Copyright has not been assigned to The Society of California Pioneers. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Society of California Pioneers as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must be obtained by the reader.
Description
Available also in the original handwritten form in the member's Biographical File, and online Copyright has not been assigned to The Society of California Pioneers. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Society of California Pioneers as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must be obtained by the reader Autobiography & Reminiscence of Dr. William Maxwell Wood, Deceased, 1901. The Society of California Pioneers Dr. William Maxwell Wood was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1809. He was Fleet Surgeon of the U.S. Pacific Squadron and credited with notifying his authorities of the breakout of the Mexican War. This notification allowed his authorities to immediately go to California and possess it. Dr. Wood died on March 1st, 1880 at his home in Maryland Autobiographies and Reminiscences of California Pioneers, p. 170-176, Vol. 6. This is a typed transcript, bound into a volume, of the member's autobiographical reminiscence created as an institutional record for the Society of California Pioneers. The original handwritten version exists in the member's biographical file. This reminiscence includes a reference to a photograph of the member in a set of bound volumes. It appears that the photographs in this set were dispersed throughout the regular photography collection, but the photographs referenced in the related materials may or may not be these same photographs. This reminiscence summarizes Dr. Wood's life and service to the U.S. Government as acting Fleet Surgeon. He was credited with notifying his authorities of the beginnings of the Mexican War, thereby ensuring the U.S. acquisition of California. The reminiscence contains excerpts of letters written to Dr. Wood by George Bancroft and Commodore John D. Sloat after the end of Dr. Wood's successful mission through Mexico. Some additional background information regarding Dr. Wood's family is also included, and although the reminiscence notes that Wood "would have been made an honorary member of the Society" if he had been alive at the time of the writing of the reminiscence, it appears that he was allowed to join the Society posthumously in 1885 through his ancestor Solomon Wood.
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