Howard Wood
(1877-1968)
Etta J. Graham
(1878-1969)
Howard Graham Wood
(1910-1998)

 

Family Links

Spouses/Children:
1. Clara Gertrude Beecher

2. Florence C. Tottle

Howard Graham Wood 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9

  • Born: 27 Jul 1910, Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 1 5 6
  • Marriage (1): Clara Gertrude Beecher on 3 Oct 1939 in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 1 2 3
  • Marriage (2): Florence C. Tottle in 1977 in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 1 4
  • Died: 15 May 1998, Roland Park, Baltimore, MD at age 87 1

   FamilySearch ID: L6KJ-68S.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Census in 1920 in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD. 6 The 1920 census recorded living at 500 Forest Road: Howard Wood, manager lumber yard, 42, living with wife Etta J., 36; son Howard G., 9; daughter Margaret W., 7. Also in the home was servant Amy Chase, 24. Everyone and their parents were born in Maryland.

2. Census in 1940 in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD. 10 The 1940 census recorded at University Apartments #E-1 at 104 W. University Parkway: Howard Wood, banker, 29, living with wife Gertrude B., 30.

3. Residence: on 23 Sep 1954 in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD. 7

4. Occupation: Senior Vice President, Trust Divison, First National Bank of Maryland on 5 Jun 1971 in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD. 11

5. Residence: on 5 Jun 1971 in Roland Park, Baltimore, MD. 11

6. Residence: 401 Woodlawn Rd, Baltimore, MD on 22 Dec 1975 in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD. 9

7. Obituary: The Baltimore Sun: obituary of H. Graham Wood, 87, bank official, steamboat expert on 18 May 1998 in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD. 12 As a youngster in the 1920s, H. Graham Wood of Roland Park spent countless hours sailing the Chesapeake Bay in graceful steamboats with his father, a lumber merchant.

His boyhood fascination with the imposing vessels led to a lifelong interest, including co-writing a book, "Steamboats Out of Baltimore," in 1968.

Mr. Wood, a retired senior vice president with First National Bank of Maryland, died Friday of complications from a stroke at his home in Roland Park, an area where he lived most of his life.

The Baltimore native was 87.

Mr. Wood was head of First National's trust division from 1949 to 1975.

After retiring, he served on the bank's investment review committee until 1995.

Mr. Wood, who graduated from Gilman School in 1928 and the Johns Hopkins University in 1932, started at the bank in the mid-1930s as a trust officer after graduating from University of Maryland School of Law.

"He was a very efficient officer," said Adrian McCardell, 90, a retired First National bank president. "He did an excellent job running the trust department."

Mr. Wood served for 40 years as treasurer of the Steamboat Historical Society of America until 1991.

He also was a member of the Maritime Committee at the Maryland Historical Society.

"He loved boats," said his son, Robert G. Wood, of Baltimore, adding that his father had numerous paintings, drawings and photographs of ships and the bay throughout his house.

Mr. Wood's avocation served him during World War II when he was an Army major in the Counterintelligence Corps.

His duties included searching for German submarines in the lTC Chesapeake.

In a 1994 interview with The Sun, Mr. Wood recalled a tragic steamer fire on the bay in 1924 that heightened his interest in the boats that transported goods and travelers for almost 150 years.

As an eyewitness on the steamboat Middlesex, Mr. Wood, 14 at the time, watched as the 1909 wooden side-wheeler, Three Rivers, was engulfed in flames, killing 10 passengers. The Middlesex and another steamer rescued survivors.

"The Three Rivers was really afire," he said in the Sun article. "The blaze was so bright. It was scary. People were on the boat and in the water. Smoke was everywhere."

Another steamboat aficionado, Robert H. Burgess, 85, of Newport News, Va., who wrote "Steamboats Out of Baltimore" )) with Mr. Wood, said he understood his writing partner's fascination with steamboats.

"He was very obsessed with it. It is something you grow up with," Mr. Burgess said.

Mr. Wood, who was an avid athlete, is credited with being a founder of the Roland Park Little League in 1952. The league thrives today.

"Little League was growing around the country," said his son. "He wanted us to have one for the community."

Mr. Wood played club baseball until he was 45 and touch football and softball until his 50s, his son said. During his earlier years, he played baseball and basketball at Gilman and basketball at Hopkins.

Mr. Wood was a longtime member of the Elkridge Club and the Johns Hopkins Club.

His wife of 36 years, the former Gertrude Beecher, died in 1975.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Roland Park Presbyterian Church, Roland Avenue and Upland Road.

Other survivors include his wife of 21 years, the former Florence Tottle Frey; a daughter, Virginia W. Delauney of Baltimore; two stepdaughters, Barrie Sigler of Baltimore and Sandra Hawthorne of Mendocino, Calif.; a stepson, Walter A. Frey III of Orlando, Fla.; a sister, Margaret W. Robinson of Baltimore; four grandchildren; and eight step-grandchildren.


Howard married Clara Gertrude Beecher, daughter of William Gordon Beecher Sr. and Mary Gertrude Robertson, on 3 Oct 1939 in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD.1 2 3 (Clara Gertrude Beecher was born on 11 Jun 1909 in Catonsville, Baltimore, MD 13 14 15 and died on 22 Dec 1975 in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 1 14 15.)


Howard next married Florence C. Tottle in 1977 in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD.1 4 (Florence C. Tottle was born about 1910 in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 4 and died on 1 Nov 2005 in Towson, Baltimore, MD 4.)


Sources


1 FamilySearch.org, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915 (From originals housed at the Philadelphia City Archives. "Death Records."), https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JDPT-KJF Thomas Lancaster, 18 Feb 1909; citing cn 4525, Department of Records; FHL microfilm 1405066.

2 Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), 8 Oct 1939, page 75. Wood-Beecher Wedding.

3 Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), 6 Aug 1939, page 64. Engagement of Gertrude Beecher and Howard Graham Wood.

4 Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), 4 Nov 2005, obituary of Florence T. Wood.

5 Ancestry.com, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1948 (Ancestry.com Operations Inc), 1936 > September > Ship: Iriona.

6 1920 United States Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Baltimore Ward 27, Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland; Roll: T625_669; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 454; Image: 243.

7 Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), 24 Sep 1954, page 17. Obituary of Mrs. Gertrude Beecher.

8 Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), 28 Jan 1963, pages 1 and 11, obituary of William Gordon Beecher.

9 Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), 23 Dec 1975, page 12. Funers of Mrs.H. Graham Wood.

10 1940 United States Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Baltimore, Baltimore City, Maryland; Roll: T627_1519; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 4-282.

11 Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), 6 Jun 1971, page 88. Wood - Delauney Wedding.

12 Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), 18 May 1998, obituary of H. Graham Wood.

13 1910 United States Census, Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore District 1, Series: T624 Roll: 550 Page: 42.

14 Ancestry.com, U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-Current (Ancestry.com Operations Inc), Gertrude Wood, SSN 216-03-4948, born 11 Jun 1909, died Dec 1975 Baltimore.

15 Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), 23 Dec 1975, page 12. Funeral of Mrs. H. Graham Wood.



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