William Wood (naturalist)

Wood was born in Waterbury, Connecticut on July 7, 1822, to Rev. Luke Wood (1777–1851) and Anna (Pease) Wood (1780–1859).^[1][2] He was one of eleven children.^[3][2]

Wood completed his early education in Old Killingsworth (today Clinton), Connecticut.^[1] He was accepted at Yale University but disqualified from enrolling on account of poor eyesight.^[1] At age 17, Wood became a teacher at the East Windsor Hill Academy, a preparatory school in the East Windsor Hill neighborhood of South Windsor, Connecticut.^[4] In the following years, Wood took courses at the Berkshire Medical College and graduated from the University Medical College of New York in 1847.^[1][5]

After medical school, Wood moved back to East Windsor Hill, where he lived for the remainder of his life. Wood was a practicing physician in the Windsor area for almost four decades^[2] and medical examiner for South Windsor.^[6][7] He founded the Hartford County North Medical Association, was secretary of the Hartford Medical Society, and was a member of the Connecticut Medical Society and the American Medical Association.^[1][5][2][8] Wood published on medical treatments.^[9]

Wood was an active field ornithologist and a "leading authority" on New England birds.^[1][5] He published in the American Naturalist, Ornithologist and Oologist, Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, Familiar Science and Fancier's Journal, and wrote a series of 21 popular articles about New England birds for the Hartford Times in 1861, as well additional articles in later years.^{[10][11][12][13]} Wood specialized in raptor research and made numerous contributions in this area, including more accurately describing the ranges and clutch sizes of several species.

Wood acquired a significant collection of bird specimens and eggs from the United States and abroad,^{[14][13][15][1]} including specimens of several state-first birds for Connecticut.^[16][17]

In addition, Wood wrote about the fish of New England and was an active botanist, sending specimens to several research institutions.^[1][18]

Wood was a member of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, the Lyceum of Natural History at Williams College, and the Essex Institute.^[5] Wood's correspondents included George A. Boardman and Spencer F. Baird, to whom Wood gave two Peregrine Falcons in 1862.^[19]

Wood had an interest in archaeology, collecting Native American artifacts in South Windsor.^[2] He also wrote a history of steam navigation, emphasizing the contributions of John Fitch of South Windsor.^[20] Wood originally published his history in the Hartford Times and Locomotive in 1881.^[21] In 1887, the Connecticut General Assembly ordered that it be preserved in the State Archives (under "A Resolution providing for a Tablet to the Memory of John Fitch of Windsor").^[20] Wood was a member of the First Congregational Church.^[2]

Wood married Mary Lyman Ellsworth on November 9, 1848.^[22][23] They had two children, Elizabeth Ellsworth (Wood) Sperry and William Russell Wood.

Wood died in East Windsor Hill on August 9, 1885, after an illness lasting three days.^[11][1]

The Hartford Scientific Society acquired Wood's specimen collection in 1896 and deposited it in the Wadsworth Antheneum, where John Hall Sage curated it.^{[24][25][26][1][27][28]} Wood's specimens moved to Trinity College on loan from the Wadsworth in 1946.^[29] The University of Connecticut now holds Wood's collection.

Merriam referenced Wood's correspondence and specimens extensively in A Review of the Birds of Connecticut (1877).^[16] Later reviews of New England birds also draw on Wood's records.^{[30][31][32][33]}

The Smithsonian holds Wood's collection of Native American artifacts.^[2][34]

The Wood Memorial Library, South Windsor's public library from 1927 to 1968, was dedicated to Dr. William Wood and Mary Ellsworth Wood.^[35] It is now an independent research library and museum, which includes natural history collections in Dr. Wood's honor.