John Wood (1798-1880), Republican Governor of Illinois (1860-1861), was born at Moravia, N. Y. on Dec. 20, 1798. Wood moved to Adams Co., Ill., building the first log cabin in Quincy where he married Ann M. Streeter on Jan. 25, 1826. He served as state Senator (1852-1856) and was elected Lt. Governor on the same ticket with Governor Bissell (1856), whose unexpired term Wood completed (1860-1861). In Feb. 1861, Wood was one of five Illinois commissioners to the unsuccessful Washington Peace Conference which tried to avert the Civil War. Gov. Yates appointed Wood Quartermaster General (May 1861) and he undertook the task of equipping Illinois troops for Civil War service. He was also commissioned Colonel of the 137th Illinois Volunteers in June 1864, being mustered out of service the following September. After the Civil War, Wood married a second time, to Mrs. Mary A. Holmes on June 6, 1865. Following Wood's death at Quincy on June 11, 1880, the citizens of that city erected a monument to his memory which was dedicated on July 4, 1883.
From the description of John Wood correspondence, 1860-1861. (Illinois State Archive). WorldCat record id: 35751512
