Dates

• Existence: 1830 - 1904

Biographical Note

John Taylor Wood (1830-1904) was born at Fort Snelling, Northwest Territory (modern day Minnesota, near St. Paul), on August 13, 1830. His father, Robert Crooke Wood, was an army surgeon. His mother, Anna Mackall Taylor Wood, was the daughter of Zachary Taylor (who would later become the 12th President of the United States). John Taylor Wood was the oldest of their children. His mother’s sister, Sara Knox Taylor (1814-1835), was Jefferson Davis’ first wife. Wood would later serve as the military aide to his uncle during the Civil War.

Wood was raised in parts of the Midwest and in 1847, joined the U. S. Navy as a midshipman, serving around South America and Mexico during the Mexican War. He graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1852 and continued to serve in the military, receiving several promotions. In 1855, he met Lola MacKubin (1835-1909) and they married in November 1856.

Just prior to the Civil War, Wood taught at the Naval Academy, but he resigned in April 1861. In October 1861, he was commissioned in the Confederate Navy. By 1865, he was promoted to the rank of captain and in the last few months of the war, he accompanied his uncle in his flight south. Wood was taking prison with Davis and others in Georgia in early May 1865, but was able to escape (likely by bribing his captors), making his way to Havana, Cuba, and from there to Halifax, Nova Scotia. In July of 1865, Lola and their two children met him there.

In Canada, Wood established himself as a merchant and business man, in partnership with a former blockade runner, John Wilkenson. Wood and his wife lived the rest of their lives in Canada, dying in 1904. Lola died in 1909 and they are buried together in the Camp Hill Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

John and Lola had their first child, a daughter Anne, in 1857. She died in 1859. They would go on to have eight more children. Zachary Taylor Wood (1860-1915) was born when his parents were in Annapolis, Maryland. He grew up in Canada and served in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police from 1885 until his death in 1915 in Asheville, NC. In 1998, “Mount Wood” in the Yukon was renamed by tin his honor. Lola Wood (1864-1956) was born when her mother was likely in the Richmond, Virginia, area. As far as records indicate, she grew up in Canada, and was still living with her parents in 1901. She died in Maryland in 1956 and was buried with her younger sister, Nina. Eleanor M. Wood (later Campbell) was born about 1869. She died in Canada in 1953. John Taylor Wood was born about 1871, but little other information about him was available. George M. Wood was born about 1872/1873. He was a prospector in Canada for many years, and he died in Victoria, Canada, in 1927. Nina Wood was born about 1874. She, like Lola, was still living with her parents in 1901 and appears to have never married. She died in Maryland in 1955. Mary Wood was born about 1876. Little information about her was found. Charles Carroll Wood was born about 1878. In 1896, he graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada and served in the Boer War, where he was killed in 1899.

Found in 1 Collection or Record: