Asa Wood

Born in Wapello County, Iowa. Wood entered the newspaper business as a printer in his teens.^[1] In 1887, at the age of 21,^[2] he founded the Gering Courier, a newspaper he ran until his death in 1945.^[1] He was known as "the dean of the newspapermen of the Nebraska Panhandle,”^[1] and was at one time president of the Nebraska Press Association.^[3] He was also a breeder of cattle,^[4] and, like many publishers of that time, the local postmaster.^[5][6]

In 1925, he was elected state senator of Nebraska's Thirty-third District.^[7] He served as a Republican senator through 1930, and was known as an advocate of clean government and irrigation policy.^[2][7]

Described as a "walking encyclopedia" of western Nebraska history,^[5] he served as president of the Nebraska Historical Society from 1936 to 1938.^[1]

He left the Courier to his son, Warren Wood, on his death in 1945.^[5]