Ira Wells WOOD, Congress, NJ (1856-1931)

WOOD, Ira Wells, a Representative from New Jersey; born in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on June 19, 1856; was graduated from Princeton College in 1877; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1880 and commenced practice in Trenton, N.J.; was a member of the city board of education 1894-1896; served in the city council 1896-1900; president of the Board of Trade of Trenton 1896-1900; member of the State assembly in 1899 and 1900; commissioner for New Jersey to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in St. Louis, Mo., in 1904; delegate to the Interparliamentary Peace Union at Brussels, Belgium, in 1905; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William M. Lanning; reelected to the Fifty-ninth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from November 8, 1904, to March 3, 1913; declined to be a candidate for reelection to the Sixty-third Congress; resided in Trenton, N.J., until his death there on October 5, 1931; interment in Mercer Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present