# Ida Wood

Ida Mayfield Wood (1838 – March 12, 1932) was an American socialite turned recluse who was the third wife of politician and newspaper publisher and editor Benjamin Wood (1820–1900). == Early life and family == She was born Ellen Walsh in England, the daughter of Ann Crawford and Thomas Walsh, a peddler from Ireland, who emigrated to the United States and settled in Massachusetts; her father died in San Francisco in 1864.Ida changed her name to Ida E. Mayfield, claiming her father was Henry Mayfield, a Louisiana sugar planter and moved to New York City in 1857 at the age of 19. She set her sights on 37-year-old Benjamin Wood, a married politician and businessman, who co-owned the New York Daily News.