James Frederick Bryan Wood (April 27, 1813 – June 20, 1883) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the fifth Bishop and first Archbishop of Philadelphia, serving between 1860 and his death in 1883. Early life James Wood was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were both from England, his father (a merchant) from Manchester and his mother from Gloucestershire; they immigrated to the United States in 1809. His father had him baptized by a Unitarian minister. After attending an elementary school on Dock Street, he was sent abroad to the Crypt School at Gloucester in November 1821. He returned to Philadelphia five years later and then enrolled at a private school on Market Street. In November 1827, he and his family removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where the young Wood became a clerk at the Branch Bank of the United States. After being advanced to individual book-keeper and discount clerk, he was made a paying and receiving teller (1833) and cashier (1836) in the Franklin Bank of Cincinnati. Conversion and ordination Wood also developed a friendship with Bishop John Baptist Purcell, who later baptized him into the Catholic Church on April 7, 1836. Deciding to enter the priesthood, he resigned as cashier at Franklin Bank in September 1837 and went to Rome for his studies the following October. After spending a few months at the Pontifical Irish College under Paul Cullen (later Paul Cardinal Cullen), he studied at the College of the Propaganda for seven years, also becoming prefect of discipline there. Wood was ordained a priest by Cardinal Giacomo Filippo Fransoni on March 25, 1844. Upon his return to the Diocese of Cincinnati in October 1844, he served as a curate at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains until 1854, when he became pastor of St. Patrick's Church in Cincinnati. Episcopal ministry Coadjutor Bishop of Philadelphia On January 9, 1857, Wood was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Philadelphia and Titular Bishop of Antigonea by Pope Pius IX. He received his episcopal consecration on the following April 26 from Archbishop Purcell, with Bishops John Neumann, C.SS.R. (later a Saint), and Richard Vincent Whelan serving as co-consecrators. After arriving in Philadelphia, he took charge of the financial affairs of the diocese and established the cathedral parish. Fifth Bishop of Philadelphia Wood later succeeded Neumann as the fifth Bishop of Philadelphia upon the latter's death on January 5,