MS-241
THE HARLEY K. WOOD ESTATE COLLECTION
INTRODUCTION
The Harley K. Wood Estate Collection was accessioned into the Piqua Public Library Archives and Special Collections in August 2015 as a donation by Jacob Nicodemus of Columbus, Ohio. The collection is housed in a single 11’’ x 13” x 5” Gaylord acid-free box in 12 file folders. Nicodemus found the documents in the attic of his Columbus home and graciously donated them to the department. Ownership of the collection has been transferred to the library and there are no known restrictions on the use of the collection by our patrons.
HISTORY
Harley Kirk Wood (H.K. Wood) was born October 17, 1847 in Miami County. He was educated in Piqua schools and for many years was connected to the linseed oil business, at first as a member of W.W. Wood & Son (1867-75), then with the Wood Ferrington & Co., 1875-90, and from 1890 to 1896 as general manager of the Wood Linseed Oil Company. He was also president and general manager of the Piqua Electric Company and from 1885 to 1906 of the Piqua Edison Electric Illuminating Company. He was secretary-general manager of the Piqua Milling Company from 1889 to 1890 and was a director from 1888 to 1922. He was also vice president and president of the Piqua National Bank and was vice president and treasurer of the Philadelphia Clay Manufacturing Company in Carlisle, Pennsylvania from 1890 to 1892. He was director and vice president of the Piqua Home Telephone Company from 1914 to 1921, and a director of the Third Savings Bank. He was largely responsible for the founding of the Wood Shovel and Tool Manufacturing Company and served as its president from 1902 until his death on January 21, 1922. H.K. Wood was known for his generous public spirit. He was president of the Piqua Y.M.C.A., a leader in the Methodist Church, was a member of the Piqua Club, was active in the Ohio Society of Sons of the American Revolution and was a thirty second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner. He married Frances Adeline Wilson, daughter of prominent Judge William Martin Wilson in 1873. They had one son, William Wilson Wood III, who would later become a prominent Piqua leader himself as secretary and then vice president of the Wood Shovel and Tool Company.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The Harley K. Wood Estate Collection contains the documents left from his death in 1922. These include his last will and testament, estate forms, tax forms with the various companies he took stock in, and his cemetery plot forms. They are housed in files 1-12.
CONTAINER LIST
BOX 1
File
1 Will Document
2 Tax Files- Audit of Wood Shovel and Tool Company Stock, Estate Tax Receipt, Sixty-Day Notice-Estate of Residence, United States Board of Tax Appeals Petition
3 Tax Return (1921)
4 Tax Return (1922)
5 Tax Return (1923)
6 Tax Return (1924)
7 Tax Return (1925)
8 Tax Return (1926)
9 Letters of Administration-Estate granted to W.W. Wood
10 Application for probate of will, Asset documents
11 Transfer Inheritance documents pertaining to holdings for the Universal Steel Company of Bridgeville, PA.
12 Cemetery Documents