Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

to details of his business, steadily and
surely worked his way upward to his
present official position with that company.
He is also a member of the board
of directors of this large and flourishing
concern, and is connected with the C.
Billings Manufacturing Company in an
official manner. Mr. Stocker is an Independent
in politics, and although always
alive to the vital issues of the day, is not
a seeker for public office.
Mr. Stocker married (first) Jennie,
daughter of Willard and Emily Heywood,
of Windsor, Vermont. They were
the parents of a son, Frank H. Stocker,
who is now engaged as assistant secretary
of the Billings & Spencer Company
in Hartford. Mrs. Stocker died in 1881.
Mr. Stocker married (second) Lucy M.
Birge, a daughter of Edward and Esther
Birge, of East Hartford, Connecticut.
WOOD, Olin Rensselaer,
Attorney-at-Law, Judge of Probate.
Judge Wood has been engaged in the
general practice of law in Manchester,
Connecticut, since 1871, and for twenty-
eight years has filled the office of judge
of probate. He was born May 29, 1848,
in South Windsor, Connecticut, son of
James B. and Mary A. (Buckland) W'ood.
The father was a paper-maker and was
employed in the paper-mill of Robert
Lyle, Cherry Hill, near Lancaster, Penn-
sylvania.
He was a member of a Quaker family,
and when a boy came from Eastern
Maryland to Hartford, Connecticut, later
to Burnside and Buckland in Manches-
ter, Connecticut. He was a man of ex-
emplary character, of religious nature
and respected wherever he lived. He
married Mary A. Buckland. daughter of
Peter and Caroline (Bissell) Buckland,
and settled for a time in South Windsor,
Connecticut, whence he removed to Man-
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
118
chester, where he died July 12, 1866. His
wife died December 29, 1899. James B.
Wood was active in church matters, and
a liberal contributor toward the construc-
tion of the Methodist Episcopal church
in Manchester and the current expenses
of that church.
Olin Rensselaer Wood was educated
at Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and at
Newbury, Vermont, and studied law at
the New Haven Law School, from which
he graduated in 1869. Immediately after
graduating, Mr. Wood took a trip to
Europe and spent ten months in travel,
visiting all the countries of Great Bri-
tain and travelling through continental
Europe and the Orient. In 1871 he was
admitted to the bar and immediately
began the practice of law in Manchester,
where he met with gratifying success.
In 1888 he was appointed clerk of the
Court of Probate for the District of Man-
chester, Connecticut, by Judge John S.
Cheney, whom he succeeded in 1889, and
since that time has administered the office
with faithfulness and efficiency. He has
long been retained by the selectmen as
counsel for the town of Manchester, and
has been active in the handling of estates
and the affairs of corporations, as also
in general practice of law. In 1891 he
was elected to represent the town of
Manchester in the Connecticut Legisla-
ture, and served two terms. In his first
term he was a member of the commit-
tee on contested elections, and in the
second term was placed on the judiciary
committee, being house chairman of each
of those committees. In 1893 he was the
only Republican lawyer in the House of
Representatives. He is a member of
King David Lodge, No. 71, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows.
He attends the Methodist Episcopal
church of Manchester, of which his par-
ents were members. He is a student of
the Bible, and prizes it as one of God's