For
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume II, Biographical, 1911, page 578
JESSE CHARLES WOOD....A highly respected citizen of Muscatine county, Jesse C. Wood is, as a breeder of pure blooded hogs, assisting very materially in adding to the wealth of the country. He is also contributing to the permanent groqth of the farming interests. Born in Sweetland township, September 7, 1863, he is a son of Charles P. and Sarah H. ( Carr ) Wood, a record of whom is given in the sketch of Addison James Wood elsewhere in this work. There were seven children in the family, the subject of this review being the sixth in order of birth. The others were : Martha and Mary, both of whom died in infancy ; Addison James, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume ; William Griffith, who married Susan Deitrick and is the father of three children ; Charles Levi, Agnes and Herbert ; Walter H., deceased ; and Ida S., who married Albert Phelps, of Knoxville, Iowa, and is the mother of four children ; Bernice, Harry, Claude and Mark.Jesse C. Wood received his education in the district schools and was reared upon his father's farm, assisting in its work and showing great interest, especially in the farm animals. At eighteen years of age he went to Keith county, Nebraska, where he remained for several years, engaging in mercantile business. Yielding to a desire to travel further, he became a resident of Oklahoma and was in that territory in 1892 at the time when the lands were thrown open and thousands of eager home-seekers made a dash for desirable locations. He owned at one time fifty lots in Oklahoma. He next journeyed to the Pacific coast, where he remained for several years, engaging in various enterprises. In 1898 he returned to Muscatine county and purchased sixty acres of land on section 7, Sweetland township, which he thoroughly cultivated, meeting with the reward of perseverance and well applied industry. He is a large stock-raiser and makes a specialty of breeding Duroc Jersey hogs. He has produced some of the finest specimens of this breed that have ever been sent out of Muscatine county, animals from his farm having carried off many prizes at the agricultural fairs of Iowa.
On the 21st of August, 1907, Mr. Wood was united in marriage to Miss Florence Cooling, a daughter of Frederick and Emma ( James ) Cooling, the former of whom was born in New York state and the latter in Illinois. Her parents were married in Illinois and later removed to Wilton Junction, Iowa, where the mother is still living, but the father passed away on the 2d of August, 1900. Mrs. Wood is the third in order of birth in a family of seven children, the others being : Nettie, the wife of C. M. Higley of Cawker City, Kansas ; Anna, deceased ; Richard C.; Albert C. ; Louis F. ; and Eugenia, the wife of Rev. W. O. Harless, of Indianola, Iowa.
Although Mr. Wood gives little attention to politics, his time being mainly devoted to his private affairs, he has served in public office and is now clerk of his township. Fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Modern Brotherhood of America. In his work as a stock-breeder he has won a reputation that extends far beyond the boundaries of Muscatine county and he is regarded as one of the most progressive citizens of his locality.
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