My Genealogy Hound

CHARLES L. WOOD.
Charles L. Wood, senior member of the firm of Wood & Williamson, proprietors of the National Hotel, at Topeka, was born in Montgomery County, Illinois, not far from the capital city of Springfield, January 4, 1862, and is a son of John C. and Malinda A. (Judd) Wood.

In tracing the Wood family back a number of generations, the forebears are found to have been of Scotch and English extraction and some members of this family were with the Plymouth colony in New England. The immediate ancestors of our subject came, however, from sturdy Pennsylvania stock. The father was a farmer and also a Methodist preacher. He died in 1883 at Greenfield, Illinois, but his widow still survives. Of their nine children, five are still living, all residents of Kansas.

Charles L. Wood remained on a farm until 21 years of age, his education including the instruction afforded by the public schools and by a business college. In 1884 he went to North Dakota, where he became assistant manager of a wheat farm for his cousin, J. C. Gill, in the meantime making many friends and being appointed deputy assessor of Cass County. During two winters he also taught school. His first experience in the hotel business was at Castleton, North Dakota, where he was in partnership with Douglas Smith. They conducted what was known as the “City Restaurant,” under the firm name of Smith & Wood, and they continued the business from the fall of 1886 to the spring of 1888.

At this period Mr. Wood came to Kansas and in association with his brother, J. C. Wood, conducted the Windsor Hotel at Hays under the name of Wood Brothers, but shortly after he became cashier for the Union Pacific Railroad eating house at Ellis, Kansas, under Frank Washburn, a position he filled one year and then came to Topeka. He served first as chief clerk of the National Hotel, and then went to Colorado as manager of the Union Pacific Railroad eating house at Cheyenne Wells, and subsequently spent one season as chief clerk of the Hotel Florence, at San Diego, California. Mr. Wood then came back to the National Hotel at Topeka and served as chief clerk until 1897. He then became interested in real estate and the hotel brokerage business, doing well in the latter line. In 1898 he took the management of the Chesterfield Hotel, but in the fall sold out his interest and became chief clerk of the Copeland Hotel. In the spring of 1899 he took the management of the National Hotel. On the first of the following November, Mr. Wood purchased the hotel and fixtures and is the senior member of the firm which operates it.

On November 1, 1903, Mr. Wood formed a partnership with C. R. Williamson, who was an old commercial traveler. This popular hotel, a view of which is shown on another page of this work, is in the heart of the business district, located at Nos. 633-635 Kansas avenue, contains 100 rooms and can accommodate 200 guests. It is a five-story and basement building and every equipment is first-class and modern. One particular feature is the excellence of the cuisine and this alone has brought the house the favor of the traveling public. It is conducted on the American plan and caters to an exclusive transient business. Charges are moderate, ranging from $2 to $3 per day according to location of room and with or without bath. Electric lights and elevator service are two very important features of this hotel. A force of 35 employes is kept. A modern local and long distance telephone is provided in each room.

Mr. Wood is secretary and treasurer of the Kansas & Missouri Hotel Men’s Association, an organization which was first formed with 12 members, in 1895, at the National Hotel, Topeka, as the Kansas Hotel Keepers’ Association, and was reorganized at Kansas City, January 2, 1901, when its name was changed to the former title. Its object is to prevent the perpetration of fraud, to minimize the number of bad accounts and to work for the interests of hotel men in general. The membership now reaches 200 in the two States and an annual meeting is held, an executive board being in session all the time. All the leading hotels in the two States are represented, with the exception of two in St. Louis. The president of the association is H. C. Whitley, proprietor of the Whitley House, at Emporia, Kansas; and Mr. Wood is secretary and treasurer. On the occasion of the last annual meeting, March 16, 1905, it was decided to admit members to the association from the Southwestern States. The Commercial Hotel Register is published monthly at Topeka by the association and is devoted to hotel interests.

Mr. Wood has been interested in many circles in Topeka and is as widely known as any other citizen. He is a member of the Commercial Club and has been vice-president and is chairman of the advertising committee at the present time. For some time he has been associated with the Modoc Glee Club; he possesses a fine tenor voice. He is the general manager of the club and attends to the finances when it makes annual entertainment excursions. He belongs also to the Elks.

Mr. Wood was married at Greensburg, Indiana, October 17, 1899, to Ina Graham, who was born in Kentucky. Mr. Wood belongs to the Methodist Church, while Mrs. Wood affiliates with the Episcopal.

Although a thoroughly self-made man, Mr. Wood claims no great degree of credit for himself, arguing that honorable business principles, close application, methodical habits and courteous manners make success possible for any one. He is a very popular citizen of Topeka. He made many friends in St. Louis during the Louisiana Exposition, as the manager of the Epworth Hotel, a huge caravansary with 530 rooms where guests from all over the world were made comfortable.