In the history of the industrial interests of Piqua which have contributed to the upbuilding of the city and have promoted its material progress, Charles Leonard Wood certainly deserves mention. He is associated with many of the most important business relations of the city, occupies the presidency of the Piqua Hosiery Company, is also connected with the Piqua Planing Mill & Lumber Company, is vice-president of the Third National Bank, of Piqua, and is vice- president of the Third Building & Loan Company, of Piqua.

Mr. Wood is a native of New Hampshire, his birth having occurred at Hollis, on the 28th of June 1841, his parents being Charles A. and Hannah (Washer) Wood. His great-grandfather, Abijah Wood, was one of the heroes who fought for the independence of the nation during the war of the Revolution. The great-grandfather was a native of Massachusetts, and his ancestors were of English birth, emigrating, from the "Merrie Isle" in 1629. His great-grandfather, Joshua Davis, also served in the Revolutionary war. The maternal great- grandfather of our subject was Peter Robertson, and he, too, was a member of the Colonial army and had his right hand shot off at the battle of Bunker Hill. He married Miss Mary Seaton, a descendant of the prominent Seaton family of Scotland, and their granddaughter, Hannah, daughter of Stephen Washer, became the mother of our subject. Charles A. Wood, the father of Charles L. Wood, is a native of New Hampshire. In 1843 he removed with his family to Miami county, Ohio, where he has since resided. He is still living, in his eightieth year, but his wife, Hannah French Wood, died in Piqua, in 1869.

Charles L. Wood is the eldest of their children. He received a good common school education, later attended the high school at Piqua, and, after nearly two years in New Hampshire at school, he began teaching, following that profession with excellent success for eight years. Later he took up the study of law in the office and under the direction of Hon. J.F. and S.S. McKinney, the former and ex-member of congress. Having mastered many of the principles of jurisprudence, Mr. Wood successfully passed an examination and was admitted to the bar in 1865. He continued in practice for one year, being associated with Colonel W. N. Foster, of Piqua, at one time probate judge of Miami county. Having developed a liking for the manufacturing business, he engaged in the same with his father tinder the firm name of C.A. and C. L. Wood. The Piqua planing mill and lumber yard, of which our subject is now proprietor, is one of the extensive business concerns of the city. Mr. Wood is now largely engaged in the manufacture of lumber and in handling all kinds of lumber for building purposes. The enterprise was founded in 1880, but since the father's retirement, in 1891, the enterprise has been conducted under the sole control of the present proprietor. The facilities of the house embrace extensive lumber yards and a large planing mill, where lumber is received direct from the original source of supply, and sidetracks, connected with the railroad system of the city, insure the most economical facilities for receiving and shipping supplies. The planing-mill is a substantial two-story brick structure, equipped with the latest and best improved machinery, and is one of the best in this section of the country. The fifty horse-power engine drives the machinery and employment is furnished to about fifty workmen. The products of the mill embrace sash, doors, blinds and builders' house trimmings and interior finishing's in all kinds of hard and soft woods, together with a full line of building lumber, shingles and lath. The business is annually increasing and sales are made not only in Piqua but throughout the country.

Mr. Wood is a very enterprising man, and his sagacity and keen discrimination enable him to carry forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. He has actively co-operated in the establishment of many enterprises which have proved of great benefit to the city, as well as to the stockholders. He was one of the charter members of the Piqua Hosiery Company and has been its president from the organization until the present time. His capable control and wise business judgment have made it a very prosperous undertaking. His efforts have not ended here, however, for he is treasurer of the Kokomo Paper company and Kokomo Wood Pulp Company, of Kokomo, Indiana, is vice-president of the Third National Bank, of Piqua, and vice-president of the Third Building & Loan Company, of this city.

In 1870 occurred the marriage of Mr. Wood and Miss Julia A. Miller, a daughter of William and Martha (Hawthorne) Miller. Their union has been blessed with three children, Martha, Nellie and William, all at home. Mr. Wood is a member of the Green Street Methodist Episcopal church, takes a very active interest in its work, is president of its board of trustees and superintendent of the Sunday school. He was for fifteen years a member of the board of education and served as its president through one decade of that time. Socially he is connected with Dunkirk Lodge, No. 278, F.& A.M., of Indiana; also is a Royal Arch Mason, and belongs to the board of directors of the Young Men's Christian Association. In all the relations of life he has been honorable and upright. He has the happy faculty or reading and judging men, possesses unusual power of organization and executive ability, and investigation into his history will show that the cause of his success will always be found along the lines of well tried and old time maxims - honesty, fair dealing, promptness, truthfulness and fidelity - and these are strictly enforced and adhered to in his business. The story of his achievement should inspire all young men who read it with a truer respect for the value of character.