Monterey County CA Archives Biographies.....Wood, Job Jr. 1856 - 
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Author: Luther A. Ingersoll, Editor (1893)

JOB WOOD, JR. If, as is universally conceded, the life and perpetuity of our
Government are based on the intelligence of our people, when we take into
consideration our public-school system,-that network of "people's colleges"
which ramifies the length and breadth of this republic, -then can we vision
ahead numberless cycles of prosperity for this great land of ours. Monterey
county is abreast of any county in California in the number of its facilities
for popular instruction, and the curriculum of studies is as practical as it is
diverse. This prosperous condition of the public schools is the result of the
labors of many, but perhaps no one is more entitled to a generous recognition of
his services in this usually thankless field than the subject of this sketch.

  Mr. Wood was born in Meigs county, Ohio, July 19, 1856. When a lad his time
was occupied in working on the farm or in the gristmill owned by his father. He
attended the public schools for about five months in the year, until he was nine
years of age. He was diligent, in seeking knowledge, and cultivated every
opportunity for study that his occupied energies could lay hold on. In 1865 he
removed with his father's family to St. Francois county, Missouri, to a farm
near Farmington. Here his time was nearly altogether taken up in the labors of
the field till he reached his majority, though he let slip no opportunity to
train and replenish his mind with such information as an intermittent course of
reading could provide. In 1876 he visited his uncle, Job Wood, in Pleyto,
Monterey county, California, where he engaged in farming, attending the public
schools whenever he could, and reading studiously. He had by this time mastered
the elements of a practical English education, and, in order to thoroughly equip
himself for his chosen profession, he attended a course at the Normal of San
Jose, passing with credit his examination for a teacher's certificate in
December, 1879. He taught his first school at Pleyto, the next year at Spring
school, near Salinas, and afterward served as principal of the East End school,
Salinas. Being earnestly urged to return to the Spring school, he did so,
remaining there nearly five years. It is no small test of the appreciation in
which Mr. Wood is held, that his services were being constantly sought wherever
he had taught the youth of the country. In the fall of 1886 we find him back
again as principal of the East End school, Salinas.

  In 1886 he was elected County Superintendent of Public Schools, on the
Republican ticket, by a majority of ninety-three votes; and four years later he
was re-elected to the same position, this time by a majority of nearly 500
votes. These figures speak louder than any encomiums. His zeal in the cause of
education is unmistakable, while his encouragement to teachers, and his tact in
superintending them, render his work most efficient. Mr. Wood has a system that
is not necessarily an inflexible one, but one that renders mutuality of
dependence between teacher and superintendent. He has introduced a method of
reports which enables him to locate every child in the county, with age, class
and attendance, without occupying more than a minute in so doing. It is as
simple as it is original and effectual.

  Mr. Wood is a man of family. He was married September 27, 1883, to Miss
Evaline A. Miller, of Salina, a Canadian by birth, and has one son.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Memorial and Biographical History of the Coast Counties of Central California.

Illustrated.

Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the
Earliest Period of its Discovery to the Present Time, together with Glimpses of
its Auspicious Future; Illustrations and Full-Page Portraits of some of its
Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of many of its Pioneers, and Prominent
Citizens of To-day.



HENRY D. BARROWS,
Editor of the Historical Department.

LUTHER A. INGERSOLL,
Editor of the Biographical Department.

"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendants."-Macaulay.


CHICAGO: THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1893.


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