Willis Jesse Wood - Blacksmith

Circa 1885 - 1937

In the late 1880, my grandfather Willis Jesse Wood worked in this backshop for the Midland Valley Raiload in Excelsior, Arkansas. He is the man standing in front of the forge.

This is a picture of the outside of the shop building at Excelsior, Arkansas. Granddaddy is the man in the lower right corner of the picture.

When the railroad shops were re-located to Tulsa, Granddaddy went to work as a blacksmith in the various coal mines in the Greenwood Area. The death of miners inspired one of his inventions. It was a safety device for mine cages as told in a newspaper story shortly after his death.
Recalls Story of Many Safety Devices Perfected for Mining
By Carl Boye
A forgotten man in the mining industry's stride towardsafer working cindit8ions for miners appears to have been W. J. Woof, veteran mine blacksmith, who diedhere last week at the age of 77 years.

Although few knew of his work, Mr. Wood is creditedwith having perfected devices which savewd the livesof many of his fellow workers.

In 1896, Mr. Wood was working at the Western Coaland Mining Company's No. 2 mine at Denning, Ark.Men were hauled out of the mine on simple flat bottomedelevators called cages, and these were also used tohaul coal from the pits.

The cages were without any device whatever to assuresafety of the men in the event the rope or cable broke.The breaking of a faulty or worn cable could and often didresult in the death of the men as the cage plummetedto the pit bottom, often 200 feet below the surface.

Observing these conditions, Mr. Wood concludedthis loss of life unnecessary. So he went to work andpatterned a device whith which to prevent the cage from falling.

This safety invention consisted of two "dogs"fastened to the top of the cage frame and connectedwith by one shackle, the ends extending through thesides of the cage. When the tension was released,the "dogs" would fly outward, forced by a spring. If the rope broke, the points would spring out and plungeinto the wooden guides, thus preveting the cage fromfalling.

Another invention of Mr. Wood's was an automaticdumping cage, which greatly speeded up production.At that time, coal was being hoisted from the mine inflat bottomed cages and considerable time was lostat the bottom then weighed and dumped the car byhand when it reached the tipple.

Mr. Wood's design of a switch-back,weighing hopperand locking device saved the work of two men andthree operations. The time necessary to load a car atthe pit bottom, raise it to the top, dump and weigh theload, then return the car to the bottom for replacementwas cut to one third.

Mr. Wood never patented his invention and neverreceived any remuneration, outside the pleasure ofseeing the lives of his fellow workers protected.

George Woodbury, hoisting engineer at the Denning Mineand mining superintendent Charles Schelf, Frank Leveringand other workmen who realized the importance of thenew devices aided Mr. Wood in their perfection.

Mr. Wood came to this region about 1896 from Kansasand started working as a mine blacksimth. He took acorrespondence course from a business school so hecould make the various drawings needed to convinceengineers that his devices were workable.

"The statement that these devices were perfected andused first at Denning is well substantuated, said H. R. Wood, soon of Mr. Wood and a department of justiceagent stationed at New Orleans. "I saw them first triedout, saw changes made, heard discussions of their designand efficiency and during the years following, saw myfather make the same devices again and again at othermines in Jenny Lind, Huntington, Prairie Creek, Midlandand other places."

"In later years," the son continued, "I traveled through thePennsylvania fields and through curiosity visited them andsaw there were the same devices in use. I questioned theold timers as to when they were first introduced and learnedthat the automatic cages and the other devices were notput into use until about 1900."

In 1900, my mother was born in Jenny Lind, Arkansas. Sometime after that, Granddaddy opened this shop in Greenwood, Arkansas. I wonder who the two children are that are squatting down on the left side of the picture?

This was Granddaddy's shop in Greenwod, Arkansas in 1905. He and my Grandmother are standing in the doorway. A stranger is standing on the left side. I guess he wanted his picture taken too. It made grandmother very angry, I am told.

During World War I, Jesse Wood did his share for the War Effort working in the Naval Gun Factory.

This is winter photo of the Wood Farm at 3901 North 6th Street in Fort Smith, Arkansas. North 6th was named Old Van Buren Road at that time.

Granddaddy Wood in 1936 - dressed for church.

This sketch is of the Wood Farm at 3901 North 6th Street in Fort Smith, Arkansas where Jesse Wood had a shop until his death. The shop is the building with the pointed roof in the upper left of the drawing. My cousin Willis John Wood, has the originals of the first two pictures. I believe all the Wood Cousins used to crank the blower on Granddaddy's forge for Granddaddy.
    Wood Cousins: Bill Gentry, Richard Bell and Nancy Bell Waits, Herbert and Annette Wood, John Wood and Shirley Wood Huang and Ziza Wood Jenart, Cy and David Martin.

Jesse Wood died in Fort Smith on November 22, 1937, at age 77. He was born on January 26, 1860. The Village Blacksmith by Longfellow was read at his funeral. He was a Master Mason.

8-30-04