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Reuben Wood

Reuben Wood
21st Governor of Ohio
In office December 12, 1850 – July 13, 1853
Lieutenant	William Medill (1852–1853)
Preceded by	Seabury Ford
Succeeded by	William Medill
Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
In office February 6, 1833 – February 1847
Preceded by	Peter Hitchcock
Succeeded by	Edward Avery
Member of the Ohio Senate from the Cuyahoga & other counties district
In office December 5, 1825 – December 5, 1830
Preceded by	Jabez Wright Samuel Wheeler Aaron Norton
Succeeded by	John W. Willey
Personal details
Born	1792 (1792) or 1793 (1793) Middletown Springs, Vermont
Died	October 1, 1864 (aged 71–72) Cleveland, Ohio
Resting place	Woodland Cemetery, Cleveland
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Mary Rice
Children	Loretta Wood Mary Wood
Signature

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Reuben Wood (1792/1793 – October 1, 1864) was a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Ohio. He served as the 21st governor of Ohio.

Wood was born near Middletown, Rutland County, Vermont, in either 1792 or 1793. While living with an uncle in Canada after his father died, Wood was conscripted into the Canadian Army at the outset of the War of 1812, but escaped across Lake Ontario and briefly served in the Vermont militia.^[1]

Wood moved to Cleveland, Ohio – then a tiny village of 600 residents – in 1818 with his wife and infant daughter. He reputedly arrived with only $1.25 left to his name to work as a lawyer. He served in the Ohio State Senate from 1825 to 1830. In 1830, he was elected President Judge of the third judicial circuit.^[2][3] He served on the Common Pleas Court bench from 1830 to 1833.^[1]

Wood was elected in 1833 to the Ohio Supreme Court, and served two seven-year terms from 1833 to 1847.^[4] He was defeated in a bid for a third term by a Whig candidate. He took office in late 1850 as governor. His first term was cut short by the implementation of a new state constitution, and he was re-elected in late 1851, re-inaugurated in early 1852. He resigned on July 13, 1853, to take a position as the American consul in Valparaíso, Chile. He remained there until 1855, when he retired to Cleveland.

Wood married Mary Rice, of Clarendon, Vermont, in 1816 or 1817. They had two daughters.^[3]

Wood was known as The tall chief of the Cuyahogas,^[5]orCuyahoga Chief,^[2]orOld Cuyahoga Chief,^[6]orOld Chief of the Cuyahogas.^[3]

Wood died at his farm, Evergreen Place, eight miles west of Cleveland, on October 1, 1864, from bilious colic.^[6] He was initially interred on the farm, and was later reburied at Woodland Cemetery in Cleveland.^[3][7]

• "Wood, Reuben" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.
• Wickham, Gertrude Van Rensselaer (1914). The Pioneer Families of Cleveland, 1796-1840. Cleveland: Evangelical Publishing House.

• "Ohio Governor Reuben Wood". National Governors Association.
• Reuben WoodatFind a Grave