Middletown transcript., 1920-03-20
LEONARD WOODS
! ACTIVE CAREER
Brief Story Of His Life as Doctor,
(; Soldier and Statesman-His
/; Boyhood and Student Days.
BY JOHN G. HOLME.

On December IL, 1899, Leonard
Wood, a Major General Of Volunteers
In the United States Army, received
one of the most remarkable orders that
any government has ever issued to
my army officer.
He was made GovernOr-General of
IN island which for four hundred
>fears had been a colonial dependency
81 one Of the most reactionary mon
arches on the face of the earth and
vas commanded to train its million
lna half inhabitants, who had never
! had any voice in their government, for
,epu! self-government He was
/ prdered to perform this gigantic task
AS quickly as possible, for the diplo-
: matte ,eleecopes Of all the govern
nents Of the world were trained on the
United States and the island, whlei.
happened to be, III natural resources
probably the richest spot Of it's size on
the globe. The governments Of Eu-
rope, Asia and South America wanted
to know whether Uncle Sam really
meant what he said when he pledged
himself to free Cuba, or whether ie
was really going to annex Cuba with
her inexhaustible sugar bowl.
The work before Wood was to build
rebuild and repair all the civil insti-
tutions Of Cuba, such as the courts, the
customs and postal departments, the
school and electoral systems establish
lines Of communication, expel the epi-
denies. train native public officials and
supervise the writing Of the Constitu-
tion. When Cuba was able to stand
on her own feet, Wood was to come
home.
Two years before the man who was
commanded to perform this extraordi
nary task had been an obscure army
doctor with the rank and pay Of cap
tain. He had distinguished himself in
the Spanish-American War as Colonel
of the Rough Riders, the famous re.-
ment Of aristocrats and cowpunclars
of which Theodore Roosevelt later be-
came the commander when Wood was
advanced to the rank of Brigadior-Gen-
eral. Wood had done q big job as
Military-Governor of Santiago de Cuba,
and his success there had paved the
way for his Governorship of all Cuba.
Now that he looms big as Presidential
possibility, the American people are
more than ever interested in his ca
reer, in the forces and influences which
have shaped his active life.
Leonard Wood was born in the vii
lage Of Winchester, N. H., On October
9, 1860, and Is therefore fifty-nine
years Of age. He comes of an old
American stock which settled in New
England long before the Revolution.
One Of his ancestors, Peregrine White.
was the first white child born in
Plymouth colony. Another ancestor,
John Nixon, was one Of Washington's
Brigadiers, fighting through the Revo-
lution. Leonard Woods father, Dr..
Charles Jewett Wood, left his wife and
infant son, the future General, to re-
spond to Lncoln's first call for volun-
teers. He was invalided home Just be-
fore the COnfederacy surrendered.
After the Civil War the family mov-
ed to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. set
tling in the village Of Pocasset, wher,
Leonard Wood grew up. attended the
district school and later Pierce Acade.
my, Middleboro, Mass. Here he dis
tinguished himself as an all-around
athlete. He showed fondness for the
languages and history. In his work he
was persevering rather than ready.
ITO be cOntinued.)