Silas Wood (September 14, 1769 – March 2, 1847) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Born in West Hills on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

in the

Province of New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...

, Wood pursued classical studies. He graduated from Princeton College in 1789 and was a teacher at that institution during the five succeeding years. He studied law. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

and commenced practice in

Huntington, New York Huntington is one of ten Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The town's population was 204,127 at the time of the 2020 census, making it the 11 ...

. He ran for Congress in 1799 and 1800 in New York's 1st congressional district, which he would eventually be elected to. He was appointed district attorney of Suffolk County in 1818 and 1821. Wood was elected to the Sixteenth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1829). He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State ( Seventeenth and Eighteenth Congresses). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1828 to the Twenty-first Congress. He died in Huntington, New York, March 2, 1847. He was interred in the Old Public Cemetery on Main Street. Silas Wood Sixth Grade Center of South Huntington School District is named after Wood.

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Silas 1769 births 1847 deaths Princeton University alumni Politicians from Suffolk County, New York New York (state) National Republicans New York (state) Democratic-Republicans Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Suffolk County district attorneys 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives Candidates in the 1799 United States elections Candidates in the 1800 United States elections