Colonel Samuel Newitt Wood
Sam is my second great-granduncle. He was born December 30, 1825 in Mount Gilead, Ohio. Sam did lots of cool stuff like run parts of the Underground Railroad, was the first Justice of the Peace to hold court in Lawrence, Kansas, created the Kansas Rangers and fought in battles like Wilson's Creek in Missouri and Pea Ridge in Arkansas. Sam was assassinated June 23, 1891 by James Brennan in Hugoton, Kansas during the county seat wars. Sam had gone to the Methodist Church of Hugoton where court was being held. When Sam arrived, he found that everyone had gone home. He turned around and started to leave. James who had been hiding in the Methodist Church came out and shot Sam in the back. Sam collapsed to the ground. James ran up to him, put his pistol in Sam's face, just below the left eye and fired a second time. In true western style, Sam died in the arms of his wife... Margaret Walker Lyon. Subsequent investigation revealed that had James Brennan not killed Sam, someone else would have. On every road leading out of the town of Hugoton there was a sharpshooter waiting for their chance to kill Sam. Demonstrating once again that while friends may come and go... enemies accumulate!
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