Rank Commissioner Name Zachary Wood | Place of burial Kingston, Canada Allegiance Canada | |
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Buried at Caturaquil Cemetery, Kingston, Ontario Commands held acting Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) and Commissioner of the Yukon Territory of Canada. Died January 15, 1915, Asheville, North Carolina, United States Education Royal Military College of Canada Awards Order of St Michael and St George | ||
Zachary Taylor Wood, CMG (1860–1915) was acting Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) and Commissioner of the Yukon Territory of Canada.
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Early life
Born in Annapolis Naval Academy in 1860, where his father John Taylor Wood was stationed. Wood's great-grandfather was President of the United States Zachary Taylor.
Wood's family moved first to Halifax and later to Ontario. Taylor graduated from Royal Military College of Canada at Kingston, Ontario in 1882.
Career
Zachary Taylor Wood served with the Canadian Militia's 90th Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Batoche during the Northwest Rebellion in 1885. He joined the North-West Mounted Police in 1885 as Inspector under the command of Superintendent Sam Steele. He retired from the force due to poor health and died in Asheville, North Carolina in 1915 and buried at Cataraqui Cemetery in Kingston, Ontario.
Family
His younger brother Lieutenant Charles Carroll Wood, graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada 1896 student # 352; served with the British Army's Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) in the Boer War and died on November 11, 1899. He is memorialized on the Royal Military College Memorial Arch and buried at West End Cemetery in Kimberley, South Africa.
Inspector Zachary Taylor Wood married Frances Augusta Daly in 1888 at St. Mary Magdalene Church, in Napanee, Ontario.
Their son Stuart Taylor Wood was born in Napanee and later served as Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He rose to the rank of Major in the RNWMP and served as Assistant and Acting Commissioner.
Stuart Taylor Wood was born in Napanee on October 17, 1889, son of Z.T. and Frances Wood. S.T. Wood was the Commissioner of the RCMP for thirteen years. He was a CMG (Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George).
Honour
Mount Wood in the Yukon was named in honour of Zachary Taylor Wood in 1998, in honour of the 125th Anniversary of the RCMP. According to Place Names of Canada, Mt. Wood was named in 1900 by the surveyor James J. McArthur (1856-1925)to honour Zachary Taylor Wood.