Scary Plaque

Found this inside St. Bartholomew's on Fifth Avenue. "A perfect and an upright man. And one who feared God." If he was perfect, why did he fear God? And how could a man who feared God have the gaul to call himself perfect?

Who was this Wood? Well, according to a few small scraps I found, a member of high New York society, important enough to give parties that were mentioned in the papers, and to have his debutante daughter's wedding (three years after his death) covered in great detail in the New York Times.