The Lowell Star, Aug. 17, 1872, page 5, column 3, had a list of soldiers who were supporters of Grant in that election. Among them was Dr. Wood of the 12th Ind. Cavalry.
from Goodspeed, Weston A., ed. Counties of Porter and Lake Indiana.
Chicago: F.A. Battery & Co., 1882. p. 664.
JAMES A. WOOD, M. D., was born in Trumbull County, Ohio,
February 27, 1814, and is one of the eight children of Francis and
Rachel (Dodd) Wood, both natives of New Jersey. Francis Wood was
a farmer and a soldier of the war of 1812. About 1812, he moved
with his family to Trumbull County, Ohio, then a wilderness. After the
war, in 1816, he chanced to Richland County, where he entered 160
acres, erected a log cabin and cleared a farm, on which he lived until
his death, in 1858; he was a member of the Presbyterian Church.
James A. Wood attended school and worked on the farm until he was
eighteen years of age, when he commenced the study of medicine
with Dr. Abram Ecker, of Wayne County. In 1834, he attended
Washington Medical College, at Cannonsburg, Penn., from which he
graduated in 1836, and, on June 6 of that year, he married Anna
Jacobs, of Saratoga, N. Y. The union was blessed by eight children,
six of whom are living. In 1837, he came to Porter County, Ind., and
settled near Valparaiso, being one of the first physicians in
Northwestern Indiana. He followed the Indian trails on a hardy
Indian pony, his practice extending from the Kankakee to Lake
Michigan. In 1840, he moved to West Point, in 1842, to Centre
Prairie, and, in 1847, to Lowell, Lake County, where he still resides.
From 1863 to 1865, he was Assistant Regimental Surgeon to the
Twelfth Indiana Regiment. During much of his service, he was
stationed in hospitals and above his nominal rank. In 1875, from
being thrown from his cutter, he sustained severe injury of the hip,
from which he has not entirely recovered. Dr. Wood was Notary
Public one year, Township Trustee two years, and has been Justice
of the Peace for fourteen years. He is a member of Colfax Lodge,
No. 378, and the oldest Mason in the county. He has also been a
leading physician and citizen for more than forty years.
This information was found on pages 98-99 of the Encyclopedia of Genealogy and Biography of Lake County, Indiana, with a Compendium of History, 1834-1904 by the Rev. T.H. Ball. It was published in 1904:
The next early physician was Dr. JAMES A. WOOD. His home was at first in Porter county, but his rides often extended into Lake. He rode a very fine-looking Indian or French pony, thick set, with a heavy mane, sagacious, hardy, an animal to delight a frontier boy, and one day he was near the Cady Marsh and a patient needing a physician on the other side. Dr. Wood had been told that no white man had ever ridden across. It was implied that an Indian had. Time was precious. He concluded that if an Indian had crossed he could. He ventured and succeeded. A wagon road crosses now. Dr. Wood soon removed from Porter county to the east side of Cedar Lake. He had an extensive practice.
With J.V. Johns, Amsi L. Ball, and John Sykes, he was appointed a committee to make a report on the Michigan Central road when at its opening a free ride was given from Lake Station to Michigan City. From him, without much doubt the date of that event has been given as 1850; but it probably really was 1851.
After several years Dr. Wood removed to Lowell. He was for eighteen months Regimental Surgeon in the Twelfth Indiana Cavalry. He had in Lake county a long practice. He was an excellent singer, a very pleasant, kind friend.
from Howat, William Frederick, M.D., editor. A Standard History of
Lake County, Indiana and the Calumet Region. 2 vols. Chicago: The
Lewis Publishing Company, 1915. p. 241-2:
The next early physician was Dr. James A. Wood. His home was
at first in Porter County, but his rides often extended into Lake.
The doctor rode a very fine-looking Indian pony; thick set, with a
heavy mane, and very sagacious and hardy. One day he was near
the Cady marsh and a patient needed a physician on the other side.
Dr. Wood had been told that no white man had ever ridden across.
It was implied that an Indian had. That was too much for the doctor,
and time, moreover, was precious. He concluded that if an Indian
had crossed, he could and would; and he did. A solid gravel road
crosses now, with three or four railroads--just to show how Man
flouts Nature. Dr. Wood soon moved from Porter County to the east
side of Cedar Lake, and had a large practice. Later, he located at
Lowell and during eighteen months of the Civil war was regimental
surgeon to the Twelfth Indiana Cavalry.
The following March 6, 1952, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 1, columns 3-4:
Lowell Doctors of the past…
A Series of Articles contributed by Attorney Schuyler C. Dwyer, lifelong resident of Lowell
DOCTOR JAMES A. WOOD
Following Doctor Yeoman, came Doctor James A. Wood, who is well remembered by this narrator, as the grandfather of the present surviving townfolks, Alva Wood and Mrs. Lillian Grubb. His residence was in the present frame house facing the then "County Road," west of the then well known James H. Sanger farm home, near "Sangers' Corners."
This commentator, in "my mind's eye," can still plainly see the above subject, as he went about in the early 1870's, on crutches, for according to legend of about that time, he was permanently injured in one of his local professional horse-back trips, on the then "Bostwick Prairie, Lowell to Crown Point" highway, by being thrown from his horse while on a dark night trip, into a ravine located in the forest near the south edge of the above named prairie. If memory serves correctly, his later residence was in the present frame house, north of the Christian church, now Castle avenue here. He is well remembered by a very few of our older residents.
Last updated on March 27, 2009.
Go to Dr. James A. Wood, "Pioneer History Index," for further information.