William Robert Wood was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

.

Born in Oxford, Indiana

Oxford, Indiana

Oxford is a town in Oak Grove Township, Benton County, Indiana. The population was 1,162 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lafayette, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

, Wood attended the public schools of Oxford. Then he went on to college and eventually graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan

University of Michigan Law School

The University of Michigan Law School is the law school of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Founded in 1859, the school has an enrollment of about 1,200 students, most of whom are seeking Juris Doctor or Master of Laws degrees, although the school also offers a Doctor of Juridical...

 in 1882. He was admitted to the bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

 the same year and commenced practice in LaFayette, Tippecanoe County. He served as prosecuting attorney of Tippecanoe County 1890-1894.

Wood served as member of the Indiana Senate

Indiana Senate

The Indiana Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-year terms without term limits...

 1896-1914, and served as president pro tempore 1899-1907. He served as Republican floor leader of the state Senate for four sessions.

Wood was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1912

1912 Republican National Convention

The 1912 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held at the Chicago Coliseum, Chicago, Illinois, from June 18 to June 22, 1912. The party nominated William Howard Taft from Ohio for re-election as President of the United States and James S...

, 1916

1916 Republican National Convention

The 1916 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois at the Chicago Coliseum, from June 7 to June 10, 1916. It nominated Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes of New York for president and former Vice President Charles Fairbanks of Indiana for a return to the vice presidency....

, 1920

1920 Republican National Convention

The 1920 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States nominated Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding for President and Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge for Vice President...

, and 1924

1924 Republican National Convention

The 1924 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held in Cleveland, Ohio at the Public Auditorium from June 10 to June 12. For this convention the method of allocating delegates changed in order to reduce the overrepresentation of the South...

. He served as chairman of the Republican National Congressional Committee from 1920 to 1933.

Wood was elected as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 to the Sixty-fourth

64th United States Congress

The Sixty-fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1915 to March 4, 1917, during the third and fourth...

 and to the eight succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1915-March 3, 1933). He served as chairman of the Committee on Appropriations (Seventy-first

71st United States Congress

The Seventy-first United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1929 to March 4, 1931, during the first two years...

 Congress). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1932 to the Seventy-third

73rd United States Congress

The Seventy-third United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1933 to January 3, 1935, during the first two years...

 Congress.

Wood died while on a visit in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

on March 7, 1933. He is interred in Spring Vale Cemetery, LaFayette, Indiana.