The Lost American Industrialist

William Madison Wood was a gifted and successful Portuguese-American industrialist in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. His rags-to-riches story is the fulfillment of the American Dream:

• His accomplishments in textile manufacturing were known throughout the world.

• His dedication to American patriotism and his extreme investment in the work of wool manufacturing gave rise to accomplishments that were acknowledged worldwide.

• His wealth, position, and power of influence rivaled those of other great leaders of the Gilded Age.

But this great man became lost to history. Why?

His work-driven philosophy of life, his obsessive drive to acquire and develop, his internal struggle with grief and anguish, his lost ethnic background, his need to rule alone, and his tragic and socially unacceptable manner of death were all part of the identity and life story of William Madison Wood.

Bob Fournier unpacks Wood’s story with finesse, showing how this esteemed man fell prey to the material trappings of a life of excessive labor, power, and wealth, and the inability to temper these forces for well-being.

While Wood was a man true to his era, his life story offers much to consider in today’s world. The characters may have changed, but many of the issues remain the same—race, ethnicity, autocracy, abuse of power, and immigration. Fournier enables William Wood to speak from the grave in a way he was unable to speak in life about himself, his relationships with others, and his relationship with the world.