Robert H. Wood

Robert H. Wood (1844–?) was an African American 19th-century politician, postmaster, and sheriff.[1][2] He served as the first African American Mayor of Natchez, Mississippi from 1870 until 1871,[3][4] and was part of the Adams County Board of Supervisors from 1871 to 1872.[5] He was one of only five black mayors in the American South during the Reconstruction-era; and is thought to be the first black mayor in the United States.[6][7]

Not to be confused with Robert H. Wood of Texas's 5th House of Representatives district.

Biography

Robert H. Wood was born in 1844, his mother was a free African American and his father was a white former mayor of Natchez.[4]

In 1865, he worked at a photographic printshop with John R. Lynch, Wood and Lynch formed a relationship at the printshop that followed them in to later life,[3] and Lynch also went on to serve in political office.[5] Wood owned a 36-acre farm in 1870.[5]

Wood was appointed Mayor of Natchez in 1869 during the Reconstruction era by governor James Alcorn, and elected to the office in 1870.[1] Wood lost his reelection campaign in 1871. He served on the Adams County Board of Supervisors from 1871 to 1872; elected as postmaster from 1874 to 1876; and in 1875 he elected sheriff and also as the tax collector of Adams County.[3][5] Wood was the second African American elected as sheriff in Adams County, following William McCary.[3]

Wood worked alongside Robert W. Fitzhugh, and they managed Lynch's successful 1870 campaign for United States Congress for Mississippi's 6th congressional district.[5] Wood was a member of the Freemasons.[8] He was involved in establishing the first school for African Americans in Natchez in 1871.[1][7] Isaac Lowenberg, who was Jewish, was elected the city's mayor in 1882.[9]

In 2004, the next African American mayor of the city was elected, Phillip West,[7] and he paid tribute to Wood in a 2016 short history film.[10]

See also

References
  1. Bernardo, Joseph (December 30, 2008). "Robert Wood (1844-?) •".
  2. Falck, Susan T. (2019-08-23). Remembering Dixie: The Battle to Control Historical Memory in Natchez, Mississippi, 1865–1941. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-4968-2443-1.
  3. Sewell, George A.; Dwight, Margaret L. (November 27, 1984). Mississippi Black History Makers. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 58–59. ISBN 9781604733907 – via Google Books.
  4. Behrend, Justin (2015). Reconstructing Democracy: Grassroots Black Politics in the Deep South After the Civil War. University of Georgia Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-8203-4033-3.
  5. Davis, Ronald L. F. (1993). The Black Experience in Natchez, 1720-1880: Natchez, National Historical Park, Mississippi. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Denver Service Center. pp. 203, 205.
  6. Davis, Jack E. (2004-10-01). Race Against Time: Culture and Separation in Natchez Since 1930. LSU Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-8071-3027-8.
  7. Brunker, Mike (August 16, 2004). "Race, politics and the evolving South". NBC News.
  8. Freedom's Lawmakers by Eric Foner Louisiana State University Press (1996) page 235.
  9. Anderson, Aaron D. (2013-01-23). Builders of a New South: Merchants, Capital, and the Remaking of Natchez, 1865–1914. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 177. ISBN 978-1-61703-668-2.
  10. Hemelt, Stephen (February 10, 2016). "Natchez History Minute: Jan. 10 - Mayor Robert Wood". Mississippi's Best Community Newspaper.
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