George Warren Wood Explained

George Warren Wood (known professionally as George W. Wood) (1814–1901[1]) was a Presbyterian minister and missionary who became the secretary of the Congregationalist American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He was an early missionary to Armenia under Cyrus Hamlin.

His son, also named George Warren Wood, was also a Presbyterian reverend and missionary.

Early life

Dr. Wood was born February 28, 1814, to Samuel and Mehitable (Peabody) Wood in Bradford, Massachusetts, near Haverhill, Massachusetts. Wood attended Bradford Academy and then graduated from Dartmouth College in 1832.[2] After teaching in a religious school in Elizabeth, NJ for four years and studying theology, Dr. Wood entered Princeton Theological Seminary for 6 months before being licensed and ordained as an evangelist by the Presbytery of Elizabethtown.

Career in missions

Mission work in Istanbul and elsewhere

He was ordained a Presbyterian missionary, at Morristown, N.J., on May 20, 1837.[3] With his wife Martha, he served in Singapore East India (May 1838 – June 1840); Smyrna (1842), Trebizond Eyalet in the Ottoman Empire (1842–1843),[4] eight years at Istanbul (March 1842 – July 1850), and associated with the Rev. Cyrus Hamlin in the Bebek Seminary.[5] [6] He became in charge of Bebek's Theological department, the first of its kind in Asia Minor[7] [8]

Return to the United States and work for the American Board

In 1850 he returned to the United States.[9] In September 1852 he was elected Corresponding Secretary of the American Board of Foreign Missions in New York City,[10] and continued in this position until 1871.

In Spring 1855, the ABCFM sent Dr. Wood to visit Choctaw Mission in Oklahoma to resolve a crisis over the abolition issue.[11] After arriving in Stockbridge Mission, Wood spent over two weeks days visiting missions including the Goodwater Mission, Wheelock Academy, Spencer Academy, and other mission schools. He met with missionaries to discuss Selah B Treat's June 22, 1848, letter permitting them to maintain fellowship with slaveholders.[12] Ultimately, the crisis was not resolved, and by 1859, the Board cut ties to the Choctaw mission altogether.

In 1856, Dr. Wood published a "Manual of Christian Theology" in Constantinople in association with Dr. H. G. O. Dwight and Rev. Dr. Edward Riggs.[13]

In addition to his other secretarial duties, Wood assisted in presiding over the historic closure and relocation of the original Broadway Tabernacle in New York City in 1857.

In December 1862, Dr. Wood sailed from New York on his way to assist the Western Turkey Mission with his skills in the Armenian language.[14] He stopped in London for several weeks to meet with the Turkish Missions Aid Society and arrived in Constantinople on March 7, 1863. During this time he also visited the Syria Mission. He returned to the United States June 6, 1864.[15]

Return to missions in Turkey

When the New School Presbyterians withdrew from the American Board, Dr. Wood resumed his missions work in Constantinople for another 16 years from 1871 to 1886.[16] While in Constantinople in 1879, Wood reported Turkish authorities in Amasia brutally persecuting Christian Armenian refugees from Soukoum Kaleh during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78). He was able to coordinate with British Diplomat Edward Malet to bring the matter to the attention of the Sublime Porte, and then to the British foreign secretary Robert Gascoyne-Cecil (the Marquess of Salisbury).[17]

