[7] In 1836 the families of William Jacobs, Thomas Alders, James Jacobs, George Brown and Elijah Chisum Sr., came from Madison County, Tennessee, and settled in southeastern Nacogdoches County.
In 1837 a log building in the center of the surrounding settlers' homes was built to serve as both the school and the church.
An 1854 scholastic census showed Jacobs Chapel to be the only school in the 12th district with 33 students.
Land on each side of the rail line was divided into town lots and a post office, originally named Oval, was established.
Tubbe deeded 2 acres (8,100 m2) of land near Saint’s Rest cemetery for a school.
In 1905 a bond election was held for the construction of a two-story building to house the Woden School.
In 1905, records indicate that Woden School had 72 students enrolled, Dorr Creek had 71, Persimmon Grove had 18, Fellowship had 25, Prospect (which was located near the Etoile-Chireno road) had 30, Little Flock (which had been founded in 1908 when Mr. And Mrs. J.E.
By 1909-1910, these schools and others were either growing or beginning to fade away as parents' jobs came to an end with the logging operations or the railroad.
Enrollments in 1909 and 1910 were: Woden-83, Dorr Creek-87, Persimmon Grove-28, Prospect-12, Melrose–167, Oak Ridge (which had been in existence since 1875)-125, Little Flock-62 and Hampton's Switch, one of several schools such as Donovan, Shiloh and Pirtle which were built to serve the needs of the logging and railroad families, had 25 students.
The land for Woden School, 10 acres (40,000 m2), was sold by Andrew Jackson Chisum to the district in 1915.
The small schools within the district either ceased to function or were annexed by Woden ISD.