In early life HENRY CLEVELAND WOOD was thrown much upon his own resources, and such educational advantages as he lacked, a strong literary taste and extensive reading in general measure supplied. He was the son of John Wood and Emma Cleveland. He at first turned his attention to journalism. [See Bibliography, Chap. IV.] Mr. Wood has led a very busy life, and possesses a happy combination of business tact and ability, with a talent for literary pursuits. By his thrift he has become a property-holder in his native town. His genius is composite, and with literature he combines both music and art. In the latter he is expert in wood carving, and has adorned his home in this place with products of his skill. In dramatic composition, he is author of two librettos, and both operas were performed with much success in several cities in the State. Both in poetry and prose literature Mr. Wood has won laurels of distinction, and he is well known in periodical literature, being a contributor to some of the most prominent magazines in the country, among them, the following : The Quiver, Appleton’s Journal, Leslie’s periodicals ; Harper’s Weekly will soon publish one of his clever short stories. In social life, Mr. Wood has ever a fund of sparkling wit and humor, which render him popular in a high degree.

            Communities, like men, are sometimes forgetful of their best friends, and they need at times to be reminded of the existence of strong personalities that affect their common life for good. Such a one in Harrodsburg is Henry Cleveland Wood, who quietly and modestly has grown to hold a unique part in the composite activities and sentiments of the place. He may be properly termed the poet laureate of Harrodsburg — and a poet, too, whose tender verses have ever been freely indited to Harrodsburg themes, whether grave or gay. If a lady desires to give an entertainment, and to have something bright and sparkling on her invitations, she goes to Mr. Wood for help; if a lover wishes to send a gift to his fair one with a tender sentiment expressed in verse, Mr. Wood is his refuge, and when the last sad summons has called away Harrodsburg’s brightest and best ones, who has ever with such loving sympathy and tender grace sung their consecrated virtues? Besides establishing himself as a distinct feature of Harrodsburg’s intellectual and sentimental life, he has earned for himself recognition in the wider field of magazine literature.

            The New York Star contains an ably written article on ” Young Literary Kentuckians,” in which Robt. Burns Wilson, James Lane Allen, and Henry Cleveland Wood are all given excellent notices for their work.

            Among the younger poets of the South, few show more vital . signs of promise than Henry Cleveland Wood and Ingram Crockett of Kentucky, John P. Sjolander of Tex., and Robert Loveman of Alabama. Worthy also of being included in this list is Rufus J. Childress of Louisville. The South has other young poets of even greater fame. These will yet, if true to themselves, reflect honor upon the South by presenting her as she is to her own people and to many besides. Mr. Wood’s fame has traveled East, and won him recognition from the higher magazines. His landscapes are Kentucky landscapes. Few photographs could be truer than the study he gives in his ” When Fallow Fields Invite.” Nor is he a mere landscape painter. His work, while a careful reproduction of nature, has something of deeper quality ; he sees living man the harvest field, as well as the rose by the wayside.— The Round Table.

Residence: Harrodsburg ,(1898). Mr. Wood, since the age of seventeen, has been and still is in mercantile business on his own account.

            Mr. Wood is a subscriber for this Genealogy.