Amanuensis Monday: Pastoral Record

I've used the Methodist Church's wonderful and extensive archives in researching my mother's family over the years, but was quite surprised to learn someone on my father's side was also in there.

Andrew Wood was the brother of my third great-grandfather.  He was the son of Irish or Scotch-Irish immigrants to Canada and like at least two of his brothers, came to Michigan when a young man.  Andrew became a Methodist minister, something I learned when I discovered he had been the officiant at his brother's funeral.  I located him in the Annual Conference Journal Memoirs Index and sent away for the record (cost was $5).  This is what I received:

"ANDREW WOOD

    Rev. Andrew Wood, retired minister of the Detroit Conference and resident of Imlay City some twenty years, died at his home, Sept. 10, aged 85 years.  He had been in failing health for some years.

    Andrew Wood was born in Waterloo County, Ont., Feb. 27, 1857.  He entered the ministry of the Methodist Church after attending Colburg College and served two charges before coming to Michigan about 60 years ago.  He joined the Conference in 1884 and was married to Laura Banks at Sault Ste. Marie, Feb. 25, 1885.

    He is survived by his widow and a brother, George Wood of Kansas City, Mo.  He had two sons.  George Wood, who died at Imlay City in 1934, and Major Charles Wesley Wood, U.S. Army, who died suddenly while on duty in Washington, D.C., June 2, this year.

    Brother Wood was widely known because of his effective work on many pastorates in this Conference and his work in the cause of temperance in both Michigan and South Dakota.

    Twenty-two ministers attended the funeral service in the Imlay City church on Monday, the fourteenth.  The pastor, H. A. Hudgins, opened the service while the attending ministers stood in silent reverence, the District Superintendent, Gordon Philips, brought the sympathetic expression on behalf of the conference and the district.  Neighboring pastors who spoke were Frank Hemingway of Lapeer and David Grasman of the local Christian Reform Church for the community.  The other ministers present sang two hymns and served as pallbearers.  Burial was in the Imlay City cemetery."

From the 1943 minutes of the Detroit Conference.  Also included was a list with dates of all the places where he officiated.

I think the "Colburg College" mentioned is actually Victoria College which was in Cobourg, Ontario and was an "unofficial Methodist seminary."


Comments

  1. What a useful resource, Leah! Thanks for including the link. And how special to be able to access that report on your own ancestor--and for such a reasonable price!

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