The Wood family now seated in Chatham, New York, are of old Massachusetts ancestry. Through intermarriages they are related to many noted New England families, and themselves were of more than local celebrity. One branch intermarried with the Quaker family of Southwick that suffered much persecution at the hands of Massachusetts authorities. The direct ancestors were whipped, imprisoned, and finally banished and their property confiscated, their sole offence being that they dared worship God in a manner not dictated by Massachusetts statutes. The Rice and Taft families are also Wood connections. In the revolution, Ezra Wood and Captain Josiah Wood, both descendants of Thomas Wood, the founder, gave patriotic service. This particular branch inclines to the professions, and a number of ministers, physicians, lawyers and professors, are found in several of the generations. The family appears in New York after the revolution, Wheelock Wood being the first of his line permanently to settle in Herkimer county, New York.
(I) Thomas Wood, of Rowley, Massachusetts, is supposed to be the first of this branch in this country. His ancestors have not been discovered, although there is some reason to believe he belonged to the Wood family of Norwich, Norfolk county, England. In 1763 Colonel Eliphalet Dyer visited England and brought back for Annie (Wood) Elderkin, wife of Colonel Jedediah Elderkin, and daughter of Thomas, son of Thomas Wood, of Rowley, a crest and coat of arms, supposed to be those of the Wood family to which she belonged, the Woods of Norwich. The first known of Thomas Wood is his marriage recorded in Rowley. Thomas and Ann Wood were married 4 months, 7 days, 1654. His wife was Ann Hunt, of Ipswich, Massachusetts. Rowley records show him to have been a man of excellent Christian character and of high standing among his townsmen. He was buried September 12, 1687. Children:
- Mary, born March 15, 1655, supposed to have been the Mary Wood who married Edward Ordway.
- John, born November 2, 1656; settled in Bradford, Massachusetts, then in Littleton; married Isabel Hazen.
- Thomas, born August 10, 1658; married Mary Hunt.
- Ann, born August 8, 1660; married Benjamin Plummer.
- Ruth, born July 21, 1662; married (first) Captain Joseph Jewett, (second) John Lunt or Hunt.
- Josiah, born September 5, 1664; married Mary Felt.
- Elizabeth, twin of Josiah, married Captain Joseph Boynton.
- Samuel, born December 26, 1666; married Margaret Ellithorpe.
- Solomon, born May 17, 1669; married Mary Hazeltine.
- Ebenezer, of further mention.
- James, died at age of twenty years.
(II) Ebenezer, tenth child and sixth son of Thomas and Ann (Hunt) Wood, was born in Rowley, Massachusetts, December 29, 1671, baptized in the First Church, December 31, 1671. He lived in Rowley until July 14, 1717, when he and wife were dismissed to the Mendon Church. He married, April 5, 1695, Ruth Nichols. Children born in Rowley:
- James, born April 28, 1696.
- Ebenezer, December 6, 1698.
- Jonathan, of further mention.
- David, May 30, 1704.
- Samuel, May 21, 1706.
- Jesse, March 2, 1709.
- Moses, April 3, 1712.
- Eliphalet, baptized August 15, 1714.
(III) Jonathan, third son of Ebenezer and Ruth (Nichols) Wood, was baptized in the First Church at Rowley, Massachusetts, November 2, 1701, by Rev. Edward Payson, the fourth settled pastor of that church. He married Hannah Dresser and had issue, including sons Jonathan and Josiah.
(IV) Captain Josiah Wood, son of Jonathan and Hannah (Dresser) Wood, was born in Mendon, died November 3, 1815. He lived on the Lake Faron place in Northbridge, Massachusetts, and was said to be a Universalist. This may be true, as in the Orthodox church records the names of Josiah Wood and Tipporah Wood appear as uniting with the church in 1765, by confession, also that she was expelled, August 24, 1802, and he, November 26, 1809 (revolutionary record). Josiah Wood appears with the rank of captain on Lexington alarm roll of Captain Josiah Wood's company which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775, from Northbridge to Roxbury. Length of service, ten days. Town to which each soldier belonged, Northbridge. (Vol. 13, p. 163). Josiah Wood appears among a list of officers dated July 9, 1776, chosen by the several companies in Colonel Ezra Wood's (Third Worcester Company) regiment. Rank, captain, Seventh Company. Reported commissioned, July 9, 1776. (Vols. 43 & 28, pps. 222 & 119). Josiah Wood appears among a list of officers appointed to command men listed in or drafted from (Worcester Company) brigade, as returned to Major General Warren (year not given). Rank, captain, of a company drafted from Colonel Ezra Wood's regiment, company to join Colonel Josiah Whitney's or Colonel Nathan Sparhawk's regiment, residence, Northbridge. (Vol. 1, 2). Josiah Wood, of Upton, and Tipporah Wheelock, of Mendon, were married by Artemus Wood, justice of the peace, February 12, 1757. Children: Emory and others.
