Joseph A. Cox

2185 The Recluse of Herald Square: The Mystery of Ida E. Wood, by Joseph A. Cox (read 5 Feb 1989) This is a 1964 book by a New York judge which tells the story of a case he was involved in in the 1930's. Ida E. Wood in March of 1932 died. She was the widow of Benjamin Wood, a New York Congressman from Mar 4, 1861, to Mar 3, 1865, and again from Mar 4, 1881, to Mar 3, 1883, and who died in New York Feb 21, 1900, at the age of 79. His widow about 1907 became a recluse and lived extremely cheaply with Emma (who she asserted was her daughter--and I believe she was, though probably not by Benjamin Wood) and her sister Mary. The book convinces me, and the author convinced the court, that Ida E. Wood was born Ellen Walsh in England and before she married Benjamin Wood turned herself into Ida Mayfield, daughter of a Louisiana sugar planter. It makes a fascinating story and is well told. I admired the persistent genealogical research detailed in the book, and it inspired me that maybe persistence would gain me results in questions prominent in my own genealogy.… (mehr)