It was music that brought Prof. Frank Wood to town

This building, at Third and Center, in its early years housed the Melpontian Hall, where Prof. Frank Wood performed in 1859. At the time of this photo, possibly the first decade of the 20th Century, it was known as Scyoc Hall. Steve Chou photo collection.

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

In April 1858 the Presbyterian Church, which was located on the corner of Dickerson and Olive, Palmyra, Mo., acquired an Organ Harmonium. The instrument, according to an article in the  Southern Sentinel newspaper, was manufactured by Mason and Bro., of New York.

An Organ Harmonium is a flat-topped cabinet organ, featuring bellows both vertically and beneath the reeds. It features foot pedals to provide the air needed to generate sound. (Wikipedia)

Called upon to play this new musical instrument was a newcomer to town, 24-year-old Frank Wood. He arrived in Palmyra to serve as head of the music department at Palmyra’s Presbyterian Institute.

Early years

Frank Wood, born circa 1834*, grew up in Waterford, Saratoga, N.Y., the son of John and Abby Wood. His mother was born circa 1818. (She may have been his step-mother.) In 1850, John Wood was employed as a merchant tailor in Waterford.

Frank Wood, at age 21, advertised piano instruction in the nearby Troy Daily Times newspaper, Troy, N.Y., on July 10, 1855.

The newspaper described the young musical prodigy: “Mr. Wood is, without doubt, one of the most thorough musicians, and a most perfect master of the Piano Forte in this section of the country. Persons placing themselves under his tuition may rest assured that they have confided their musical education to competent hands.”

Ciirca 1856, Frank Wood started performing with a touring company known as “The Euphonians.”

In September 1856, the Buffalo Morning Express and Daily Democracy billed Frank Wood as: “the young American Pianist and Tenor.”

The musical group was composed in part by Mr. and Mrs. James H. Rainey, noted vocalists of the era. The troupe traveled between cities such as Buffalo and Plattsburgh, N.Y., and in the pre-Civil War ‘west’, including stops at: Rockford, Ill., Evansville, Ind., Charles City, Iowa, Rock Island, Ill., Keokuk, Iowa, Ann Arbor, Mich., and last but not least, on Feb. 3, 1857, at the Melpontian Hall in Hannibal, Mo.

(Melpontian Hall, a two-story brick building, was located on the northeast corner of Third and Center streets. The Marion County Deputy Sheriff, Uriah McKey, and Dr. Charles L. Lamb also had offices in this building in 1859.)

The Hannibal Daily Messenger of Oct. 29, 1857, opined: “… the pianist, Mr. Wood, for one so young, plays with feeling and delicacy, and excels in accompanying, a very great merit.”

By late August, 1858, Frank Wood had turned in his traveling satchel for residency in Palmyra, where took charge of the musical department of the Presbyterian Institute.

He made many associations within Marion County, which, in turn, contributed to his notoriety.

In January 1859, he teamed up with Daniel Shryock and daughters, forming a quartet of some distinction. These singers performed at Melpontian Hall in Hannibal on Jan. 25, 1859. Featured songs, according to the Hannibal Daily Messenger, were “Nature’s Woodland Call,” and “Hear Me, Norma.”

Now known as Prof. Wood, the newspaper described Frank Wood, “who is fast gaining an eminent and justly merited popularity, was on hand to preside at the piano forte, and was warmly welcomed by his many friends and musical connoisseurs.”

In mid-June 1859, Prof. Wood brought the Palmyra Presbyterian Choir to Hannibal to perform at Melpontian Hall. The Hannibal Daily Messenger penned, describing Prof. Wood: “though a very young man, has exhibited musical talent of the highest order, and is destined to take an exalted position in his profession.”

In October that same year, Professors Frank Wood and F. Wollner, joined together for a farewell “Promenade Concert” at Melpontain Hall, in honor of  Prof. J. Mortimer Hurley, who conducted a brass band in Palmyra, as well as the Hannibal City Band.

Hurley left Hannibal, and ultimately accepted a position as instructor in instrumental music at Carroll Collegiate Institute in Westminster, Md. He died April 8, 1879, and is buried at Clarksburg, Md.

By 1863, Prof. Wood moved from Marion County, settling in Ramsey County, Minn.

In 1868, when he was a resident of the Mackubin’s Block in St. Paul, Minn., fire destroyed the building in which he occupied a second-floor sleeping room above Messrs. Kessler and Riehl’s leather and hide dealership.

