Robert H. Wood

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Not to be confused with Robert H. Wood of Texas's 5th House of Representatives district.

Robert H. Wood (c. 1844–?) was an African American 19th-century politician, postmaster, and sheriff.[1][2] He served as the first African American Mayor of Natchez, Mississippi from 1870 until 1871,[3][4] and was part of the Adams County Board of Supervisors from 1871 to 1872.[5] He was one of only five black mayors in the American South during the Reconstruction-era; and is thought to be the first black mayor in the United States.[6][7]

Biography

Robert H. Wood was born in about 1844, his mother was a free African American and his father was a Euro-American former mayor of Natchez.[4]

In 1865, he worked at a photographic printshop with John R. Lynch, Wood and Lynch formed a relationship at the printshop that followed them in to later life,[3] and Lynch also went on to serve in political office.[5] Wood owned a 36-acre farm in 1870.[5]

Wood was appointed Mayor of Natchez in 1869 during the Reconstruction era by governor

James Alcorn, and elected to the office in 1870.[1] Wood lost his reelection campaign in 1871. He served on the Adams County Board of Supervisors from 1871 to 1872; elected as postmaster from 1874 to 1876; and in 1875 he elected sheriff and also as the tax collector of Adams County.[3][5] Wood was the second African American elected as sheriff in Adams County, following William McCary.[3]

Wood worked alongside Robert W. Fitzhugh, and they managed Lynch's successful 1870 campaign for United States Congress for Mississippi's 6th congressional district.[5] Wood was a member of the Freemasons.[8] He was involved in establishing the first school for African Americans in Natchez in 1871.[1][7] Isaac Lowenberg, who was Jewish, was elected the city's mayor in 1882.[9]

In 2004, the next African American mayor of the city was elected, Phillip West,[7] and he paid tribute to Wood in a 2016 short history film.[10]

See also

  • Hiram Revels
    , also from Natchez

References

  1. ^ a b c Bernardo, Joseph (December 30, 2008). "Robert Wood (1844-?) •".
  2. ISBN 978-1-4968-2443-1
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 9781604733907
    – via Google Books.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8203-4033-3
    .
  5. ^ a b c d e Davis, Ronald L. F. (1993). The Black Experience in Natchez, 1720-1880: Natchez, National Historical Park, Mississippi. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Denver Service Center. pp. 203, 205.
  6. ISBN 978-0-8071-3027-8
    .
  7. ^ a b c Brunker, Mike (August 16, 2004). "Race, politics and the evolving South". NBC News.
  8. ^ Freedom's Lawmakers by Eric Foner Louisiana State University Press (1996) page 235.
  9. ISBN 978-1-61703-668-2
    .
  10. ^ Hemelt, Stephen (February 10, 2016). "Natchez History Minute: Jan. 10 - Mayor Robert Wood". Mississippi's Best Community Newspaper.
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