http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Wood

Benjamin Wood (1820 – 21 February 1900) was a nineteenth-century American politician from the state of New York during the American Civil War.

He was the brother of US congressional representative and New York City Mayor Fernando Wood. In 1860, he purchased the New York Daily News (not to be confused with the current New York Daily News, which was founded in 1919), of which he was the editor and publisher until he died in 1900.

In 1861 the federal government effectively shut down the paper (by suspending its delivery via the postal service) as being sympathetic with the enemy. Wood was able to re-open the paper 18 months later. During the interval, he wrote one novel: Fort Lafayette or, Love and Secession.

Wood was elected as a Democrat to the 37th and 38th United States Congresses (March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1865.) He was a member of the New York State Senate (4th D.) in 1866 and 1867 and elected to the 47th United States Congress (March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883)

His wife, Ida Wood, became a famous recluse and miser whose true identity of Ellen Walsh became the subject of a famous court case after her death in 1932, the story of which is told in Joseph Cox's book The Recluse of Herald Square.

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000690

WOOD, Benjamin, (brother of Fernando Wood), a Representative from New York; born in Shelbyville, Shelby County, Ky., October 13, 1820; moved to New York City with his parents; attended the public schools; entered the shipping business; purchased the Daily News in 1860 and was its editor and publisher until his death; chairman of Democratic Editors in 1860; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1861-March 3, 1865); member of the State senate in 1866 and 1867; elected to the Forty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1881-March 3, 1883); died in New York City February 21, 1900; interment in Calvary Cemetery, Long Island City, N.Y.

Bibliography

Mushkat, Jerome. “Ben Wood’s ‘Fort Lafayette’: A Source for Studying the Peace Democrats.” Civil War History 21 (June 1975): 160-71.