Walker Wood

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Walker Wood
c. 1907
30th Secretary of State of Mississippi
In office
April 7, 1926 – January 1948
GovernorHenry L. Whitfield
Dennis Murphree
Theodore G. Bilbo
Martin Sennet Conner
Hugh L. White
Paul B. Johnson Sr.
Thomas L. Bailey
Fielding L. Wright
Preceded byJoseph Withers Power
Succeeded byHeber Austin Ladner
Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives
from the Tate County district
In office
January 1908 – January 1912
Personal details
Born(1874-04-23)April 23, 1874
Vicksburg, Mississippi
DiedFebruary 3, 1957(1957-02-03) (aged 82)
Jackson, Mississippi
Political partyDemocrat

Walker Wood (April 23, 1874 - February 3, 1957) was an American journalist and politician from Mississippi. He was the 30th Secretary of State of Mississippi, serving from 1926 to 1948.

Early life[edit]

Walker Wood was born on April 23, 1874, in Vicksburg, Mississippi.[1] He was the son of William Menefee Wood and Josephine (Kendrick) Wood.[1] He was educated in the public schools in the Vicksburg area.[1]

Newspapers[edit]

At the age of eighteen, he began a career in journalism.[1] He was in charge of the Oxford Eagle from 1892 until he purchased the Senatobia Democrat and started being the editor of that newspaper in 1899.[1] He edited the Winona Times until 1940.[2]

Political career[edit]

A Democrat, Wood was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives representing Tate County in 1907 for the 1908-1912 term.[1] On April 7, 1926, he was appointed to the position of Secretary of State of Mississippi by Governor Whitfield after the death of Joseph Withers Power.[3] In 1945, he was the president of the National Association of Secretaries of State.[4] He stopped being the Secretary of State of Mississippi in 1948.[5] He was the president of the Mississippi State Microfilm Department from 1950 until his retirement in December 1956.[2]

Death[edit]

Wood died after a long illness on February 3, 1957, in a hospital in Jackson, Mississippi.[2] He was survived by his wife and two daughters.[6]

Personal life[edit]

Wood married Susie Garrott Meacham on February 19, 1902.[1] They had at least three children, Olivia Elizabeth Wood, George Meacham Wood, and another daughter.[1][6] Wood was a Methodist.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rowland, Dunbar (1908). The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi. Department of Archives and History. p. 1081.
  2. ^ a b c "Obituary for Walker Wood". The Clarke County Tribune. 1957-02-08. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  3. ^ "Appointment Walker Wood Endorsed by Press". The Winona Times. 1926-04-30. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  4. ^ "Enterprise-Journal from McComb, Mississippi on February 4, 1957 · Page 1". Newspapers.com. 4 February 1957. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  5. ^ "HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL INFORMATION" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-11-25.
  6. ^ a b "Obituary for Walker Wood". Hattiesburg American. 1957-02-04. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Secretary of State of Mississippi
1927, 1931, 1935, 1939, 1943
Succeeded by