The following was transcribed and kindly shared with this family web site by John T. Nash .
A COLLECTION OF
PERSONAL CARTOONS AND BIO-
GRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE
STAUNCH “TREES” THAT MAKE
THE “OAK CITY.” By Ad Goodwin
Printed By
Commercial Printing Company
Raleigh, NC
1916
MAJOR W. P. WOOD
When the State of North Carolina called her sons to arms in 1861, among the first to respond was William Penn Wood, of Asheboro. He had barely completed his education in the public schools when the outbreak of the Civil War caused him to shoulder a musket and march to the front where he served as a member of Company I, 22nd North Carolina Regiment from the battle of Seven Pines to the Confederacy’s last stand at Appomattox. He was wounded in the second battle of Manassas and to this day carries in his body a bullet from hostile rifle. From a private at his enlistment, he was promoted to a Sergeant of his company and commended for coolness under fire. He is now a member of the staff of General Metts, commander of the Confederate Veterans of North Carolina, with the rank of Major, and is the Vice-President of the North Carolina Soldier’s Home in this city.
At the close of the Civil War, Major Wood returned to Randolph County, and after a year spent in farming entered the mercantile business in Asheboro. This pursuit he has followed for the past 50 years, becoming one of the best known merchants of his section.
Major Wood has been many times honored by the citizens of Asheboro and Randolph County, by election to town, city, and State offices. He was Treasurer of the town of Asheboro from 1880 until 1888 and Treasurer of Randolph County from 1890 to 1894. He represented Randolph and Moore Counties in the State Senate of 1901 and was a member of the Legislatures of 1905 and 1907 from Randolph County.
In 1910 he was nominated by the Democratic State Executive Committee as State Auditor to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Dr. B. F. Dixon and was elected in the general election of that year. He was re-elected in 1912 and is the Democratic nominee of the State Executive Committee for the same office in the coming election.
For more than half a century a man of deep rooted religious convictions, Major Wood is a member of the Methodist Church, in which he has been a steward since 1866. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Masonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the J. O. U. A. M. He is connected with the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, the Y. M. C. A., and the Capital Club.
Major Wood was married September 4, 1872 to Miss Etta Gunter, of Durham, North Carolina. To them were born one son John Kerr Wood, and two daughters, Mrs. J. O. Redding, and Mrs. W. A. Underwood, all of Asheboro. Mrs. Wood died some twenty years ago.