Collaged scrapbook pages made by Moses A. Wood, circa 1874-1880

Historical/Biographical Note

Historical/Biographical Note

Moses A. Wood was born on January 28, 1847, in Cambridge, Mass., to David and Frances Wood. As a young schoolboy, he worked as a train conductor on the Union Horse Railroad. Wood enlisted in the Union Army in 1864 at age 17 as a part of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia and served until 1865. He continued work as a railroad conductor until enrolling at Harvard Law School, graduating with the class of 1871. Due to poor health, Wood frequently traveled in search of a therapeutic climate; he documented his travels across Europe, including participation in the defeat of the Paris Commune in 1871, as well as 1874-1875 voyages to the Caribbean, South and Central America, and the Pacific Ocean. Wood remained heavily involved in associations for veterans of the American Civil War throughout his life, especially the Grand Army of the Republic, and served as an officer at several Massachusetts posts. Moses Wood eventually relocated to Westminister, Mass., where he lived and worked until dying of a heart attack in Boston's North Station on January 25, 1919, three days shy of his 72nd birthday.

Sources

"Eventful life comes to close." (1919, February 1). The Cambridge Chronicle, pgs. 1, 5.