Frank Wood was born in 1834 in Vermont.  A relative of Frank's, Dr. Gaius P. Wood, came to Washington around that time and was one of Washington's first doctors.

In the 1840s, Frank's family, including his parents Cephas & Mary (Wilcox) Wood, moved to the Washington area.  Cephas is listed as working as a teacher and 16 year-old Frank listed as a blacksmith in the 1850 census.  Mary died in 1852 at age 38 and is buried in Old City Cemetery.

His blacksmith shop was lauded in Albany for years for its quality and craftsmanship.

In March 1885, Wood was given the contract to create the Oregon stone to be set in an interior wall inside the just-completed Washington Monument.  The Washington Monument began construction in 1849 and was completed and dedicated in early 1885.  Special stones had been set inside it from the beginning and continued to be set in the wall even after the dedication.

Wood got to work on a slab of sandstone from his quarry, and by August the stone was presented to the public.  The local newspaper described it this way:

It is four and a half feet by two feet and six inches thick.  In the center of the face is the seal of Oregon in well-executed raised figures: prairie wagon, ocean, vessels, eagles, and all.  Embedded in the rim of the shield are thirty-two polished granite stars, representing the number of states when Oregon had been admitted.  Around the shield in rustic letters are the words 'State of Oregon 1857.' On the remaining surface at each end, in rustic raised figures, are various products of Oregon, an acorn and a leaf at each corner.  Clusters of grapes, strawberries, corn, wheat, plums, peas in their pod, oak leaves, flowers, etc., in well-arranged relief figures, fill the rest of the space.  The effect of the whole is good.

In September, the stone was on display at the Oregon State Fair in the main tent.  The Oregon State Legislature paid Wood $2,000 for his work.

In October, Wood took the train east to Washington, D.C., with the stone. He made a stop in our little old Washington, where he lived as a boy, and the stone was on display on the square for an entire week.  He then continued on to Washington, D.C., where the Oregon stone was accepted and installed into the monument.

The stone was installed 220 feet above the ground inside the monument, between the Montana stone and the Cherokee Nation stone.

Wood eventually made his way back to California and lived out the remainder of his life.  He died in November 1904 and is buried in Oakland, California.

Washingtonians have done many great things, even at a national level.  Designing the Oregon stone set in the Washington Monument is one of them.