to York by 1812, resuming his prior appointment as a magistrate. He fought in the War of 1812 and was on the boards of several organizations. His life in York continued without incident until 1823, when Rev. John Strachan, a longtime friend of Wood's, recommended him for a position on the 1812 War Claims Commission. Judge Powell was the appointing authority and refused Wood on moral grounds due to the 1810 scandal. Wood sued Powell for defamation and won, but Powell refused to pay and subsequently published a pamphlet attacking Wood even further. Wood remained in York, continuing his service in civic duties for the next seventeen years. In 1827 he purchased 50 acres (0.2 km²) of land at Yonge and Carlton Streets, which was referred to as "Molly Wood's Bush" throughout the 19th century. Death Alexander Wood finally returned to Scotland in 1842 and he died there two years later at the age of 72 in Woodcot. The British Colonist paid tribute to Wood as one of Toronto's most distinguished founding citizens. Wood had never married — and neither had any of his brothers and sisters, all of whom were themselves already deceased by the time of Wood's death — and he consequently had no legal heirs. Owing to differences between Scottish and Canadian estate law, it took seven years after his death for the Court of Session and the British House of Lords to decide that his estate would be divided up under Scottish, rather than Canadian, law. His estate thus passed to a first cousin once removed in 1851. Legacy The area once known as Molly Wood's Bush is now part of Toronto's Church and Wellesley gay village, and contains an Alexander Street, a Wood Street and an Alexander Place. In 1994, playwrights John Wimbs and Christopher Richards launched a play entitled Molly Wood, based on Wood's life. This production garnered Dora Awards for Best New Play and Best Production in 1995. The Alexander Wood Letterbooks, which are in the collection of the Baldwin Room at the Toronto Public Library, are widely used as a resource for researching trade in early Upper Canada. In 2005, Church Wellesley Village Business Improvement Association (CWVBIA) launched a beer named for Wood. Alexander Wood Lager was brewed by Lakes of Muskoka Cottage Brewery and was marketed exclusively to bars in the Church and Wellesley area. Statue In 2005, the CWVBIA erected