author
John Seymour Wood
1853–1934
A New York lawyer who also wrote fiction, he published novels and story collections in the late 19th century, including work tied to Yale life and New York settings. His career blended legal work, editing, and literary writing in a very Gilded Age way.
1 Audiobook
Stories of New York
by Annie Eliot Trumbull, George A. (George Abiah) Hibbard, Bliss Perry, Edith Wharton, John Seymour Wood
About the author
Born in Utica, New York, in 1853, John Seymour Wood was an American lawyer and author. Reliable reference sources identify him as a New York writer as well as a practicing attorney, and note that he was educated at Yale before earning a law degree at Columbia.
Alongside his legal career, he wrote fiction and lighter literary work, including Yale Yarns; Sketches of Life at Yale University, Gramercy Park; a Story of New York, and An Old Beau, and Other Stories. One source also notes that he served as editor of Bachelor of Arts magazine in the 1890s.
Wood appears today as one of those lesser-known late 19th-century writers whose work captures student life, urban society, and the tone of his era. He died in 1934.