(V) Emory, son of Captain Josiah and Tipporah (Wheelock) Wood, was born in 1768, died March 2, 1835. He married Patience, daughter of Ezekiel Wood. Children:
- Wheelock, of whom further.
- Sophia, married Sylvanus Taft, lived to be ninety-four years of age; no children.
- Nancy, married Caleb Sturtevant and had issue.
- Lucinda, married Comfort Rice.
- Submit, married Henry Pelton.
- Abigail, not married.
- Rhoda, married Mason White.
- Cynthia, married Lyman Callum.
- Josiah, unmarried.
- Manning.
- Emory Jr.
(VI) Wheelock, son of Emory and Patience (Wood) Wood, was born in Northbridge, Massachusetts, September 7, 1794, died in Herkimer county, New York, April 10, 1887. He married Hannah Comstock, born in Smithfield, Rhode Island, July 15, 1797, died January 20, 1892, after many long years of wedlock. They settled in Herkimer county in 1829 and resided there until their deaths. Children:
- Charles O., born 1821; married Martha Western; died January 8, 1900.
- Susan, born 1823; married William Comstock (deceased); she removed to South Dakota; died December 26, 1895.
- Martha E., born 1825; married Lorrin Kelley; died February 1, 1885.
- Elias W., born 1828; married Laura Hodge of a prominent family in the neighborhood.
- Rev. William A., born 1830 in Ohio, Herkimer county, New York; married Margaret Lightbill, of Madison county.
- Rev. Benjamin Franklin, of whom further.
- Hannah Melissa, born July 30, 1834; married William Comstock.
- Amanda S., born July 11, 1836; married (first) Oliver Darling; (second) Philip Walther, of Allegany county, New York.
- Rhoda Matilda, born (October 9, 1838; married John S. Wood; died January 8, 1892.
- Sarah W., born August 18, 1841; married Benjamin E. Western, of Herkimer; died February 7, 1898.
(VII) Rev. Benjamin Franklin Wood, son of Wheelock and Hannah (Comstock) Wood, was born in Ohio, New York, August 14, 1832. He was licensed to preach under the rules of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1852; was admitted on trial to Black River conference (now Northern New York conference) in 1854, and filled the following appointments: Steuben circuit (junior preacher), 1853-54, (conference year); Belmont, 1854 (part year); Brasher, 1856 (part year); Brockets and Stratford, 1859; Ohio and Gray, 1860-61; St. Johnsville, 1863-65 (two years); Middleville, 1865-68; Port Leyden, 1868-71; Constableville, 1871-73; Black River, 1873-76; Theresa, 1876-77; presiding elder, Watertown district, 1877-81; Port Leyden, 1881-84; Copenhagen, 1884-85; Adams district, 1885-91; Turin, 1891-94; Martinsburg, 1894-99; Chaumont, 1899-1900. He was superannuated in 1900, since which time he has resided in Watertown, New York, and has officiated extensively as supply. In the fall of 1861 he enlisted in Company G, Eighth Regiment, New York Volunteers. He was in the Peninsula campaign under McClellan; his regiment was in the advance of Fair Oaks and its ranks terribly thinned. After escaping unharmed in open battle, it remained for him to become a victim of malarial fever while encamping in White Oaks swamps, and on a surgeons certificate, he resigned. In 1862, in June, he was mustered out as second lieutenant. For many years he was president of the Riverside Camp Meeting Association.
