Description
A collection of correspondence, manuscripts, and ephemera related to the life and work of soldier, lawyer, and author Charles
Erskine Scott Wood and his wife Sara Bard Field Wood, poet, suffragist, and author.
Background
Charles Erskine Scott Wood (1852-1944) was a U.S. Army officer, lawyer, and author. After graduating from the U.S. Military
Academy in 1874, he became an aide to General O.O. Howard in 1877, serving with him in the Pacific Northwest during the Bannock
and Paiute and Nez Percé Indian wars. He later attended Columbia University, obtained his law degree, and established a practice
of maritime and corporation law in Portland, Oregon. In addition to his successful law practice, Wood painted, wrote, was
a champion of social justice, and liberal causes. Wood married Nanny Moale Smith (-1933) in 1878 and they had three sons and
two daughters: Erskine Wood, Max Wood, Berwick Wood, Nan (Wood) Honeyman, and Lisa Wood. In 1910 he met Sara Bard Field (1882-1974),
who was campaigning for women's suffrage in Oregon. Field married Albert Ehrgott in 1900 and they had two children: Albert
Field Ehrgott and Katherine (Ehrgott) Caldwell; the couple was divorced in 1914. Field was a poet, suffragist, and author;
professionally she always used her maiden name Sara Bard Field. Wood and Field established a home together in 1917 (they married
in 1938); "The Cats," their home near Los Gatos, California, became a center of art, music, and culture. Wood's publications
include The poet in the desert (1915) and Heavenly discourse (1927), as well as various articles for the Pacific monthly and
Century magazines.
Restrictions
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.