George W. Wood

George W. Wood (1808–1871) was an American politician and newspaperman. He was elected as the first mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1840. He served only 16 months before resigning on July 5, 1841. He continued in later life as a newspaperman in the Fort Wayne area.

This article is about the first mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana. For the Presbyterian missionary in the United States, see George Warren Wood.
George W. Wood
1st Mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana
In office
March 1, 1840 – July 5, 1841
Succeeded byJoseph Morgan
Personal details
Born1808
New York (state) [1]
Died1871
Fort Wayne, Indiana
ProfessionNewspaperman [2]

Early life

Wood was born in 1808 in New York state. He studied law,[3] but then moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1834 and then to the backcountry pioneer village of Fort Wayne in 1836.

Newspaper Life

Rather than being a lawyer, Wood joined with Thomas Tigar to work on the Fort Wayne Sentinel which was founded in 1833. Four years after its founding, Wood bought ownership of the newspaper sometime around the Panic of 1837, and he promptly sold the paper in 1840 to I.D.G. Nelson.[4]

Brief political career

When Fort Wayne was incorporated as a city in 1840, George W. Wood was elected its first mayor.

Continuing newspaper life

After being elected mayor, He bought another newspaper, the Fort Wayne Times. He was elected to serve a second one-year term as mayor in 1841, but halfway through the year he asked the council to allow him to return to his private affairs." [5]

After resigning from mayor, Wood continued as a newspaperman. He established the Fort Wayne times, a Whig paper, in 1841, and sold it to Henry W. Jones in 1842.[6] In March 1844, Wood started a campaign paper called the People's Press that merged into the Fort Wayne times and People's Press. This new paper ran from 1844 - 1848 [7] Wood continued to own a stake in the Times on and off with John W. Dawson and T.N. Hood,[8] during which time it was known sometimes as the Fort Wayne Daily Times. Wood retired from the newspaper partnership in 1854.[9] Ultimately, the other owners merged the paper with the Fort Wayne Sentinel in 1866 when it became the Fort Wayne Times and Sentinel.

Preceded by
none		 Mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana
1840 - 1841		 Succeeded by
Joseph Morgan

References
  1. http://egen.fortwayne.com/ns/projects/history/haw7.php
  2. http://egen.fortwayne.com/ns/projects/history/haw7.php
  3. History of Allen County, Indiana. Chicago: Kingman Brothers. 1880. p. 129. Retrieved 15 April 2016. law Ann Arbor, Michigan George W. Wood fort wayne.
  4. "fort-wayne-news.pdf" (PDF). Indiana Historical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  5. http://egen.fortwayne.com/ns/projects/history/haw7.php#sthash.Tsps85EY.dpuf
  6. History of Allen County, Indiana. Chicago: Kingman Brothers. 1880. p. 104. Retrieved 15 April 2016. George W. Wood fort wayne whig.
  7. "About Fort Wayne times & people's press. (Fort Wayne, Ind.) 1844-1848". Retrieved 15 April 2016. Fort Wayne times & people's press. : (Fort Wayne, Ind.) 1844-1848
  8. Bushnell, Scott M. (2007). Hard News, Heartfelt Opinions: A History of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-253-34920-0. Retrieved 15 April 2016. Thompson N. Hood fort wayne.
  9. History of Allen County, Indiana. Chicago: Kingman Brothers. 1880. p. 104. Retrieved 15 April 2016. George W. Wood fort wayne whig.


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