Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Wood, Reuben

WOOD, Reuben, lawyer, b. in Rutland county, Vt., in 1792; d. in Rockport, Cuyahoga co., Ohio, 2 Oct., 1864. He served in the war of 1812 as captain of Vermont volunteers, and after studying law was admitted to the bar, began to practise in Cleveland, Ohio. From 1825 till 1828 he was a member of the state senate. In 1830 he was appointed president-judge of the 3d district, and in 1833 he became judge of the state supreme court, which office he held until 1845. In 1849 he was elected governor by the Democrats, and he was re-elected in 1850, when the new constitution went into effect. In 1852 the Democratic national convention discussed the nomination of Gov. Wood for the presidency, but finally united upon Franklin Pierce. In 1853 he was appointed U.S. consul at Valaparaiso, and he resided there eighteen months, when he resigned and retired from public life.