Palmer Gaylord Wood
Palmer Gaylord Wood was born on June 2, 1843, in New York City, New York to William and Emily Wood. His father was a lawyer who employed at least one servant and four farm laborers. The family moved to San Francisco, California, sometime before 1851, and Wood attended school there. By the early 1860s, he was working as a clerk.
 
In October 1864, he received a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in Company A of the 7th California Infantry. According to his service records, he was 6 feet, 2 inches tall, with light hair and blue eyes. The company was stationed in San Francisco until November 1864, when army officials transferred them to Fort Yuma and then to Fort McDowell in the Arizona Territory. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant in December 1865, and he mustered out on April 26, 1866.
 
A month later, on May 13, 1866, he married Sarah J. Morton in Virginia City, Nevada. They had at least five children: Margaret, born around 1867; Mary, born around 1871; Sally, born around 1874; Palmer, born around 1876; and Daphne, born around 1885.
 
He remained in the army after the war, and in 1866, he received a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the 5th United States Infantry. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant the following year, and army officials transferred him to the 12th United States Infantry in July 1869. In October 1871, he was court martialed “on the charge of conduct unbecoming to an officer and a gentleman” and received a sentence of dismissal. President Ulysses S. Grant, however, commuted the sentence “to a suspension from his rank as field lieutenant for a period of twelve months.”
 
He resigned from the army in 1873, but he returned four years later and received a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the 12th United States Infantry. He received a series of promotions over the next thirty years: to 1st lieutenant in 1882, to captain in 1893, to major in 1901, and to lieutenant colonel in 1905. He retired in February 1906 with the rank of brigadier general.
 
He settled in Los Angeles, California, after leaving the army. He registered as a Republican in 1910. He died in Los Angeles on July 18, 1915.
2678
DATABASE CONTENT
(2678)Wood, Palmer Gaylord1843-06-021915-07-18
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: 2nd Lieutenant
  • Rank out: 1st Lieutenant
  • Rank highest: 1st Lieutenant
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 1

  • (7575) [writer] ~ Palmer G. Wood to Nathaniel S. Wheeler, 2 June 1868

Places - Records: 2

  • (78) [birth] ~ New York City, New York
  • (1411) [death] ~ Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California

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Regiments - Records: 1

  • (803) [officer] ~ 7th California Infantry

Groups - Records: 1

  • (3) [member/supporter] ~ Republican Party
SOURCES

1860, 1880, and 1910 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Select Military Registers, 1862-1985, available from Ancestry.com; Military Service Records of Palmer G. Wood, available from Fold3.com; Select Military Registers, 1862-1985, available from Ancestry.com; Territorial Enterprise Birth, Marriage, & Death Notices (Virginia City, Nevada), 1866-1867, available from Ancestry.com; California Voter Registrations, 1900-1968, available from Ancestry.com; California Death Index, 1905-1939, available from Ancestry.com; The Daily Morning Chronicle (Washington, D.C.), 13 March 1867; The Cleveland (OH) Leader, 23 January 1872