WOOD, Walter Abbott, inventor, born in Mason, New Hampshire, 23 October, 1815. He is the son of Aaron Wood, who early settled in New York state and was among the first to manufacture the cast-iron ploughs invented by Jethro Wood. The boy had a natural fondness for mechanics, and continued in his father's shops till he was twenty years old. In 1835 he settled in Hoosick Falls, New York, where he entered the works of Parsons and Wilder, and, after acquiring a small capital, began business on his own account. He studied the mechanism of farming-implements and soon introduced the Nanny harvesting-machine with Wood's improvements, of which in 1852 he made and sold nearly 200. Mr. Wood continued to improve and invent better forms of mowers and reapers, and in 1853 his sales amounted to 500 machines. These were so well received that he determined to increase his works and manufacture on as large a scale as possible. In 1869 he disposed of 6,000 machines, and in 1884 of 48,300. In all, nearly 600,000 machines have been manufactured and sold by him since he established his business. About thirty patents have been taken out by Mr. Wood, and his works are probably the most extensive of their kind in the world. He conducted his business alone until 1866, when it was organized into a stock company called the Walter A. Wood mowing and reaping company, of which Mr. Wood has since been president. Mr. Wood early recognized the importance of furnishing the markets abroad with his machines, and his foreign sales have steadily increased until it is estimated that ninety per cent. of the machines that are sold abroad are made by him. The value of his inventions has been recognized by the award of first prizes at the World's fairs in Paris in 1867, in Vienna in 1873, in Philadelphia in 1876, and in Paris in 1878, as well as by medals at local fairs. He has received the order of Francis Joseph from the Austrian government, and is an officer of the Legion of honor in France. In 1878 he was sent as a Republican to congress, and he served from 18 March, 1879, till 4 March, 1883.