16 MEN I HAVE FISHED WITH. 



His mind was as pure as his life, and that is more than 

 can be said of many who live straight enough, but have 

 to resist temptation frequently. A man is not so much to 

 be judged by his actions as by his thoughts, if you only 

 knew them, and Reub's thoughts were his spoken words. 



In Greenbush he was employed in the bakery of Jonas 

 Whiting, where he learned the mysteries of bread and 

 cakes, and when he went to Syracuse he blossomed out 

 as a caterer for balls and parties, and then established a 

 business in fishing tackle, now carried on under the name 

 of "Reuben Wood's Sons." His old cash book is still 

 extant, and was not only what its name implied, but was 

 day book, journal and ledger all in one, with a margin for 

 a weather record which contained such items as "Gone 

 hunting," "Went after ducks," "Gone a-fishing," etc. 

 This is indefinite, and one wonders what the result may 

 have been until we strike the entry: "Wood returned from 

 Piseco with 250 Ibs. of trout." 



In that early day, in the fifties, Onondaga Lake 

 abounded in pickerel and eels, and Reub and his compan- 

 ions often made a night of it, taking them with torch and 

 spear, as was the custom of the time, and the catch went 

 to their friends and the poor. When this mode of fishing 

 became unpopular and unlawful, in later years, Reuben 

 was one of the foremost in suppressing all kinds of fishing 

 that the law forbade; but at the time of which we speak 

 there was neither law on the subject nor public sentiment 

 against spearing. He followed the custom of the day, 

 merely drawing the line at fishing on Sunday. 



A chum of Reub's was Mr. Charles Wells, of Wells, 

 Fargo & Co.'s Express, and they went shooting and fish- 

 ing when the spirit moved. Mr. Wells had not only all 

 the railroad transportation necessary, but could have 

 trains stopped anywhere in the woods if necessary, night 