The St. Cloud Journal, on April 23, 1868, reported, “Prof. Frank Wood lost all his furniture including his magnificent piano, the finest in the state, valued at $1,500, insured for $1,100. His furniture was insured for $500.”

Returning

The fact that his physical residence was now in Minnesota didn’t deter Prof. Wood from visiting Hannibal.

Previous stories in this series offer details into the rise and fall of the First Congregational Church of Hannibal, in the building still standing (in 2025) on the corner of Lyon and Sixth Streets. The structure was clearly the largest and most ornate church in Hannibal, and it featured a custom-made organ that was presumably the envy of other musically-inclined congregations.

Concerts were staged at this new church building on Dec. 10 and 11, 1874. One of the featured  performers was Prof. Frank Wood, organist at St. Paul’s Church, St. Paul, Minn., and formerly of Palmyra. A newspaper advertisement, published in the Dec. 5, 1874 edition of the Hannibal Clipper, opined: “Prof. Wood ranks not only as a fine Organist, but as a Pianist of rare accomplishments.”

Other performers were Prof. W.M. Bowman, organist of the Second Presbyterian Church, St. Louis;

Prof. W.H. Leib, distinguished baritone singer of Quincy, Ill.; and

Miss Fannie Peake, St. Louis, one of the accomplished singers of that city.

1880s

By the time of the 1880 census, Prof. Wood was a teacher of music and head of a household consisting of his widowed mother, Abby Wood, 65; sister, Julia Wood Will, 29; brother-in-law, Frederick Will, 29; nephew, Frank Will, 2; and niece, Abby Will, 1.

Abby Wood, mother of Prof. Wood, died Aug. 13, 1880, at the home of her son, 144 West Third Street, St. Paul.

Tragically, Julia Will died of complications during childbirth, in 1887, at the age of 37.

The aforementioned Daniel Shryock, like Prof. Wood, relocated to St. Paul, Minn. He died in October 1891, at the estimated age of 45. Shryock and Prof. Wood performed together in concert at the Melpontian Hall in Hannibal on Jan. 25, 1859.

Prof. Wood died Nov. 24, 1899, in St. Paul. Burial followed at Oakland Cemetery, St. Paul, Minn., with his parents and sister.

* Note: Various birth years were found during research. The birth year of 1834, which is associated with Frank Wood’s Find A Grave file, was used in this story.

The Hannibal Congregational Church’s new organ was to be a special feature of the Dec. 10 and 11, 1874 concert featuring Prof. Frank Wood of St. Paul, Minn. Prof. Wood previously resided in Palmyra. newspapers.com

This building was once home to the First Congregational Church, at Sixth and Lyon. Prof. Frank Wood performed in this church building in 1874. Steve Chou photo collection. Photo likely taken during the first decade of the 20th Century.

A Mason & Hamlin pump organ, Wikipedia. Mason & Hamlin was founded in Boston, Mass., in 1854, by Henry Mason and Emmons Hamlin. In 1855 they introduced the organ-harmonium or flat-topped cabinet organ. This design placed the bellows vertically and underneath the reeds. By the early 1870s, they were considered the largest and most important manufacturer of reed organs. Henry Mason was brother to David and Lowell Mason, sheet music and book publishers, doing business as “Mason Bros.” During the early 1860s Mason Bros. and Mason and Hamlin shared space in the same building, located at 5 and 7 Mercer Street, New York. (Information culled from Wikipedia and from an article written by Tom Miller, author, blogger, lecturer and historian, who has written the histories of more than 5,000 locations in Manhattan. His books include "Seeking New York" and "Seeking Chicago.”)

Frank Wood, before settling in Marion County, Mo., circa 1857, was a member of The Euphonians touring group, which performed in Hannibal on Feb. 3, 1857.  Clipping from the Hannibal Daily Messenger, Feb. 3, 1857, newspapers.com

The First Presbyterian Church of Palmyra was founded in 1831. In late 1850s and early 1860s, Prof. Frank Wood was organist and choir director for this congregation. This photo was taken by Mary Lou Montgomery in 2013.

Prof. Frank Wood was a featured participant in a vocal and instrumental music concert Jan. 25, 1859, at the Melpontian Hall in Hannibal. Hannibal Daily Messenger, Jan. 22, 1859. newspapers.com