Town of Clintwood Named For Bristol Resident

It is not generally known that the county seat of Dickenson County, Va. is named for a prominent Bristol politician and businessman. This was Major Henry Clinton Wood.
He was born Feb. 12, 1838 at Old Pleasant Hill, near present Gate City, Scott County, Va. (Gate City was then known as Estillville). He was a son of James O. and Ann Elizabeth Godsey Wood. He was a brother of Captain J. H. Wood who built the new Pleasant Hill in Bristol, Va. in which this writer resides.
His great-grandfather, Jonathan Wood, fought in the Battle of King’s Mountain. He claimed to have fired the shot that killed British General Ferguson in the battle. However, many others have claimed this “honor,” so the poor general must have been riddled with bullets!
Major Wood was educated in the Fall Branch Academy (or Seminary as it was then called). When the Civil War came on, he organized a company in Scott County that became the 37th Virginia. During the war, he was in 42 engagements and was injured in the Battle of Chancelorsville.
At one point, in his younger years, he moved to Ft. Worth, Tarrent County, Texas, intending to settle there. He wrote glowing reports to his father and almost had him ready to sell out his Scott County holdings and move there.
Months later, after going through a severe and prolonged drought, and witnessing several shoot-outs on the streets of Ft. Worth, he wrote his father not to come. He then soon returned to Scott County.
As the post-Civil War years passed, he became a popular politician in area and state politics. He served in the Virginia Senate for two terms and served as speaker of that body (1881-82). He was the nominee for lieutenant governor of Virginia on the ticket of John S. Wise. He ran for Congress in 1892.
During his political career, part of his middle name, along with his last, was given to the town that we know as Clintwood, Va. Clinton Avenue in Bristol, Va. was also named for him.
He came to Bristol in January 1891 and engaged in various enterprises here. He also became the first president of the South Atlantic and Ohio Railroad. He also served as vice president of the Bank of Bristol.
He was the brother of John G. Wood, who built Bristol’s well-known St. Lawrence Hotel. Another brother was Judge M. B. Wood, who lived on Solar Street in Bristol, Va. His youngest brother was William M. (Uncle Billy) Wood, who became the last survivor of the Youth Cadets who served in the Battle of New Market.
Elizabeth Wood, who married Isacc A. Nickels, of Nickels House Hotel fame was a sister, as was Mrs. C.B. (Elvira Wood) Yarbrough. Two maiden sisters, Sally and Juliette Wood, lived with Major Wood at his home located at 616 Anderson St.
This home, a large, imposing four-square with wraparound porch structure, occupied the site where now is located the Haven of Rest Mission, Anderson Street, Bristol, Tenn. It long housed the Weaver Funeral Home.
Major Wood died at his home, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 1909 at 8:40 p.m. His funeral was held Saturday, Dec. 11, at the State Street Methodist Church at which he had served as a steward. He is buried in section 3 of Bristol’s historic East Hill Cemetery.

BUD PHILLIPS is a local historian and author. He can be reached at (276) 466-6435.