Erwin E. Wood studied at Northwestern College from 1860 to 1863, served in 1864 as a private in Company C, 132d Illinois Volunteers during the Civil War, then studied at Northwestern University from 1865 to 1870. From 1870 to 1873 he was editor and publisher of the News in Covington, Nebraska, and in 1872 he married Miss Theresa A. Frisbie in Chicago. He worked from 1874 to 1880 as an editor on the Chicago Evening Journal, served from 1876 to 1880 as a West Chicago Park commissioner, and was a charter member of the Chicago Stock Exchange from 1879 to 1881. He was a member of the Illinois General Assembly from 1882 to 1883, a U.S. commissioner to the New Orleans World Exposition from 1885 to 1886, editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser from 1886 to 1887, and from 1886 to 1888 a promoter, incorporator, director, and secretary of the Chicago Outer Belt E.J.&E. Railway. In 1898 he served as adjutant of the First Regiment Illinois Volunteers during the Spanish War. From 1907 to 1908 he edited Bit and Spur in London and Chicago, and from 1909 to 1916 he was a farmer and author at the Woodfarm homestead on Lincoln Highway in Plainfield. In 1917 he was sergeant commanding the U.S. Army Recruiting Station at Grant Park in the Chicago District during the World War. From 1918 to 1925 he was field secretary of the Chicago Historical Society, from 1919 to 1921 commander of Historical Post No. 64 and state historian of the American Legion, and from 1921 to 1924 a member of the faculty of Chi. Law School and chair of diplomacy. On October 9, 1922, he and Theresa marked their golden wedding anniversary with the words, "Trust Unfaltering We Await."