Cyrus E. Woods (September 3, 1861 – December 8, 1938) was an American attorney, diplomat and politician.

Early life and career

He was born September 3, 1861, in

Clearfield, Pennsylvania Clearfield is a borough and the county seat of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 5,962 people, making it the second most populous community in Clearfield County, behind DuBois. The borough ...

, to Matthew Woods and Catheine/Katharine (Bella) Spice/Speece. He attended

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...

. He later graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

with a law degree in 1889. Woods practiced law in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and then in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, where he became associated with the interests of the

Mellon family The Mellon family is a wealthy and influential American family from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The family includes Andrew Mellon, one of the longest serving U.S. Treasury Secretaries, while other members worked in the judicial, banking, financia ...

. On January 18, 1893, Woods married the former Mary Todd Marchand, a great-granddaughter of James Todd, former state Attorney General. In 1900, Woods made his first bid for political office, successfully contesting the Westmoreland County-based 39th district of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four-year terms, stagger ...

. He served in the Senate for two terms, from 1901 to 1907.

Diplomatic service and state appointments

Woods received his first diplomatic appointment in 1912, when

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

named him the United States' Envoy to Portugal, with the official title of

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

, as the United States had not yet elevated the post to ambassador status. In 1915,

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Martin Brumbaugh appointed him

Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania The secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (or "Secretary of state (U.S. state government), secretary of state") administers the Pennsylvania Department of State of the U.S. state (officially, "Commonwealth (U.S. state), commonwealth") of ...

. Woods would serve six years in the post, before resigning in 1921 to take-up the post of Ambassador to Spain. In 1923, he moved to the post of

Ambassador to Japan The is the ambassador from the United States of America to Japan. History Beginning in 1854 with the use of gunboat diplomacy by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, the U.S. has maintained diplomatic relations with Japan, except for the ten-year pe ...

. During his time in Japan, he organized the American relief effort in response to the devastating

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (, or ) was a major earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September 1923. It had an approximate magnitude of 8.0 on the mom ...

, before resigning in 1924. In 1929, Governor

John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Rochester from 1504 to 1535 and as chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He is honoured as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Chu ...

, with whom Woods had served in the State Senate, appointed him

Pennsylvania Attorney General The Pennsylvania attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1980. The current attorney general is Republican Dave Sunday (politician), Dave ...

. Woods served in the post, his final political or diplomatic appointment, for eighteen months.

Death and legacy

Woods died December 8, 1938, in Philadelphia, where he had gone for medical treatment. After his death, his widow established a foundation which became the

Westmoreland Museum of American Art The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is an art museum in Greensburg, Pennsylvania devoted to American art, with a particular concentration on the art of southwestern Pennsylvania. Art lover and Greensburg resident Mary Marchand Woods hand dow ...

References

*"Cyrus E. Woods Dies", ''The Washington Post'', December 9, 1938, p. 6. *"Cyrus Woods Dies, Ex-Envoy in Japan", ''New York Times'', December 9, 1938, p. 25.

External links

Profile
at the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

The Cyrus E. Woods Papers
at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Cyrus People from Clearfield, Pennsylvania 1861 births 1938 deaths Pennsylvania Republicans Secretaries of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania attorneys general Ambassadors of the United States to Portugal Ambassadors of the United States to Spain Ambassadors of the United States to Japan University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni 20th-century American diplomats 20th-century Pennsylvania politicians