, Virginia; Burke County, North Carolina; and Pendleton and Greenville Districts, South Carolina" by Clyde B. Hood, 2013, pp197-200.
2) Article-Estate Record of Rev. Stephen Reed Hood, Northeast Alabama Settlers, Vol. XXIX, No. 3, January 1991.
3) "The Cherokee Beauregards and the Road to Shiloh: The Military Careers of Captain Stephen R. Hood and Private John S. Hood" By George H. McCluskey, 2010.
4) "The Tunis Hood Family" by Dellmann O. Hood, 1960, p157.

The above bio was added by Dr. Gresham Farrar.