Personal life

Dr. Wood had four wives over the course of his life.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Greene. Joseph K.. Leavening the Levant. 1916. Pilgrim Press / Rowland & Ives, New York. Boston New York Chicago. 89. george w wood bradford massachusetts.. April 14, 2016.
  2. Book: Robinson. C.S.. Necrological reports and annual proceedings of the Alumni Association Volume 3: 1875–1932. 1891. Princeton Theological Seminary. Princeton, N.J. 134–135. Volume 3: 1875–1932. July 8, 2016.
  3. Book: Chapman. George Thomas. Sketches of the Alumni of Dartmouth College. 1867. Riverside PRess. Cambridge. 265. George W. Wood Bebek Seminary Morristown, N.J.. April 11, 2016.
  4. Book: Rev. M. P. Parmalee. Sketch of the Trebizond Station. Proceedings of the ABCFM for the year 1892. 1892. Samuel Usher. Boston. 229. May 1, 2017. Trebizond was occupied as a missionary station in 1853... The following is a list of missionaries who have been connected with the station for at least one year: ... Rev. G. W. Wood, 1842 – 1843".
  5. Book: Proceedings of the ABCFM for the year 1850 (The Missionary Herald at Home and Abroad, Volumes 46–47). 1850. T.R. Marvin. Boston. 6. April 11, 2016.
  6. Book: Chapman. George Thomas. Sketches of the Alumni of Dartmouth College. 1867. Riverside Press. Cambridge. 265. George W. Wood Bebek Seminary Morristown, N.J.. April 11, 2016.
  7. Book: Educating across Cultures: Anatolia College in Turkey and Greece. 978-1-4422-4347-7. McGrew. William. April 16, 2015. Rowman & Littlefield.
  8. Book: Todd. Thomas. The Missionary Herald, Volume 97. 1901. Beacon Press (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM)). Boston. 357–360.
  9. Web site: Personnel records for George W. Wood. Digital Library for International Research – American Board Personnel Card and Photo Collection. American Research Institute in Turkey-Istanbul / Amerikan Bord Heyeti (American Board), Istanbul. August 24, 2016. Ret. USA 1850–1852.
  10. Web site: Personnel records for George W. Wood. Digital Library for International Research – American Board Personnel Card and Photo Collection. American Research Institute in Turkey-Istanbul / Amerikan Bord Heyeti (American Board), Istanbul. August 24, 2016. "Elected Sept 1852 Corresp. Sec'y Board, for N.Y. City".
  11. Book: Spring. Joel. The Cultural Transformation of A Native American Family and Its Tribe 1763–1995: A Basket of Apples. 1996. Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group). New York, London. 0-8058-2303-4. in 1855, the American Board decided to send George Wood to investigate the situation in Indian Missions... While visiting the Choctaw Nation, Wood spent 3 days each at the Wheelock and Spencer Academies, and 9 days at other schools.
  12. Book: Cassity. Michael. Goble. Danney. Divided Hearts: The Presbyterian Journey Through Oklahoma History. 2009. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman. 978-0-8061-3848-0. 77–80. August 24, 2016. "members of the mission met Wood at Goodwater Mission, a school that had been suspended since 1853 ... Part of the key [to cordial discussion] was Wood's decision at the outset to 'drop for the present' the contentious letter from the American Board of June 22, 1848".
  13. Book: Ceowell. E. P.. OBITUARY RECORD of Graduates of Amherst College for the Academical Year ending June 28, 1893.. Amherst College. 293. Fourth Printed Series, No. 1.. January 5, 2017. "It has been found impossible to obtain a complete list of the works composed, edited or translated by Dr. Riggs. His principal publications are as follows :"... "Manual of Christian Theology, in association with Dr. H. G. O. Dwight and Dr. G. W. Wood. Constantinople, 1856.".
  14. Book: Annual Report of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (1863). 1863. T.R. Marvin & Son. 42 Congress Street, Boston. 36. August 24, 2016. As Dr. Wood was previously located there, and still retained his knowledge of Armenian, ... he sailed from New York ... December 6, 1862 ... Turkish Missions Aid Society detained him in England, a few weeks... did not reach his destination till the 7th of March.
  15. Web site: Personnel records for George W. Wood. Digital Library for International Research – American Board Personnel Card and Photo Collection. Amerikan Bord Heyeti (American Board), Istanbul. "Returned to Cons'ple Mar 7, 1863, as Secy, &visited [illegible] & Syria Mission... ret to USA June 6, 1864".
  16. Book: The Missionary Herald at Home and Abroad, Volume 97. September 1901. Beacon Press. Boston. 357–360. April 13, 2016. "On account of the withdrawal of the New School Presbyterian body from the support of the American Board"... "In the second period of his missionary life at Constantinople (1871–1886)".
  17. Book: Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command, Volume 80. 1880. Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Constantinople. 70–72. January 3, 2017.
  18. Web site: The Presbyterian Church in Morristown W Alpha Grave Yard. pcmorristown.org. April 13, 2016. April 23, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160423220929/http://www.pcmorristown.org/about-us/graveyard/alphabetical-index-of-interments/w-alpha-grave-yard. dead.
  19. Web site: Personnel records for Martha Briggs Wood. Digital Library for International Research – American Board Personnel Card and Photo Collection. American Research Institute in Turkey-Istanbul. August 24, 2016.
  20. Book: Williams. Hermine Weigel. Thomas Hastings: An Introduction to His Life and Music. 2005. iUniverse, Inc. New York Lincoln Shanghai. 978-0-595-81089-5. 50. e-book. April 13, 2016. footnote #6: Their daughter Mary was married first to Rev Daniel Bond... then to the Rev. George W. Wood.
  21. Book: General Catalogue of the Auburn Theological Seminary. 1883. Daily Advertiser and Weekly Journal Printing House. Auburn, NY. 208. daniel bond hamilton college.. April 13, 2016.
  22. Book: Chapman. George Thomas. Sketches of the Alumni of Dartmouth College. 1867. Riverside PRess. Cambridge. 265. George Warren Wood married.. April 13, 2016.

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