William Wood
William Wood was a 17th-century writer, trader, and adventurer known for his influential survey of New England, titled *New Englands Prospect*. Authored in 1634, the work provided a detailed account of the region's geography, climate, flora, and fauna, while also offering insights into the native coastal Indian tribes. Wood traveled to Massachusetts in 1629, just before the establishment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, potentially as part of a scouting party led by John Endecott. His survey aimed to cater primarily to Puritans and planters interested in the land's potential for agriculture and trade.
Wood’s writing is characterized by a sympathetic portrayal of the Native American tribes, which he described in detail, reflecting his firsthand experiences as a trader. The book is noted for its lively style, filled with anecdotes and wit, making it both informative and engaging for readers. Despite its popularity, very little is known about Wood's life beyond his writings and sparse historical records. His work not only gained wide readership in its time but also influenced later writers and the development of American themes in English literature.
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William Wood
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- Born: December 23, 1936
Biography
Seventeenth century writer, trader, and adventurer William Wood authored a survey of New England’s resources and inhabitants in 1634, prior to European colonization. He traveled to Massachusetts in 1629, the year before the Massachusetts Bay Colony was established, and may have been a member of John Endecott’s early scouting party to the Salem area. Although his survey achieved a wide readership, his original intended audience was mostly Puritans and planters, both of whom were interested in the capabilities of the new lands, although for slightly different reasons. Some scholars believe he was accompanied to the colonies by his father, John Wood. The survey, called New Englands Prospect: A True, Lively, and Experimental Description of That Part of America Commonly Called New England, Discovering the State of That Countrie, Both As It Stands to Our New-Come English Planters, and to the Old Native Inhabitants, Laying Downe That Which May Both Enrich the Knowledge of the Mind-Travelling Reader, or Benefit the Future Voyager, was written upon his return home to England around 1633.
Very little beyond this is known about Wood’s life. He appears in Colony records from 1631 and is mentioned in letters from the General Court of Massachusetts thanking him for his service to the Colony. Several sources mention a William Wood living in Massachusetts in the late 1630’s, but there is no corroboration that it is the same individual. Almost everything that is known about Wood comes from these meager sources and from his only published work.
The book consists of two parts: the first containing physical descriptions of geography, climate, flora, and fauna, with an eye to the agricultural and merchant capacities of the area, and the second describing the native coastal Indian tribes. Wood describes each tribe separately, in some detail, and quite sympathetically. After the descriptions of the tribes, Wood included a small section on their languages. Wood would have had extensive firsthand experience of the Indians as a trader and compatriate with other merchants and adventurers who fished the Merrimack River and traded with the Native Americans they encountered.
Although Wood is clearly trying in the survey to be as objective and academic as possible, his affection for New England is obvious throughout the text, and the volume became very popular. The volume is considered quite lively and well written, full of anecdotes and wit, as well as highly informative—both to contemporary readers and as a resource for modern historians. It was reprinted numerous times and was influential on Thomas Morton, Alonzo Lewis, and on the emergent practice within English literature of writing on American themes.