[1][2] He served as the first African American Mayor of Natchez, Mississippi from 1870 until 1871,[3][4] and was part of the Adams County Board of Supervisors from 1871 to 1872.
[6][7] Robert H. Wood was born in about 1844, his mother was a free African American and his father was a Euro-American former mayor of Natchez.
[5] Wood was appointed Mayor of Natchez in 1869 during the Reconstruction era by governor James Alcorn, and elected to the office in 1870.
[3] Wood worked alongside Robert W. Fitzhugh, and they managed Lynch's successful 1870 campaign for United States Congress for Mississippi's 6th congressional district.
[9] In 2004, the next African American mayor of the city was elected, Phillip West,[7] and he paid tribute to Wood in a 2016 short history film.