Surnames: Wood, Latta, Fullerton, Whitford, Teel, Hill, Draper, Gibson, Badger, Cowles, Crawford, Maxwell, Clark, Langdon, Brown, Adams, Losey, Fullerton, Badger, Richardson, Holmes, Williams, Butler, Newcomb, Thompson, Hall, Hazeltine, Wilcox, Swetland, Osborn, Weirich, Kellogg, Irish, Bachman, Yocum, Whitney, Lawson, Evans, Horner, McKay, Benson, Snodgrass, Wheeler, Bushnell, Martin, Mueller, Ross, Melear, Crowder, Weed, Kelly, Foote, McLaughlin, Spencer, Jones, Winston, Mills, Howard, Lummis

----Source: 1881 History of Northern, Wisconsin

(20 Sep 1816, VT - 25 Apr 1895, WI)

ASA WOOD, dealer in groceries and provisions. Was born in Vermont, Sept. 20, 1816. Came West in 1841, and first settled at Baraboo, Sauk Co., Wisconsin. Was local preacher of Methodist Episcopal Church fourteen years, and was a member of Rock River Conference. Enlisted in Co. F, 3d Wis. C, in 1861, and served one year, at which time he was obliged to resign his position of first lieutenant, on account of poor health, and return home. In 1868, moved to Lavalle, where he remained one year; went to Merrillan, engaging in the drug business, his being the first drug store in that town; remained there four years; went to Montgomery Co., Kansas, for his health, remaining three years, and then returning to Merrillan, Sept. I, 1880, and commencing in his present business. Is a member of A., F. & A. M , Baraboo Lodge, also of  I. O. O. F., Merrillan Lodge, No. 246, and of the Temple of Honor. He was married to his first wife, Miss Jane B. Latta, in 1835, who died at Dodgeville, Wis., in 1858. Mrs. Wood had four children, but one is living, Edwin E. Mr. Wood was married the second time to Mrs. Adams, of Baraboo, in 1859, and they have three children living—Asa C, Emma H. and Frank H. The second Mrs. Wood died in Kansas, August, 1880.

----Source: HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY WISCONSIN, pg. 446 - 447.

In 1841 Mr. Fullerton, then a local preacher, appointed to assist Mr. Whitford on the Mineral Point Mission, reached the Teel home at the foot of the bluffs on Sauk Prairie, June 23d, and preached there on Thursday evening, June 24, 1841. A Methodist class was formed at the home of 'Father Teel,' which, for several years, was the place of meeting, and also the stopping place of the traveling preachers.

"Rev. Fullerton's first visit to Baraboo Mills was on October 5, 1841. A Mr. Draper, a Baptist connected with the mill, requested him to establish, meetings here. The mill was about one-half a mile above the ford on the Baraboo river. A Mr.' William Hill, from one of the New England states, had built a log cabin ten or fifteen rods east of the mill, and boarded Mr. Draper 's mill hands.

"On the 16th of October, 1841, on Tuesday evening at Mr. Hill's house, Rev. T. M. Fullerton delivered the first sermon preached in the Baraboo Valley to eleven persons. Of those present only Mr. Draper professed religion. Mr. Fullerton regularly filled the appointment for two years. Then he was appointed to a mission on Lake Superior. Afterward, on account of poor health, Mr. Fullerton located for about ten years. Then he became an active member of the West Wisconsin Conference, filling important appointments until he was superannuated in 1882. He died in 1889 in the 73d year of his age. Mr. Fullerton kept a record of all his missionary travels.

"On Sunday, February 6, 1842, Mr. Fullerton formed the first Methodist class in Baraboo, consisting of Solomon Schaffer, leader, Ollie Schaffer and Parmelia Gibson, all of whom were Methodist immigrants recently arrived. Mr. Schaffer was mill blacksmith and lived in a new house south of the mill. Mrs. Gibson and family lived a mile up the river on the north side.

"On the 10lth of April, 1843, Mrs. Mary J. Hill, the woman of the house where the meetings were held, joined the class. She was the first convert to religion in the Baraboo Valley.

