Biographies from The History of Columbia County,
Wisconsin, 1880 


Contributed by Carol carolann612@charter.net
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm


From The History of Columbia County, Wisconsin, 1880,
publ. by Western Historical Company, Chicago, Page
935-936

N. H. WOOD.  The subject of this sketch was born in
Ashfield, Mass., Feb. 21, 1820; his father, Nathan
WOOD, was born in Phillipston, Mass.; he was an orphan
at 12 years of age, with only one brother, William,
who was afterward engaged in the South American trade,
and died in London in 1820, with quite a fortune; the
father emigrated to Ashfield in 1800, and married Lucy
RANNEY, daughter of Francis RANNEY, fifth descendant
of Thomas RANNEY, who settled in Middleton, Conn., in
1669.  From 1838 to 1844, when he married Harriet J.
LUKE, of Hamilton, N.Y., and opened a store in Little
Falls, N.Y., Mr. WOOD was a wholesale peddler,
supplying the stores with small wares; his route was
from Troy, N.Y., via Syracuse, to Watertown, generally
journeying through the Mohawk Valley westward, and
returning through Cortland, Madison, and the counties
along the Cherry Valley turnpike; in 1848, Mr. WOOD
visited Wisconsin, and, with a bundle of land
warrants, located lands about Portage City, then Ft.
Winnebago; in the spring of 1849, he shipped a
considerable stock of goods to Chicago, as a venture;
he arrived there about June 1, with the cholera raging
and the population very quiet; most of his merchandise
arrived in a single vessel, a perfect avalanche of
goods, which obstructed the sidewalk, resulting in a
fine imposed by a petty magistrate, complaint having
been made by a jealous competitor in trade; the fine
was placarded on the door, and brought him both
sympathy and notoriety; having only two younger
brothers with him, and disliking to employ those who
would offer their services most readily, he adopted,
from necessity, the novel plan of handing out goods to
the customer, who would first reach up his money; the
plan took like wildfire, and in this manner he
disposed of his whole stock of general dry goods,
fancy goods, and many articles in the grocery line,
which included 100 chests of tea and 300 boxes of
raisins; the next arrival brought an immense stock of
books, stationery and engravings, bought at the New
York trade sales, obliging him to close his store for
three days to examine; the opening hour of 10 o'clock,
which had been placarded, brought a throng of people
which filled both sidewalk and street for a block; the
openings of the counters were barricaded and the
merchandise placed beyond reach; on opening the doors,
the rush of the crowd was like a stampede of Texan
steers, jumping upon the counters, they commenced
handing books to the first man who got the money up;
lawyers and business men came in by scores; book after
book accumulated in their arms, until loaded, they
would journey home, to return again; a clearance of
the room for dinner was facilitated by the sale of
thirty medium-sized mirrors, which reflected the
suggestion of the prosperity of improving the
appearance by journeying home for ablutions and
dinner; the afternoon so far exceeded the morning,
that we lost all knowledge of time, forgot our supper,
sold thicker and faster until we observed the room was
thinning; they ere easily dismissed - it was past 11
o'clock; they had sold that day, stationery in small
parcels and books in single volumes, mostly, $1,461, a
feat which retailers of books and stationery - the
slowest of all merchandise - will appreciate; the
stock was soon exhausted, and Mr. WOOD must replenish
at the seaboard; no one could keep up the system he
had introduced, or did he ever attempt it himself
again.  He sent to Little Falls for George S. and
Chauncey T. BOWEN, aged 16 and 18 years; they
succeeded him in 1853, and as the firm of BOWEN
Brothers, were for many years one of the leading
wholesale firms of Chicago, and known throughout the
United States; Chauncey T. BOWEN was afterward one of
the City Fathers of Chicago; George S. BOWEN is the
celebrated railroad President and dairyman of Elgin,
Ill., and is interested in its extensive watch
manufactory; their wisdom and ability have increased
with years, but they were "beautiful in their youth;"
so thought Mr. WOOD when C. T. BOWEN, at age 16, took
his books in charge; in a week he knew the cost and
price of every article in the store; in three weeks he
knew the amount of credit each customer was entitled
to, and in a month he was authority on the amount of
credit every Jew in the clothing trade of Chicago
might have, and the management of collections; and so
wisely and well did he do all these things that he
maintained his position; Mr. WOOD never had the least
idea of failing in business; his bark was always near
shore; he would never owe, nor suffer others to owe
him, more than he was worth; with his caution, he
would never enter the lists of a large and hazardous
wholesale trade.  The miasma of Chicago in those days
was disagreeable to him, and he determined upon the
economical life of a tax-payer upon unproductive
property in Wisconsin; perhaps thirty years of this
experience has tried his ever-hopeful nature, but the
future of Portage City is assured, and his last days
may brighten.

Submitted by Carol