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Aaron Rood
Among the farsighted and energetic business men of Pueblo whose
enterprise
is a factor in the substantial commercial development of the
city is Aaron Rood,
the president of the Rood Candy Company, in which connection he
has built up a
trade of substantial proportions. He comes from the Atlantic
seaboard, his birth
having occurred in Windham county, Connecticut, on the 1st of
June, 1845, his
parents being Jesse and Permelia (Brainard) Rood. The mother is
still living at
the very venerable age oŁ ninety-five years, but the father has
passed away.
Aaron Rood was quite young when the family home was established
in Illinois,
where he acquired his education in the public schools. In fact,
he was only two
and a half years of age at the time of the removal, so that he
has been reared
in the west and has become imbued with the spirit of western
enterprise and
progress. He completed his public school course by graduation
from the high
school of Byron, Ogle county, Illinois, and he started out in
the business world
as an employee in a dry goods store of Rockford, Illinois, but
soon after he
entered commercial circles the country became involved in civil
war and he could
no longer content himself to remain quietly at home while other
young men were
battling for the Union on the soil of the south. He joined the
army, becoming
one of the boys in blue of Company B, Ninety-second Illinois
Infantry, under
command of Kilpatrick. He joined the army on the 23d of
February. 1864, and was
connected therewith until the 23d of July, 1865, serving as
corporal at the time
of his discharge.
Following the close of hostilities Mr. Rood returned to his home
with a most
creditable military record and was engaged in the hardware
business in Illinois
for a few years, retaining his residence in that state until
1872, when he
removed to Colorado. He at first located at Boulder, where he
resided for
thirteen years, and then became a resident of Pueblo, where he
has since made
his home. He was at first connected with the cracker
manufacturing business but
sold out to the American Biscuit Company, with which he remained
as Pueblo
representative for nine years. In the meantime the Union,
American and National
Biscuit Companies were consolidated and have since done business
under the name
of the National Biscuit Company. Mr. Rood was thoroughly
acquainted with every
branch of the trade and wisely and successfully controlled the
interests of the
corporation in Pueblo. Severing his connection with the National
Biscuit Company
in order to engage in business on his own account, he organized
the Rood Candy
Company in 1900 and has since developed a business of extensive
proportions, his
being one of the important productive enterprises of the city.
Something of the
volume of his trade is indicated in the fact that he now employs
one hundred
people and makes shipments all over the country. He holds to the
highest
standards in the excellence of his product. The company occupies
a large brick
plant which is thoroughly equipped and Mr. Rood, familiar with
every branch of
the business, gives general supervision thereto, and his careful
management, his
spirit of enterprise and his comprehensive knowledge of the
trade have been the
salient factors in the growing success of the undertaking.
On the 1st of January, 1869, Mr. Rood was united in marriage to
Miss Sarah
A. Sanford, who passed away on the 1st of May, 1904, leaving a
son, Jesse A.,
who is the secretary and treasurer of the company.
Mr. Rood belongs to the Central Christian church and he also has
membership
in Pueblo Post, No. 8, G. A. R., thus maintaining pleasant
relations with his
old military comrades, with whom he delights to meet and recall
incidents
connected with the Civil war. He was commander of Pueblo Post
for two years and
was senior vice commander of the department. He has been closely
associated with
the development of Colorado for many years, and his memory forms
a connecting
link between the primitive past and the progressive present. He
is justly
accounted one of its honored pioneers, its representative
citizens and
progressive business men of the present day.
Source: Stone, Wilbur Fiske,
History of Colorado, volume III. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke
Publishing Company, 1918.
Contributed by Joy Fisher (Dec08)
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