John Wood was born in Moravia, New York on December 20, 1798.
His father, Daniel was a surgeon during the Revolutionary
War. At the age of 20, John decided he wanted to go west into
the frontier. He settled at Atlas, IL about 40 miles south
of Quincy, and started to farm.
The land between the Illinois and Mississippi River was Bounty
Land. As part of the Illinois Military Tract, this was land
given to veterans who fought in the War of 1812. There was
1,400,000 acres of land in the Military Tract and the government
was anxious for people to settle there.
In 1822, a Mr. Flinn who had been a soldier had received 160
acres of Bounty Land. As Mr. Flinn was traveling northward
to locate his land, he met John Wood. Wood decided to go with
Flinn to see his land. Flinn did not want to live so far from
St. Louis and agreed to sell the land to Wood for $60.00.
This was about 38 cents an acre.
John Wood built his first house, a log cabin at the foot of
Delaware Street near the river. His cabin was 18 feet by 20
feet and only one room.
As
more settlers came into the area, he met Ann Streeter. They
were married in 1826 and John built his second log cabin at
12th & State (west side). It was two stories and much
larger than the first. John was acquiring land that soldiers
from the East did not want and was selling it to farmers coming
from Kentucky and Tennessee and making a profit.
By
1835, John started building a Mansion at 12th & State
next to the log cabin. It took three years to build it, from
1835-1838. He had gone to St. Louis and New Orleans and gotten
German immigrants that were craftsmen (carpenters, bricklayers,
stone masons, plasterers, etc.) to construct this Greek Revival
style house.
John
Wood was a very well liked man and was elected mayor of Quincy
three different times. In 1856, he was elected Lt. Governor
of the State of Illinois.
While he was Lt. Governor, John started building an even larger
house in the middle of the block on State Street between 11th
& 12th. This was an Octagonal building (eight sided) and
would take six years to build.
Unfortunately,
during this time, Governor Bissell died and John became the
Governor. The year was 1860. John petitioned the Illinois
Legislature asking if he could stay in Quincy to oversee the
construction of his new home. They agreed, and his Greek Revival
style house became the Governor’s Mansion for the State
of Illinois. That is its historical significance.
John Wood was Governor for only ten months (until the term
ran out). He did not seek re-election because of commitments
in Quincy.
In
1861, the Civil War broke out and Wood was named Quartermaster
General of the State of Illinois. A quartermaster is a person
who secures goods for the army such as blankets, food, ammunition,
horses, and other items. Wood is 63 years old at this time.
In
1863, Ann, his wife of 37 years died. They had had eight children,
but only four of them lived to adulthood – a daughter
and three sons.
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