Samuel Newitt Wood
Samuel Newitt Wood | |
---|---|
Member of the Kansas Senate from the 26th district | |
In office 1876 | |
Member of the Kansas House of Representatives from the 86th district | |
In office 1875–1877 | |
Member of the Kansas House of Representatives from the 73rd district | |
In office 1871 | |
Member of the Kansas Senate from the 15th district | |
In office 1867 | |
Member of the Kansas House of Representatives from the 68th district | |
In office 1866 | |
Member of the Kansas House of Representatives from the 69th district | |
In office 1864 | |
Member of the Kansas Senate from the 13th district | |
In office 1861–1862 | |
Member of the Kansas Territorial Legislature from the combined district of Chase, Morris, and Madison counties | |
In office 1860–1861 | |
Personal details | |
Born | September 30, 1825 2nd Kansas Infantry Kansas Militia |
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Samuel Newitt Wood (December 30, 1825 – June 23, 1891) was an American attorney, newspaper editor, and member of the
A native of
Early life and family
Samuel Newitt Wood was born at
Bleeding Kansas
Following the passage of the
Newspaper publisher
In the 1850s Wood was part owner of the Kansas Tribune of Lawrence. In 1859 he established the first newspapers at Cottonwood Falls, The Kansas Press, and at Council Grove, The Council Grove Press.[5] In the late 1870s, he served as editor of The Kansas Greenbacker of Emporia. He was also associated with The Topeka State Journal, The Woodsdale Democrat, and The Woodsdale Sentinel of Stevens County, Kansas. In 1881 he was editor-in-chief of the Kansas State Journal.
Military career
Wood's service in the Civil War began as
Suffrage Movements
On November 18, 1852, Samuel's mother Esther Ward (Mosher) Wood served as President of the Ohio Women's Rights Convention held at the Presbyterian church in Mount Gilead. The Vice-Presidents were Charlotte Cook and Mrs. A. E. Gurley. Phoebe Spencer was secretary and Mrs. Frances Dana Gage gave an address.[7][8][9] On January 21, 1860, S. N. Wood introduced House Bill No.6, entitled "An act to prohibit slavery or involuntary servitude in Kansas", and it was referred to the Committee on Judiciary, of which he was chairman. On February 2 it passed the House by a vote of 30 to 6. On February 11 the Council passed it by a vote of 9 to 4. This bill called out a veto message from Governor Medary of fifteen pages in length; and on February 21 it was passed over his veto by a vote of 30 to 7 in the House, and 9 to 4 in the Council. In 1866, Samuel was one of the leaders who proposed an amendment to the Kansas State Constitution which would strike out the words "male" and "white". On April 2, 1867, Samuel organized the Impartial Suffrage movement in Topeka, Kansas. Through this group he brought in the speakers;
Political career
Involved in politics from an early age, Wood was chairman of the
Stevens County seat war
As the founder of
Death
As a direct result of the vicious county seat fight, Wood was assassinated outside the Hugoton courthouse on June 23, 1891, by James Brennen. Wood was buried in Prairie Grove Cemetery in Cottonwood Falls.[15] The local prosecutor was County Attorney William O'Connor, who had called for Wood's death.[16] Attorney General John Nutt Ives, an elected Democrat, brought in Charles Curtis, a former Republican prosecutor who would become Vice President of the United States, to act on behalf of the state.[17] His murderer was never prosecuted for the assassination because a jury could not be formed. His brother, Indian Agent, Rev. David John Mosher Wood spoke at his funeral.
Legacy
Woods County, Oklahoma was named in his honor.
In popular culture
The "Song of Samuel Wood" was made and sung in its honor by a Kansas Flint Hills band.[18]
See also
Notes
- ^ Madison County was one of the original 36 counties of the Kansas Territory. It was dissolved in 1861 to form Breckenridge County (renamed Lyon County) and Greenwood County.
- ^ "Chronicles of Oklahoma - Digital Collections". Oklahoma State University. 1940. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
- ^ "Samuel N. Wood". Kansaspedia, Kansas Historical Society. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
- ISBN 9781609495633.
- ^ a b c d "Samuel N. Wood". Kansas Historical Society. July 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
- ^ Frank Wilson Blackmar (1912). "Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. ... with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence". Chicago, Standard publishing company. p. 933. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
- ^ The Radical Women's Press of the 1850s, by Cherise Kramarae, Ann Russo
- ^ The Sandusky Register, November 20, 1852, p. 2
- ^ The Zanesville Courier, November 23, 1852, pg 2
- ^ Acquaintances, Old and New, Among Reformers, By Olympia Brown, 1911, Pages 57-58
- ^ Dallas Weekly Herald, June 15, 1867
- ^ "U.S. Cities Bio".
- ^ New York Times, February 22, 1856, Page 4
- ^ New York Times, July 29, 1888
- ^ Topeka Weekly Capital, June 25, 1891
- ^ "Stevens County War, Kansas – Bloodiest County Seat War of the West – Legends of America". www.legendsofamerica.com. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
- ^ Curtis, Charles. In His Own Words (Edited by Kitty Frank ed.). Kansas State Archives. p. 99.
- ^ "Song of Samuel Wood". Tallgrass Express. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
References
- Butler, Ken. Kansas Blood Spilled Into Oklahoma. Blue Skyways (retrieved October 27, 2006)
- Mason, Henry F. "County Seat Controversies in Southwestern Kansas" The Kansas Historical Quarterly 2:1 (February 1933) 45-65. (retrieved from The Kansas Collection October 27, 2006)
- Least Heat-Moon, William. PrairyErth (1991)
- Wood, Margaret Lyon. The Memorial of Samuel N. Wood (1891)
- PBS abolitionist map The first fugitive slave in Kansas Territory
- PBS abolitionist map Laid to rest, on troubled soil
- PBS abolitionist map Kansas Territory’s abolitionists fight back
- PBS abolitionist map Kansas Territory becomes deadly
Further reading
- McKenna, Jeannne. With the Help of God and Lucy Stone. Kansas Historical Quarterly (Vol 36, Spring 1970, pp. 13-21). -Part of the dissertation "Samuel N. Wood: Chronic Agitator" is in the contents.