Meet Elizabeth Shaffer Wood

A few months ago I was just thinkin’ that I’d really like to be one of the characters for Grove Hill Cemetery’s Stories Behind the Stones. Once a year the Friends of Grove Hill put on a show of sorts that welcomes visitors to the cemetery to learn interesting stories about its inhabitants. The characters always have interesting histories and their actors are always convincing. I first attended a Stories event several years ago and was invited back to learn how to clean and restore old monuments. I was hooked from the beginning and have returned many times to carefully clean headstones that may have not been touched for decades.

It was just lately, though, that I started thinking I’d like to portray a resident character. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do it. I’d need to learn about the person, study their history, write their monologue, and then memorize at least part of it. Most importantly, I would need to confidently present it in costume to one or more groups of people. Luckily, Bobbie Bryant, a local writer, had research to share and it sparked my interest.

The lady I was asked to portray was Elizabeth Shaffer Wood. She was the wife of John Ferguson Wood. Not only was it interesting that she just happened to be in Shelbyvile chaperoning her young nieces at the time of her death, but it was surprising that John Wood decided to bury her in Shelbyville’s new Grove Hill Cemetery in 1856. Neither of them were from Shelby County or even Kentucky. Their lives were in Louisiana. Even more interesting is the reason their burial plots stood out. John Ferguson Wood, in his will, upon his passing in 1887, requested that a 2000 boulder be placed on his grave. This huge hunk of granite is quite a mystery. He never mentioned why he wanted this rock on this grave site. But there it is, engraved with WOOD and his birth and death dates on its side.

From the picture above, you can see that I managed to become Mrs. Wood for a couple of hours at the last Stories Behind the Stones this past October. I enjoyed learning and sharing about her and others buried in the same plot, and hope that the visitors to Grove Hill enjoyed it too. It is always good to honor those who have gone before us. I am glad that this time my just thinkin’ lead to action.