John Stephens Wood

Who was John Stephens Wood?

John Stephens Wood was an American politician from the state of Georgia, USA. He served in the United States House of Representatives, 1931–1935 and 1945–1953.

Wood was born on a farm near Ball Ground, Cherokee County, Georgia, February 8, 1885. He attended the public schools, North Georgia Agricultural College, Dahlonega, Georgia, and graduated with a law degree from Mercer University, Macon, Georgia, in 1910. He was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced the practice of law in Jasper County, Georgia.

In 1915, he turned up at the scene of the lynching of Leo Frank with Judge Newt Morris the morning after the lynching, and he drove the vehicle which took away Frank's body to the undertaker. Whether he had any prior knowledge of or involvement with the lynching is open to dispute.

Entering politics, Wood was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives in 1917; served as Solicitor General of the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit, 1921–1925; and was a Superior Court Judge, Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit, 1925–1931.

In 1931, Wood was elected as a Democrat from Georgia's 9th congressional district to the 72nd United States Congress and was reelected to the 73rd Congress as well. He was unsuccessful in seeking renomination in 1934 and resumed the practice of law.