William Wood (doctor)

American physician and ornithologist

Dr. William Wood

Born| (1822-07-07)July 7, 1822

Waterbury, Connecticut, US

Died| September 9, 1885(1885-09-09) (aged 63)

South Windsor, Connecticut, US

Alma mater| University Medical College of New York
Occupation| Physician
Known for| Scientific and popular writings in ornithology; accumulating one of the largest private bird specimen collections in the United States

William Wood (July 7, 1822 - August 9, 1885) was an American physician and naturalist, best remembered as an expert on the avifauna of Connecticut.

## Education and career[edit]

Wood was born in Waterbury, Connecticut on July 7, 1822, to Rev. Luke Wood (1777-1851) and Anna (Pease) Wood (1780-1859).[1][2] He was one of eleven children.[3][2]

Wood completed his early education in Old Killingsworth (today Clinton), Connecticut.[1] He was accepted at Yale University but disqualified from enrolling on account of poor eyesight.[1] Wood took courses at the Berkshire Medical College and graduated from the University Medical College of New York in 1847.[1][4]

After graduation, Wood moved to the East Windsor Hill neighborhood of South Windsor, Connecticut, where he lived for the remainder of his life. Wood was a practicing physician in the Windsor area for almost four decades[2] and medical examiner for South Windsor.[5][6] He founded the Hartford County North Medical Association, was secretary of the Hartford Medical Society, and was a member of the Connecticut Medical Society and the American Medical Association.[1][4][2][7] Wood published on medical treatments.[8]

## Natural history[edit]

Wood was an active field ornithologist and a "leading authority" on New England birds.[1][4] He published in the American Naturalist, Ornithologist and Oologist, Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, Familiar Science and Fancier’s Journal, and wrote a series of 21 popular articles about New England birds for the Hartford Times in 1861, as well additional articles in later years.[9][10][11][12] Wood specialized in raptor research.

Wood acquired a significant collection of bird specimens and eggs from the United States and abroad,[13][12][14][1] including specimens of several state-first birds for Connecticut.[15][16]

In addition, Wood wrote about the fish of New England and was an active botanist, sending specimens to several research institutions.[1][17]

Wood was a member of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, the Lyceum of Natural History at Williams College, and the Essex Institute.[4]

## Other activities[edit]

Wood had an interest in archaeology, collecting Native American artifacts in South Windsor.[2] He also wrote a history of steam navigation, emphasizing the contributions of John Fitch of South Windsor.[18] Wood originally published his history in the Hartford Times and Locomotive in 1881.[19] In 1887, the Connecticut General Assembly ordered that it be saved it in the State Archives (under "A Resolution providing for a Tablet to the Memory of John Fitch of Windsor").[18] Wood was a member of the First Congregational Church.[2]

## Family[edit]

Wood married Mary Lyman Ellsworth on November 9, 1848.[20][21] They had two children, Elizabeth Ellsworth (Wood) Sperry and William Russell Wood.

## Death and legacy[edit]

Wood passed away in East Windsor Hill on August 9, 1885, after an illness lasting three days.[10][1]

The Hartford Scientific Society acquired Wood’s specimen collection in 1896 and deposited it in the Wadsworth Antheneum, where Sage curated it.[22][23][1][24][25] The University of Connecticut now holds Wood's specimens.[1]

Merriam referenced Wood’s correspondence and specimens extensively in A Review of the Birds of Connecticut (1877).[15] Coues' New England Bird Life (1883),[26] Morris' The Birds of Springfield and Vicinity (1901),[27] Sage and Bishop's The Birds of Connecticut (1913),[28] and Bagg and Eliot's Birds of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts (1937)[29] also draw on Wood's records.

The Smithsonian holds Wood's collection of Native American artifacts.[2][30]

The Wood Memorial Library, South Windsor’s public library from 1927 to 1968, was dedicated to Dr. William Wood and Mary Ellsworth Wood.[31] It is now an independent research library and museum, which includes natural history collections in Dr. Wood's honor.

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Boardman, Samuel Lane (1903). The naturalist of the Saint Croix. Memoir of George A. Boardman. Bangor: Priv. print. pp. 212–248.
2. ^ a b c d e f g Burpee, Charles Winslow (1939). Burpee's The Story of Connecticut. New York: American Historical Co. pp. 293–294.
3. ^ "Obituaries: Luke E. Wood [obituary of William's brother describing his family]". Hartford Weekly Times. November 13, 1890. p. 9.
4. ^ a b c d "Obituary: Dr. William Wood". New York Times. August 11, 1885. p. 5.
5. ^ "Medical Examiners in Connecticut". New York Medical Journal: 15. July 7, 1888.
6. ^ "A doctor de jure". British Medical Journal: 994–995. December 17, 1881.
7. ^ "Ordinary Members". Proceedings of the Connecticut Medical Society. 3 (1): 170. 1884.
8. ^ "Anasarca". The Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Journal. February 15, 1854.
9. ^ Burchsted, Fred. "Research Guides: New England Naturalists: A Bio-Bibliography: Wi-Z". guides.library.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
10. ^ a b "Notes and News [in memoriam for Wood]". Auk. 2 (4): 391. 1885.
11. ^ "Wood, William, Dr., 1822-1885 | Wood Memorial Library". woodmemorial.pastperfectonline.com. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
12. ^ a b "Dr. Wood's Birds – He Adds Two Rare Specimens to His Collection". The New York Times. 1879-11-20. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
13. ^ "Obituary: Dr. Wm. Wood, East Windsor Hill., Conn". Ornithologist and Oologist. 10 (9): 136.
14. ^ "Obituary". The Press [Stafford Springs, Connecticut]. August 13, 1885. p. 2.
15. ^ a b Merriam, C. Hart (1877). A review of the birds of Connecticut. New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, Printers.
16. ^ "First Historical Report". Connecticut Ornithological Association | COA. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
17. ^ Wood, William (1869). "The Compressed Burbot or Eel-pout". American Naturalist. 3 (1): 17–21.
18. ^ a b "Robert Fulton or John Fitch?". The Locomotive. October 1909.
19. ^ Wood, William (June 1881). "Who First Successfully Applied Steam for Propelling Vessels". Locomotive. 4: 104–110.
20. ^ Trumbull, J. Hammond (1886). The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884. Boston: Edward L. Osgood. pp. 127–128.
21. ^ Stiles, Henry Reed (1892). The History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Volume 2. Hartford: Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company. p. 222.
22. ^ Rand, McNally & Co.'s Handy Guide to the New England States. Rand, McNally & Co. 1897. p. 60.
23. ^ "Facts of Interest: Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Historical Society". Meriden Daily Republican. May 26, 1897. p. 2.
24. ^ "Notes and News". Auk. 14: 115. 1897.
25. ^ "Sage 's List of Portland, Conn., Birds" (PDF). Auk. 15: 284. 1898.
26. ^ Stearns, Winfrid Alden; Coues, Elliott (1881). New England bird life: being a manual of New England ornithology. Boston: Lee and Shepard.
27. ^ Morris, Robert O. (1901). The birds of Springfield and vicinity. Springfield, MA: H.R. Johnson.
28. ^ Sage, John Hall; Bishop, Louis Bennett; Bliss, Walter Parks (1913). The birds of Connecticut. Hartford, Conn.: State Geological and Natural History Survey.
29. ^ Aaron Clark Bagg, Samuel Atkins Eliot and (1937). Birds of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts. Hampshire Bookshop.
30. ^ Institution, Smithsonian. "Search". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
31. ^ "History – Friends of Wood Memorial Library and Museum". Retrieved 2023-11-19.