Leonard Wood
Leonard Wood was born on September 12, 1830, in Leominster, Massachusetts, to James and Maria Wood. He married Julia Allen on June 2, 1852, and their daughter Caroline was born around 1855. They lived in Leominster, and Wood worked as a butcher. 
 
In August 1861, he received a commission as a 1st lieutenant in Company A of the 15th Massachusetts Infantry. In October 1861, he was promoted to captain of Company K in the same regiment. His commanding officer praised him as “a most intelligent, reliable, and determined officer.” He resigned in January 1863.
 
He returned to Leominster after leaving the army, and he resumed his work as a butcher. He remained devoted to the Union cause. In July 1863, he denounced draft rioters in New Yokr City, writing that “a few rounds of Grape & cannister, sprinkled among the mob, will cool them down.” He “hope[d] every man that resists the enforcement of the laws of the Union, will have the privilege, of taking peaceable possession of a tract of land (3 foot under ground).”
 
By 1870, he owned $3,000 of real estate and $1,500 of personal property. He supported the temperance movement, and he attended a statewide convention in 1876. According to one acquaintance, he was an “ardent temperance worker, and a devoted church member.” He moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, around 1880, and he died there by suicide on February 6, 1886.
2623
DATABASE CONTENT
(2623)Wood, Leonard1830-09-121886-02-06
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: 1st Lieutenant
  • Rank out: Captain
  • Rank highest: Captain
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 1

  • (7454) [writer] ~ Leonard Wood to Charles H. Stevens, 13 July 1863

People - Records: 1

  • (2625) Stevens, Charles H. is the [friend of] (2623) Wood, Leonard

Places - Records: 2

  • (1973) [birth] ~ Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts
  • (416) [death] ~ Bridgeport, Fairfield County, Connecticut

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Regiments - Records: 1

  • (111) [officer] ~ 15th Massachusetts Infantry
SOURCES

1850, 1860, and 1870 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Military Service Records of Leonard Wood, available from Fold3.com; Massachusetts Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, available from Ancestry.com; Massachusetts Marriage Records, 1840-1915, available from Ancestry.com; Boston (MA) Evening Transcript, 1 July 1876; Fitchburg (MA) Sentinel, 22 April 1880 and 11 February 1886; The Meriden (CT) Daily Republican, 6 February 1886 and 13 February 1886; Leonard Wood to Charles H. Stevens, 13 July 1863, DL1321.002, Nau Collection