John Terry Wood, Sr. (1862-1926)

From the book: "History of South Carolina" volume IV of V. Edited by Yates Snowden, LL.D. in collaboration with H.G. Cutler, 1920, the Lewis Publishing Company. This book is no longer copyrighted.

Reidville Township, which is in the extreme western part of Spartanburg County, has been the home of the Wood family for about 120 years, and the entire community has been permeated by the family influrences and no one name has contributed more generally to the substantial and high character of the locality. The Wood family comprise a race of men physically adn mentally strong and long lived. The old Wood home place is within three miles of the present city of Greer in Greenville County.

Thus as a merchant and citizen of Greer, where he has lived for the past eighteen years, John Terry Wood is still in close touch with the traditional home of the family and the scenes of his youth. He was born in Reidsville Township in 1862, son of John T. and Martha (Wood) Wood. His father was born and spent all his life on the old Wood place, his ancestors coming to South Carolina from Virginia. During the war he was a Confederate soldier.

Mr. Wood is one of the high type of business men who have made Greer a synonym in the commercial world fo the the best credit and highest rating with the commercial agencies, and for all the taxing responsibilities of his private business he has given his time and means generously to the public welfare. He is one of the men responsible for Greer's widely extended reputation for its paving, sewarage, waterworks, lights and other public works, as one of the most modern and progressive small cities in the South, surrounded by a country that is notable for its agricultural weather.

Mr. Wood represented Greenville County in the legislature in 1916, and is now a member of the board of public works of Greer. He is a member of the Masonic order and a Methodist in religion.

Mr. Wood married Miss Lulu E. Leonard, of Spartanburg County. Their five children:

  1. Bessie I. Wood, wife of Dr. E. E. Smith
  2. Bernice Wood wife of Dr. W. T. Brockman
  3. Miss Cuyler Wood,
  4. Oliver G. Wood
  5. John Terry Wood, Jr.

Mr and Mrs. Wood undoubtedly derive a great deal of satisfaction from their children. All were given the very best of educational advantages, the daughters being graduates of Chicora College. Oliver G. is a graduate of the Citadel while J. Terry is a Clemson man with the class of 1914.