36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



A Product of Sterling Versonality 



In the marketing of hardwood lumber a 

 keen appreciation of trade requirements and 

 a quick recognition of values of nuexploited 

 woods have always been important factors. 

 The history of the firm of John M. Woods & 

 Co., Boston, Mass., furnishes a splendid ex- 

 ample of success attained by a positive grasp 

 of these principles. 



The business was founded in 1SS4 by John 

 M. Woods, whose original asset consisted of 

 nothing more than a reputation for absolute 

 honesty and square dealing. The business had 

 its beginning in a small office on Canal street, 

 Boston, which quarters were soon inadequate, 

 and a portion of George D. Emery's yard was 

 hired for storage. The facilities were further 

 augmented in 1886, when the large yard and 

 sheds of Cummings, Kenney & Co., in East 

 Cambridge, were secured by lease. This prop- 



it was first imported by George D. Emery. 

 The vindication of this policy is now a mat- 

 ter of world-wide recognition. In the same 

 way African mahogany, Cuban mahogany, 

 English oak, Circassian walnut and Teak have 

 been added, and the company also manufac- 

 tures and handles an extensive line of all 

 classes of veneers in the foreign woods, such 

 as mahogany, brown walnut and Circassian. 

 E. D. Walker is in active charge of the for- 

 eign woods and veneer departments and jjer- 

 sonally superintends all sawing of this Uue. 

 In 1908 the company acquired an assem- 

 bling yard at Decatur, Ala., to facilitate 

 its remarkable wholesale business. T>. B. 

 Nellis of Utica, N. Y., undertook the manage- 

 ment of the new quarters. The wisdom of this 

 move was soon apparent, it being responsible 

 for a wider wholesale market and closer rela- 



John M. Woods began his boyhood days as 

 well as his business life among adversities. 

 He was born October 22, 1839, at Pelham, 

 N. H. His early education was acquired any- 

 where but at school, he being compelled to 

 forego the pleasures of youth for work on the 

 farm or in an old-fashioned shoemaker's shop. 

 At the age of twenty-one he secured employ- 

 ment at Salem, N. H., at shoemaking on a 

 salary of $4 a month. In the period between 

 this and his enlistment for the Civil War, 

 Mr. Woods alternated between farm work 

 and work in the shoe factory at ever increas- 

 ing wages, and in August, 1862, enlisted with 

 the Thirteenth New Hampshire volunteers, 

 w-ith which regiment he served until 1865, 

 when he was mustered out. At one time at 

 the Battle of Fredericksburg, Mr. Woods was 

 wounded and was left by his retiring regiment 



JOHN M. WOODS, HEAD OF J. M. WOODS 

 & CO., BOSTON, MASS. 



erty was occupied until 1896, when it was 

 then taken over by the city for park and 

 street purposes. At that date J. M. Woods 

 & Co. moved into their present home on Bridge 

 street, east of Cambridge, where large storage 

 sheds and dry kilns were erected, and the fol- 

 lowing year an office building, into which the 

 Boston office and store was moved, thus 

 bringing all departments under one roof. 



The growth of the business of John M. 

 Woods & Co. can be attributed to the aggres- 

 sive and far-seeing policies pursued. It has 

 been a remarkable fact that tBis concern has 

 practically introduced such untried woods as 

 red gum, quartered sycamore and elm, and 

 has thus always had on tap something new 

 to offer a stagnant market. The adaptability 

 of the above named woods for every use 

 where the old stable black walnut was thought 

 indispensable was demonstrated by John M. 

 AVoods & Co. This concern w-as the first pur- 

 chaser of the Nicarauguan mahogany when 



E. D. WALKER, IX CHARGE OF FOREIGN 

 WOODS DEPARTMENT, J. M. WOODS & CO. 



tions with home trade. With the demonstra- 

 tion of the success the step was repeated at 

 Memphis, Tenn., where a five-acre tract of 

 land was secured. Here the company has 

 space for storing 3,000,000 feet of lumber 

 and owns 2,500 feet of its own sidetrack. A 

 home office has been established in a separate 

 building and contracts have been made for 

 the erection of sheds for the storage of thick 

 oak and ash. The necessity for the establish- 

 ment of a yard in the hardwood center of the 

 country is traceable to the ever growing de- 

 mand for sorted car lots of lumber requiring 

 personal supervision over wholesale shipments. 

 With the above brief sketch in mind, sliow- 

 ing the development of this remarkable busi- 

 ness from the most humble beginning to the 

 commanding position it now occupies in the 

 trade, it might be interesting to throw a little 

 sidelight on the personalities and histories of 

 the men who have been responsible for this 

 growth. 



A. E. CHAMBERLIN, IN CHARGE OF SALES 

 AND YARD BUSINESS AT EAST CAM- 

 BRIDGE, J. M. WOODS & CO. 



as dead. He, however, recovered conscious- 

 ness in time to escape to his comrades. Mr. 

 Woods' war career with the Thirteenth New 

 Hampshire was full of fierce fighting and 

 exciting incidents, in all of which the regi- 

 ment played an important and honorable part, 

 taking part in fifteen notable engagements. 

 Mr. Woods served right through from the 

 beginning to the end. Several times he was 

 tendered promotion, but always preferred to 

 remain in the ranks. Toward the end of his 

 service he was in the commissary department 

 under Captain George C. Weatherbee, and in 

 that capacity established his reputation for 

 accuracy and businesslike methods, a reputa- 

 tion which he has maintained throughout his 

 Inisiness life. His connections with the 

 G. A. R. since his retirement from active mili- 

 tary life have been constant and close. For 

 thirty years he has been a member of William 

 C. Kinsley Post 139, Somerville. Mr. Woods' 