Excerpt from The History of Sauk Co., Wisconsin, pg. 446 - 447 "The class was reorganized in 1843 by Rev. A. M. Badger, appointed to the Sauk Prairie or Prairie du Sac Mission, who continued the services. Lauren Cowles and Ralph Cowles joined the class in 1843. For some time meetings were held at the home of a Mrs. Gibson south of the river. During the pastorate of Rev. P. S. Richardson (1845) the place of meeting was changed to the home of Alexander Crawford in Lyons, and Mr. Crawford became class leader. Services were held in private houses, and in the Court House until the first chapel was built.

"In 1849 Baraboo was set off from the Sauk Mission and became the head of a circuit under the name of the Adams Mission, Rev. Asa Wood being appointed pastor. After two years the charge was called Baraboo. This territory was within the bounds of the Rock River Conference until 1848, when the conference was divided and the Wisconsin Conference formed. The West Wisconsin Conference was formed in 1856. "The first Sunday School in Baraboo was a Union Sunday School organized in the spring of 1848, with James A. Maxwell, a Methodist, superintendent. It was held for a time in a log schoolhouse on the Lyons road. Early in 1849 it was held in the Court House erected in 1848 on the north side of Fourth avenue opposite the park. In the spring of 1850 the Methodists separated from the Union Sunday School and formed a. Methodist Sunday School, with 'James A. Maxwell superintendent. This school started with sixty-five scholars and sixteen officers and teachers.

"In 1849 the sixteen members of the Mission were as follows: Alexander Crawford and wife; James A. Maxwell and wife; C. A. Clark and wife; E. Langdon and wife; J. M. Clark and wife; Mrs. Chauncey Brown, Benj. L. Purdy, Charles Stanley, Ralph Cowles, Mrs. James Crawford and Mrs. C. M. Adams. In 1848 James A. Maxwell, Peter Losey and Alexander Crawford were elected a board of trustees. Late in 1849 it was decided to build a chapel. Mr. Crawford donated the lot at the southeast corner of Broadway and Fifth avenue for a church location. A building committee, consisting of Rev. Asa Wood and C. A. Clark, was appointed. Clearing, away the snow from the ground, a rough wooden building, 34 by 36 feet, boarded horizontally, inside and out, with inch boards over 2 by 6 inch studding, and filled between the boards with sawdust, was erected in January, 1850. This was the first church building in Baraboo.. In January, 1851, steps were taken to build a new church on the ground where the first chapel stood. During the summer the building, 36 by 50 feet, was raised on the basement walls, and the basement finished off so. that it could be used for services during the fall and winter of 1851-52. This basement was also used for public school purposes and for a court room. The building was completed during the summer of 1853. Baraboo was then a thriving village in a region to which the tide of emigration had been increasing. "The church was finished just in time for the sixth annual session of the Wisconsin Conference, which assembled in Baraboo on the 31st of August, 1853, Bishop Scott presiding.. The church was dedicated by Bishop Scott. during the conference on September 4, 1853.

----Source: HISTORY OF SAUK COUNTY WISCONSIN, pg. 448.

The following have served as pastors of the church, so far as known (1841 - 1916). The time is from the date of the annual conference of the year given. The conferences were held in the fall, except in 1859, when there were two sessions-one in the spring. The pastors: Rev. T. M. Fullerton, 1841-42; Rev. A. M. Badger, 1843-45; Rev. P. S. Richardson, 1845-46; Rev. Edrich Holmes, 1846-48; Rev. Joseph Williams, 1848-49; Rev. Asa Wood, 1849-50; Rev. Nelson Butler, 1850-52; Rev. C. A. Newcomb, 1852- spring '53; Rev. Asa Wood, spring to fall, 1853; Rev. Wm. H. Thompson, 1853-54; Rev. A. Hall, 1854-55; Rev. W. B. Hazeltine, 1855-56; Rev. W. Wilcox, 1856-spring '57; Rev. J. A. Swetland, spring 1857-April, '59; Rev.W. M. Osborn, April-October, 1859; Rev. C. E. Weirich, 1859-61; Rev. W. H. Kellogg, 1861-62; Rev. W. Wilcox, 1862-64; Rev. J. E. Irish, 1864-66; Rev. J. B. Bachman, 1866-67; Rev. Elmore Yocum, 1867-69; Rev. J. H. Whitney, 1869-71; Rev. James Lawson, 1871-72; Rev. James Evans, 1872-74; Rev. J. E. Irish, 1874-77; Rev. S. W. Horner, 1877-80; Rev. W. J. McKay, 1880-82; Rev. G. W. L. Brown, 1882-84; Rev. W. J. McKay, 1884-85; Rev. M. Benson, 1885-88; Rev. T. J. Snodgrass, 1888-92; Rev. B. E. Wheeler, 1892-Dec., '93; Rev. H. W. Bushnell, Jan., 1894-95; Rev. W. M. Martin, 1895-99; Rev. E. W. Mueller, 1899-1901; Rev. F. E. Ross, 1901-05; Rev. J. M. Melear, 1905-07; Rev. J. S. Crowder, 1907-09; Rev. S. A. Ross, 1909-11; Rev. E. P. Hall, 1911-16; Rev. C. E. Weed, 1916-?.

