Fernando Wood was born on June 14, 1812. He later became a two-term Mayor of New York City. He was perhaps one of the most unusual mayors that city has had. When running for reelection in 1857 he enlisted the aid of an extraordinarily violent street gang, the Dead Rabbits. The task assigned to the Dead Rabbits was to comb New York’s cemeteries and make lists of the dead people there. Once having this list, Wood used those names to stuff the ballot box thus insuring his reelection.