Dr. S. R. Woods, a retired physician of Versailles, Mo., and a prominent citizen of the county. was born, like his parents, Samuel H. and Sicily (Patterson) Woods, in Virginia, his birth occurring in Franklin County in 1828. About 1850 he came to Missouri, and located in Platte County, but received his education in Emory and Henry College, near Abingdon, Va., and after coming to Missouri located at Camden Point, where he accepted a position as professor of mathematics, Latin and Greek, which position he held until 1860. In May, 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate army as lieutenant in Price's division, and was promoted to the position of major in the First Regiment Missouri State Guard, in which he served until the reorganization of the army, having taken an active part in the battles of Boonville, Carthage, Springfield, Lexington, Pea Ridge, Corinth and others. After the war he went to the City of Mexico, where he remained one year, and in the meantime visited Cuba. After returning to the United States he determined to complete his medical studies, and accordingly entered the St. Louis Medical College, from which institution he graduated in March, 1867. He located at Glencoe, in St. Louis County, where he practiced medicine until the winter of 1882, then retired from active practice and came to Versailles. In January, 1853, he was married to Mary Dale, a daughter of David Dale, a native of Kentucky. Her maternal grandfather, William Price, was a member of the life guard of Gen. Washington in the Revolutionary War. Dr, Woods and wife are devoted members of the Christian Church, and in addition to their church and Sunday-school work are deeply interested in the cause of temperance. The doctor has acted as mayor of Versailles two years, and has been a member of the A. F. & A. M. for thirty-eight years.
History of Cole, Moniteau, Morgan, Benton, Miller, Maries and Osage Counties, Missouri, Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889.