Information on John H. Wood is limited. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1823 and was in Mason County, Kentucky, working as a gunsmith in 1850 according to the census. He was married and living in the household of Henry G. Campbell, a blacksmith and also from Pennsylvania. Three other young men with trades were also living in the household; two were saddlers & harness makers, and one was a blacksmith. The various tradesmen suggest they all worked at a large blacksmith and livery shop. Wood was later listed in the 1876-1877 Kentucky State Gazetteer & Business Directory, where he was the postmaster at Helena. Not much else is known about the man, except for the signed guns that he left. He made both standard half-stocked hunting/target rifles, and also Mills-style rifles and combination guns that suggest he was trained by Benjamin Mills in Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky. The Mills-style long arms have Mills' extended, or "saw handle," type tang that gives the arms a distinctive stock architecture. Wood made a good quality gun, and a number of his guns have survived. Shelby Gallien
