Collection is open for research.
Acquired in three accessions prior to April 1946 (RL2022-142-RETRO; RL2022-143-RETRO; RL2022-144-RETRO)
Thomas Alexander Wood was born in Montgomery County, Illinois, on March 1, 1837. Wood often identified as T. A. Wood during his lifetime. He emigrated to Oregon in 1852, crossing the plains on the Oregon Trail. Between 1855 and 1856, Wood fought in the Yakima War. In 1858, Wood returned East to attend Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. He served as a Methodist chaplain and gave pro-Union speeches in southern Illinois during the early years of the American Civil War. Wood married Rhoda Caroline Snell and returned to Oregon in 1862. In addition to serving as a Methodist minister in the state, Wood also undertook several entrepreneurial and real estate ventures. During the 1860s, Wood helped advocate for education for Black children in Portland, eventually prompting the Portland public school board to establish a segregated school. The school board closed the school and integrated the school system in 1872. Wood was also an active member of the Indian War Veterans, serving as grand commander for the organization and advocating for veterans of conflicts with Native peoples to receive pensions. Wood died in Portland in 1904.
Source: Hines, Harvey Kimball. An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon. Lewis Publishing Company, 1893.
Thomas Alexander Wood recollections, Mss 37, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Additional materials related to Thomas Alexander Wood are included in the Military collection, Mss 1514, and the Business collection, Mss 1510, at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Collection consists of typescript and manuscript correspondence and reminiscences recorded by T. A. Wood from approximately 1890-1902. The reminiscences include typescript copies of accounts by Wood regarding his work as a Methodist minister between 1858 and 1876 and his time serving as a chaplain for the Union Army in Illinois during the Civil War between 1861 and 1862. Also included are typescript and manuscript copies of his account of involvement in advocacy to admit the first Black children into Portland public schools, which resulted in the establishment of a segregated school for Black students. Also included is a letter written by Wood in 1902 containing reminiscences about his involvement in conflicts with Native peoples, which contains a list of engagement details for Indian War Veterans. The collection also contains a 1902 manuscript copy of an undated letter from E. H. Lenox to Wood requesting the names of members of an 1843 wagon train and relating a story concerning rescuing a man from drowning.
Materials in this collection are in the public domain.