Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County

Governor John Wood Mansion

This beautiful Greek-Revival style mansion is the centerpiece of the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County.

The Quincy Homes of John Wood

Please accept our invitation to visit the 177-year-old John Wood Mansion on the northeast corner of 12th and State Streets in Quincy.

The Historical Society was in only its tenth year when the Board accepted the recommendation of Society Secretary, Miss Louise Maertz, that it buy the mansion to prevent it falling to the wrecking ball and an intention by city fathers that it be replaced by an alley. Beginning in the fall of 1906, the Society’s members conducted a year-long campaign to raise funds to buy the land and home and reclaim Governor Wood’s home to make it the historic landmark it is today.

The mansion was opened with a special dinner and reception in November 1907. Events throughout the year salute the vision of our society’s members then and now.

Taking three years to build, John Wood’s third home was completed in 1838.

John Wood was born in Moravia, New York, on December 20, 1798. His father Daniel was a surgeon during the Revolutionary War, serving on tthe staff of General George Washington. At the age of 20 John decided to go west into the frontier. He settled at Atlas, Illinois, about 40 miles south of Quincy, and started to farm.

The land between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers was set aside  by Congress in May 1812 Bounty Land. As part of the Illinois Military Tract, this was land awarded to veterans of the War of 1812 in 160-acre plots. There were 5.36 million acres of land in the Military Tract and the government was anxious for people to settle there. The land on which Wood would establish the City of Quincy was within the Military Tract.

On April 3, 1819, Peter Flinn became the fourth owner of a 160-acre parcel of bounty land that had been awarded to Mark McGowan for his service during the War of 1812. As Flinn traveled northward to locate his land, he met John Wood, who accompanied him. Flinn considered the property “too far off from civilization” and offered it to Wood for $120. Wood agreed but wanted to pay in two equal installments. Flinn rejected the offer. But needing cash to bring relatives to America from Ireland, he returned the following year to Wood and accepted $60 for the land. 

Wood and a Quincy co-founder, Jeremiah Rose, built Wood’s first home, a log cabin, on the property at the foot of today’s Delaware Street near the river. The one-room cabin was 18 feet by 20 feet. Wood permitted Rose, his wife and child to move into the cabin with him.

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