GEORGE H. WOOD, the most prominent druggist in Mounds, Illinois, has been
a resident of this city since the year 1896. During the period of his
residence here he has not been in any sense a shirker, but has borne with
unfailing cheerfulness his share of the burdens of civic life.
Mr.
Wood was born in Genoa, Wisconsin, on October 7, 1870, and is the son of
David S. Wood. The latter named was born near Albany, New York, in 1828. In
the early seventies he brought his family to Labette county, Kansas, where
he engaged in the milling industry, and he enjoys the peculiar distinction
of having erected at Oswego, Kansas, the first grist mill to be operated in
the southeasterly part of that state. While enroute for the West, Mr. Wood
stopped in Ohio, and it was in that state that he was wedded to Margaret
Choate, who still survives her husband, he having died in Mound Valley,
Kansas, in 1878. The widow now resides in Redondo, California. The issue of
their union are: Mrs. R. J. Hart, of Sherman, California; Mrs. Jennie Jones,
of Pasadena, California; David M., of Los Angeles, California; Albert S., of
Redondo, California; George H., of Mounds, Illinois, of whom we write; and
Walter E. and Clyde, both of Los Angeles, California.
George H. Wood
was dependent upon the common schools of his community for his educational
preparation for life's battles. His first employment was in a drug store in
Mound Valley, Kansas, and it was there he received his training in
pharmaceutics, in the school of practical experience. He later worked at
various points in the state, and it was while he was employed at Frankfort
that the opportunity was afforded him to become druggist and assistant clerk
for the asylum at Osawatomie, during part of 1891 and 1892. Following that
period of service he came to Illinois and secured the position of druggist
for the State Hospital for the Insane at Anna in 1894, where he remained for
four years, coming from Anna to Mounds and engaging in business in his
chosen profession, which business he still conducts.
During the years
of Mr. Wood's residence in Mounds he has given generously of his time and
ability to the service of the city of his adoption. No civic duty has been
to him an irksome task. He has served his city as both its clerk and
treasurer. He has served on the City Council of Mounds. He has been mayor of
the city, and it was under his administration that the era of the granitoid
walk was inaugurated in Mounds. He is president of the Mounds Building and
Loan Association, as well as being a director of the First State Bank of the
city. In all of these offices, both of a civic and private nature, he has
given valuable service, always acquitting himself honorably and creditably.
Mr. Wood was married in Carbondale, Illinois, June 27, 1893, to Miss Ada
M. Hickam, a daughter of Curtis Hickam. Mrs. Wood is one of three children,
the others being Mrs. Dan M. Anderson, of Carbondale, and Miss Ida Hickam.
In the fifteen years of Mr. Wood's residence in Mounds he has been
especially successful in a financial way, and has accumulated a goodly share
of this world's goods. He is the owner of his place of business, as well as
his splendid residence and numerous other pieces of valuable property in and
about Mounds. He is not a man of great fraternal inclination, the only
society of which he is a member being the Knights of Columbus, of which
order he is an enthusiastic and valuable member.
Extracted from 1912 A History of Southern Illinois, volume 2, pages 606-607.
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