Recognition through the Amasa Wood Legacy Society pays tribute to each donor who has confirmed a Legacy gift to the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital Foundation and is named in honour of Amasa Wood.

With permission, the names of Amasa Wood Legacy Society donors will be listed on our "Gifts Over Time" donor wall located in the Hospital’s Atrium and published in Foundation materials. Our donors can choose, of course, to be thanked privately instead. Members will be invited to an annual luncheon where they will have the opportunity to hear about the latest achievements in patient care at our Hospital.

Brief Biography - Amasa Wood (1811-1899)

Amasa Wood moved from the Brockville area to the Talbot Settlement with his family in 1816 where he was raised on a farm approximately one mile east of Burwell’s Corners. At the age of 12, Amasa began earning money to help support his family by delivering mail on horseback between London and Chatham for the Strowbridge Stage and Mail Line. An early introduction into merchandising followed with an opportunity to work at Colonel McQueen’s general store and, with his aptitude for business, Amasa became a successful merchant and trader in Fingal. At the age of 26, he married Elizabeth Fowler and raised a family. In 1850, he began a second career in securities and real estate which spanned the counties of Elgin, Kent, Norfolk, Middlesex and Huron. During his lifetime, he was reputed to be the wealthiest man in Elgin County and successful in life through his, "shrewdness, business tact, industry and vigor." In his retirement (approximately 1877), he moved from Fingal to St. Thomas.

In addition to his success in business, Amasa Wood was well known for his many acts of philanthropy and regarded as a "fountain of kindness." His greatest charitable work, however, was considered to be St. Thomas’ first hospital, the Amasa Wood Hospital, which he founded and built as a gift to the citizens of St. Thomas in 1892.