Thomas Jefferson Woods, born in 1896 to Francis Jackson Woods and Emma Matilda Savage, lived with his wife Katie in 1927 in a palmetto-thatched lean-to as they struggled to finish their house before the birth of their first child, Nellie. The house originally had three rooms, a large front room and two bedrooms, with porches on three sides. Later, enclosed porch areas became bedrooms, and the walls between the original bedrooms were removed to create a large kitchen-dining room. As pioneers of Fort Christmas depended heavily on wild game from the woods and fish from rivers and creeks, Tom learned hunting and trapping as a boy and used those skills to support his family by selling the hides of alligator, raccoon, opossum, and otter for luggage, shoes, coats, and handbags. He also worked as a guide, taking town folks on hunting and fishing trips along the St. Johns River, working for tips and receiving a share of the game for his own table.