He married (first) Asenath, daughter of John and Rosalinda (Higley) Barnes, who removed from Connecticut to Herkimer county, New York, in their early married life. They were very thrifty and brought up a family of seven children: Hiram, John, Rosalinda, Amanda, George, Asenath, married Rev. B. F. Wood, Lyman. John Barnes died at the age of seventy-eight years while his wife lived to be upward of ninety-two years. Mrs. Asenath (Barnes) Wood was noted for her lovable disposition. She attained special prominence as a teacher. She married, August 23, 1853, and died January 3, 1865. Children of Rev. B. F. and Asenath (Barnes) Wood:
- Dr. Gary Hosmer, born December 10, 1854; graduated from Fairfield Seminary, 1874, graduated from Long Island College Hospital, 1877, since which time he has practiced his profession at Antwerp, New York; in politics he is a Republican and has served in the following offices: Coroner three years, supervisor of town of Antwerp, Jefferson county, from 1890 to 1899; member of assembly from second assembly district, Jefferson county, from January 1, 1906, to January 1, 1811; he is ex-president of the Jefferson County Medical Society and member of the New York State Medical Society, prominent in the Masonic order, and past district deputy of the twenty-fourth Masonic district, state of New York. He married Mary F. Tamblin, August 30, 1876. Children:
- Ethel May Wood, born November 26, 1882, died June 19, 1884;
- Lillian Asenath Wood, born October 19, 1884, graduated from Vassar College, 1904, married T. D. MacGregor, August 25, 1909;
- Isabelle Tamblin Wood, born March 24, 1891, graduated from Vassar College, 1911.
- Dr. Emory Hamlin, born October 14, 1859; he was graduated from Ives Seminary in 1876 and from Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago in 1881; in 1883 he removed to South Dakota, and later he returned to New York; he has practiced his profession in the following places: Copenhagen, New York, 1881-83; Hand county, South Dakota, 1883-94; Salisbury Center, New York, 1894; he has served repeatedly as coroner and health officer; in South Dakota he held the position of county superintendent of schools. He married Eunice Brooks, August 16, 1882. Children:
- Laura A., born July 12, 1886;
- Hazel E., born November 27, 1888;
- Brooks Franklin, born July 17, 1892.
- Professor Frank Higley, of whom further.
- Harriet Libbie, born in St. Johnsville, Montgomery county, New York, August 18, 1863; married Bower Thomas Whitehead in Fremont township, Moody county, South Dakota, March 20, 1887, who has latterly been in charge of the department of pharmacy in the State Agricultural College at Brookings, South Dakota. Children:
- Lindsey Wood Whitehead, born in Fremont township, Moody county, South Dakota, June 16, 1888;
- Lyndall Whitehead, born in Brookings, Brookings county, South Dakota, December 23, 1900.
Rev. B. F. Wood married (second) October 5, 1865, Jane A. Dorn, by whom he had three sons, all of whom died in infancy, and one daughter,
- Florence, who married Charles Palmiter, of Watertown, New York, September 11, 1889, and to them one son was born November 17, 1891, Clebron Wood Palmiter.
(VIII) Frank Higley Wood, A. M., son of Rev. Benjamin Franklin and Asenath (Barnes) Wood, was born in Ohio, Herkimer county, New York, May 23, 1861. Receiving his elementary training in district schools, he graduated from Ives Seminary in 1879, and from Syracuse University in 1885, completing the course in approximately three years, winning the possible honors, including membership in the Phi Beta Kappa. Choosing teaching as his calling, he occupied the following positions: District school, town of Antwerp, winter of 1879-80; district school, village of Black River, winter of 1882-83. After spending the summer of 1883 on a preemption claim in Hand county, Dakota (now South Dakota), he served as principal of the graded school at West Carthage, 1883-84, Granville high school, 1885-87; Yates high school (Chittenango), 1887-89; Chatham high school, 1889-95. Entering the state service through civil service examination, he was inspector of training classes, 1895-99; supervisor of bureau of training classes, 1899-1902; supervisor of bureau of inspections, 1902-04; chief, inspections division, state education department, 1904. He is prominent in the Masonic order; is a past master of Columbia Lodge, No. 98, Free and Accepted Masons; member of Lindenwald Chapter, Kinderhook; Lafayette Commandery, Hudson; Cyprus Temple, Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Albany; also a past regent of Nat Hyatt Council, Royal Arcanum, and is a member of the Order of Modern Woodmen, Chatham, New York. He has long been a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church, of the Chatham high school, and of the Chatham Rural Cemetery Association. He is also the first president of the Morris Memorial Historical Society. July 3, 1889, Professor Wood, as he is popularly known, married Dora Foster, of Chittenango, daughter of Albert and Elsie (Cook) Foster, who on account of the early death of her mother was brought up in the home of her grandparents, Clement Cook, a former inhabitant of Otsego county and a veteran of the civil war, and Louise (French) Cook, a member of a prominent Vermont family. Children:
- Elsie Louise, born October 20, 1881; died March 28, 1907.
- Harriet Asenath, August 26, 1896.
- Helen Florence, June 11, 1900; died February 13, 1904.
- Frank Higley, Jr., August 8, 1903.
- Theodore Wheelock, March 22, 1906.