Wood, Fernando (June 14, 1812 – February 14, 1881) 

Fernando Wood was a three–time mayor of New York City, a congressman, and leader of the peace wing of the Democratic Party during the Civil War. 

He was born on June 14, 1812 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Rebecca Lehmann Wood and Benjamin Wood, a merchant.  His father engaged in several unsuccessful business ventures, then moved the family to New York City in 1821 where his luck was little better.  Young Wood attended a private school, but left home at age 13, supporting himself by working at a variety of menial jobs.  He moved to Philadelphia and in 1831 married Anna Taylor.  The next year his father died, so the couple moved to New York City, where the 20–year–old Wood labored to provide for his mother and younger siblings as well as his new bride.  He and his wife divorced in 1839.  

Like his father, Wood was not a prosperous businessman, but the young man learned he possessed a talent for politics.  He joined the Tammany Hall club, sided with the anti–National Bank faction of the Democratic Party, and quickly rose to prominence.  He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1840 at the age of 28.  Shortly after taking office he married Anna Richardson, the daughter of a well–connected judge from upstate New York.  The couple had seven children; she died in 1859.  In Congress, Wood opposed the Whig program of national banking, tariffs, and internal improvements, except when they benefited his district. 

Wood lost his seat in 1842 due to redistricting, but in 1844 received a State Department patronage position as dispatch agent at the port of New York.  He used his wife’s money to invest in real estate, eventually becoming wealthy as a result.  He was, however, successfully sued in 1848 for cheating his partners out of their due share of the profits from a gold mine investment.   

During the 1850s, Wood was a perennial Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City:  1850, defeated; 1854, elected; 1856, elected; 1857, defeated; 1859, elected; 1861, defeated.  He tried to unify a factionalized party and a city deeply divided by class, religion, ethnicity, and race.  He supported moral and social reforms, such as establishing Central Park, proposing a public university for the city, and controlling vice.  In deference to working–class immigrants, he did not strictly enforce state liquor laws and he endorsed public work projects during the financial panic of 1857.  Democratic infighting led to an eventual schism, with Wood forming an organization, Mozart Hall, to rival Tammany Hall.   

Limited mayoral authority and a Republican legislature further circumscribed Wood’s ability to accomplish his political goals.  The state–city power struggle over law enforcement produced rival police forces, rioting, and a court case, which finally ended in triumph for the legislature.  This antagonism provoked Wood to suggest in 1861 that the city secede from the state of New York.  Because of his pre–war sympathies for the South, his political enemies claimed he supported the Confederate cause.  In fact, during his last days as mayor he had urged a million–dollar tax to raise Union troops.  At the end of his term he married Alice Mills, the 16–year–old daughter of a rich merchant; the couple later had nine children. 

Reflecting the unpopularity of the Civil War in New York City, Wood won election to the U. S. House of Representative in 1862 as a Peace Democrat.  In 1864, he successfully backed the inclusion of a peace plank in the 1864 Democratic Party National Platform, but lost reelection to Congress.  Two years later, though, he was returned to office and served in Congress until his death on February 14, 1881.  In the post–war Congress, he supported low tariffs and hard money and, after 1877, served as chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee.  He worked hard, but his influence was limited by his unwillingness to compromise.   

Sources consulted:  Phyllis F. Field, “Wood, Fernando,” American National Biography (online); Jerome Mushkat, Fernando Wood:  A Political Biography.