----Source: Baraboo Republic, August 6, 1857, Vol. III  

CONTRACT. We understand that our friend, Rev. ASA WOOD, of this village, has contracted to erect a building forty feet by sixty at Point Bluff, Adams County, for the seminary of the M. E. Church at that point. This institution, our readers will remember, is based uon an extensive donation recently made to that church, and is at present under the management of Rev. Mr. Lummis. The building about to be erected is to cost $5,000.

----Source: The Oriole (1905), The Students of the Evansville, Rock Co., Wisconsin Seminary

EVANSVILLE SEMINARY

A SKETCH OF THE EARLY DAYS was conceived in the brain of the Rev. Asa Wood. In 1846, a congregation worshipped at a Methodist Episcopal church which stood upon the present site of the Eager block in Evansville. In those days it was called "The Grove church" for there was no Evansville, the village of Union being the market town of the country round about.

Mr. Wood came as an itinerant pastor, filled with the zeal of the pioneer circuit rider, and declared that the only thing that would ever make the little Grove church amount to anything was "to start I , a school."

Nothing was done, however, at this time, and some years later, Mr. Wood returned, now a superannuated preacher, and still full of the Seminary scheme. 'The result of Mr. Wood's agitation was finally the holding of a meeting in the Methodist church alluded to above, in June 1855, when an organization was effected. The first trustees chosen were E. A. Foote of Footville, W. W. McLaughlin of Brooklyn, Henry G. Spencer, William C. Kelly, Ira Jones, J. Howard, Rev. Asa Wood, D. L. Mills and Nelson Winston. E. A. Foote was elected president of the board, D. L. Mills, secretary, and Rev. Asa Wood, financial agent. D. L. Mills gave the land for the site, to be forever dedicated to educational purposes.

Family Notes

Rev. Asa Wood married Jane Barton Latta 14 Feb 1836.  She was born 17 Mar 1818 in Charlotte, Monroe Co., NY and died 30 Jan 1849 in Chippewa Falls, Wis., and is buried in the Charlotte Cemetery, Rochester Monroe Co., NY. Jane was the daughter of Samuel Latta (14 Apr 1776, Willkill, Ulster Co., NY - 4 Feb 1827, Charlotte, NY) and Lydia Arnold (19 Jan 1786, Haddam, CT - 26 Nov 1866, Charlotte, NY)

In the Charlotte Cemetery, Monroe Co., NY, there is a tombstone for the children of Samuel and Lydia Latta which records their son Samuel (b. Charlotte, N.Y. June 1, 1814; d. August 26, 1814).  The tombstone says this son died August 26, 1811, aged 2 mo, 11 days which does not  match the family records.  On the same stone are listed James, and George W. and Jane B., wife of Asa Wood.

Children of Rev. Asa Wood and Jane Barton Latta

Syrena Wood b: January 21, 1837 NY 9 - 1839
Mortimer Wood b: September 6, NY - 1840
Asa Wood b: 1841, NY - 1842
Edwin Wood b: August 24, 1843 - ? m. Caroline A. Coleman, 28 Feb 1867
Henry Barton Wood b: July 13, 1848