The Woodall Family

The Woodall family story in colonial and early‑American Virginia unfolds across several interconnected generations whose lives intersect with the Gaulding, Steele, Taylor, and DeJarnette families. Together, these lines form a tightly woven kinship network that shaped the social and genealogical landscape of Pittsylvania, Charlotte, and surrounding counties.

At the center of the earliest documented branch stands Sampson Woodall, a mid‑eighteenth‑century Virginian whose marriage to Sarah Steele, daughter of Samuel Steele and Catharine Hammond, joined two long‑established Northern Neck families. Sarah’s lineage reaches back to the parish records of North Farnham, where the Steeles and Hammonds appear repeatedly in the early 1700s. Her marriage to Sampson in 1756 marked the beginning of the Woodall family’s movement from the Northern Neck into Southside Virginia. Their children carried the family into Pittsylvania and Patrick Counties, establishing the foundation for later generations.

From this line descended James Sampson Woodall (1765–1848), one of the most prominent figures in the family’s early history. Born during the final years of the colonial era, James lived through the American Revolution, the formation of the new republic, and the westward expansion that reshaped Virginia’s borders. His life reflects the steady migration patterns of the Woodalls, who moved gradually from Charlotte County into Pittsylvania and then into Patrick County. James became a central patriarch whose descendants spread into neighboring counties and later into Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Carolinas.

Another branch of the family emerges through John W. Woodall, who married Elizabeth Gaulding, daughter of William T. Gaulding, a soldier of the Revolution and his wife Margaret Lane. Their marriage represents the merging of two families whose histories frequently intersect in land records, chancery files, and local tax rolls. John and Elizabeth’s household continued the Woodall tradition of farming, landholding, and community involvement, and their descendants maintained strong ties to the Gaulding family for generations.

The Woodall story also includes Betsy Taylor, daughter of James Taylor and Lydia DeJarnette, whose marriage into the Woodall line further expanded the family’s network of alliances. The Taylors and DeJarnettes were influential families in the region, and Betsy’s connection to the Woodalls reflects the pattern of intermarriage among prominent Southside Virginia families during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Taken together, these interconnected narratives reveal a family defined by movement, resilience, and deep regional roots. The Woodalls married into some of the most established families of colonial Virginia—the Steeles of North Farnham Parish, the Gauldings of Pittsylvania County, and the Taylors and DeJarnettes of Charlotte and Halifax. Their story is one of continuity across generations, with each marriage strengthening the bonds between families whose histories shaped the early development of Virginia. Through these lines, the Woodall family became an enduring part of the broader Gaulding Origins heritage.

Read more about the Woodall Family of Virginia on Gaulding Origins

The Woodall Line: John W. Woodall and Elizabeth Gaulding

The Life of James Sampson Woodall (1765–1848)

The Woodall Line: Sampson Woodall and Sarah Steele

The Woodall Line: Betsy Taylor, the daughter of James Taylor and Lydia DeJarnette

The Woodall Line: Sarah Steele, the daughter of Samuel Steele and Kathrine Hammond