Hood, Washington

Washington Hood, topographical engineer, was born in 1808 in Philadelphia to John McClellan Hood and Eliza Forebaugh. He won an appointment to the United States Military Academy and graduated in 1827. Between 1831 and 1836, he served on topographical duty and in 1835 was promoted to first lieutenant. Hood resigned his commission in 1836 and worked as a civil engineer in Cuba for a year. He then reentered the army as captain of the Topographical Engineers. In 1835, he worked with Robert E. Lee determining the boundary line between the state of Ohio and Michigan Territory. He later did some mapping of the Oregon Territory. While on an expedition ordered by President Van Buren in 1839 to survey the Shawnee timberlands bordering Arkansas and Missouri, Hood contracted a fatal disease and died in July, 1840 in Bedford Springs, Pa. In addition to his topographical work, Hood designed buildings and worked as a portrait copyist in Washington, D.C.

From the description of Drawings, 1823-1839. (Winterthur Library). WorldCat record id: 84665701