Clayton A. Wood, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Clayton A. Wood
CLAYTON A. WOOD. The year 1912 finds Porter county signally favored in the personnel of its official representatives, and one of the number who has amply justified in his official career the wisdom of the popular choice is the present county sheriff, who is giving a most careful, discriminating and successful administration of the affairs of the important position which he holds. Sheriff Wood is essentially the right man in the right place and well merits the confidence reposed in him by the people of Porter county.
Clayton A. Wood is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of Indiana, though he claims the Sunflower state as the place of his nativity. He was born at Belleville, Republic county, Kansas, on the 12th of September, 1872, and was the second in order of birth in a family of two sons and two daughters, all of whom are living. He is the elder of the two sons of O. S. Wood and Charity F. (Farman) Wood, the former of whom was born at Deep River, Lake county, Indiana, and the latter of whom was born at Jonesville, Hillsdale county, Michigan, whence her parents removed to the city of Chicago when she was a child. She is a resident of Valparaiso, but the father, who devoted the major part of his active career to practicing medicine, died in February, 1908. Oliver S. Wood was a son of John W. Wood, who was a native of Massachusetts and who came to Indiana and settled in Lake county about the year 1834. This honored pioneer was a mason by trade and was known as one of the best artisans in this line to be found in northern Indiana in the early days. The father of the present sheriff of Porter county removed to Kansas in the late '60s and returned to Indiana in 1873, when the future sheriff was about one year old. About four years later the family home was established at Hebron, one of the attractive villages of Porter county, and there the subject of this review gained his early educational discipline in the public schools. At the age of seventeen years he came with his parents to Valparaiso, and here he was a student for two terms in the Northern Indiana Normal, in 1893-4. During the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 he served as one of its corps of Columbian guards, and the experience is one to which he reverts with much pleasure and satisfaction, as he had many agreeable experiences and gained much valuable knowledge during his service at the beautiful and ever to be remembered "White City." For a period of about seven years Mr. Wood was employed as a salesman in a retail hardware establishment in Valparaiso, and in 1905 he was appointed deputy sheriff of Porter county, under Sheriff Louis Green. He gained varied and valuable experience in this connection and this fact, together with his personal popularity and sterling character, marked him as eligible for higher official honors, with the result that in 1909, he was elected sheriff of the county, for the regular term of two years, which will expire January 1, 1913. As already stated, his administration has been most excellent, and he has gained the staunch commendation of the people of the county.
In politics Sheriff Wood accords uncompromising allegiance to the Republican party, and he has been an active and efficient worker in its local ranks. He is a popular member of the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Foresters, the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, and the Sons of Veterans, in each of which his affiliation is with the organization of the same in his home city.
On the 12th of September, 1902, Sheriff Wood was united in marriage with Miss May Knode, who was born and reared in Valparaiso, and they have a winsome little daughter, Leta Louise, who is in the sixth grade of school.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company. 1912. History of Porter County, Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. 881 p.
Page(s) in Source: 590-591
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook