Bio of ATWOOD, Clarence L. (b.1859), Hennepin Co., MN ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Laura Pruden Submitted: June 2003 ========================================================================= Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ======================================================== submitted by Laura Pruden, email Raisndustbunys@aol.com ======================================================== EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical CLARENCE L. ATWOOD - Vol III, pg 776-777 By way of the teaching profession Clarence L. Atwood entered banking circles, where today he occupies a most conspicuous and enviable position as president of the Bankers National Bank of Minneapolis. Practically his entire life has been passed in Minnesota, although he was born at Buffalo Hart Grove, Illinois, on the llth of August, 1859, his parents being Edwin H. and Augusta (Alien) Atwood, who were natives of the Empire state and became residents of Illinois at an early period in its development. The father taught school in young manhood, following that profession in Illinois and in 1860 he removed to St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he engaged in farming. He was also actively interested in local affairs of the city and county, served as town clerk and at one time was president of the state grange. He was thoroughly familiar with every phase of development and progress in his community and prepared a history of Stearns county. He figured actively in political circles and was offered the nomination for congress but refused. Both he and his wife have passed away. The latter was a descendant of Colonel Ethan Alien of Revolutionary war fame and of Governor Fenton of New York, while the former is descended from James Wilson, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Clarence L. Atwood was educated in the public schools and in the State Normal School at St. Cloud, Minnesota, from which he was graduated with the class of 1880. He afterward taught school for four years, having charge of one of the first country schools at Lake Johanna, Ramsay county. Later he became principal of the schools at Melrose, where he remained for three years, at the end of which time he took up the study of law in the office and under the direction of D. W. Bruckart of St. Cloud, who directed his reading for a year. On the expiration of that period he turned his attention to the mortgage loan business at St. Cloud, in which he continued as a partner of the Hon. D. E. Myers until the latter was elected superintendent of the reformatory at St. Cloud, in 1889. At that date Clarence L. Atwood entered into partnership with his father, under the firm style of Atwood & Atwood, a connection that was maintained for three years, or until the father retired. Clarence L. Atwood then continued the business alone until 1902 and during the same period he was a director of the First National Bank, serving the bank in that capacity for many years. He likewise became a director and the vice president of the Merchants National Bank of St. Cloud, acting in the dual capacity for a number of years. In 1902 he organized the Security State Bank of St. Cloud, of which he became president and is still at the head of that institution. He was an officer in three banks at one time in the same town, a very unusual occurrence. Mr. Atwood's activity in St. Cloud, however, was not confined solely to his business affairs. On the contrary, he took a most helpful part in public interests and for fifteen years he was a member of the St. Cloud city council. During the entire time he acted as chairman of the finance committee, which pur­chased for the city the waterworks of St. Cloud and which so wisely and carefully managed the finances of the city as to earn for Mr. Atwood the title of being "the greatest benefactor the city ever had." To his public duties he brought the same thoroughness, keen discrimination and fidelity which characterized the conduct of his private business interests and his resultant labors were indeed a potent element in the benefit and upbuilding of St. Cloud. He likewise served as a "member of the school board there for a number of years and the cause of education benefited greatly by his assistance and championship. He is now a member of the State Teachers College board, a position which he has occupied for a long period and for about twelve years he was resident director. In his younger days he also acted as secretary of the Tri-County Fair Association and did much to stimulate pride in achievement along many lines in the sections covered by the association. He served as a member of the charter commission, was active in the St. Cloud Commercial Club and lent his substantial aid and support to all measures and plans which he deemed of public benefit. His labors were at all times of a most practical character, steadily bringing results in the attain­ment of the high ideals to which he held. In February, 1919, Mr. Atwood was prevailed upon by the board of directors of the Bankers National Bank of Minneapolis to become president of this institution and vice president of the Bankers Trust & Savings Bank. The banking fraternity of the state had long recognized his ability as manifest in the successful conduct of the three St. Cloud institutions with which he was identified. Under his direction the Banker? National Bank has shown a healthy and steady growth and he is regarded as a valuable addition to the financial circles of the city. On the 17th of September, 1890, Mr. Atwood was united in marriage to Miss Mary Elizabeth Crandall, a daughter of the Hon. Charles S. Crandall, senator from Owatonna, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Atwood have four children: Marjory, the wife of C. L Hamilton of St Paul, who is associated with the Weyerhauser Lumber Company; Crandall, a farmer; Alien A., a graduate of the law school of Cornell University, now practicing his profession in St. Cloud; and Frederick C., a law student in the University of Minnesota and a member of the Minnesota Football Team. The son, Alien, was an aviator during the World war and belonged to the first class of Dunwoody Institute. His service was patrolling southern seas from Key West and he held a first lieutenant's commission. The family are of the Unitarian faith and Mrs. Atwood is very active in church work. She has also been very prominent in women's club circles and was twice elected president of the Federation of Women's Clubs of Min­nesota, while in 1921 she was made a delegate to the international convention of Women's Clubs of the World held in Christiania, Norway. She is likewise widely known as a most entertaining and interesting public speaker, discussing many vital questions from the platform, and her presentation of a cause is always clear, logical and convincing. Mr. Atwood's appreciation of the social amenities of life is indicated in his connection with the Minneapolis Club and the Athletic Club. He also belongs to the Manufacturers Club and to the Civic and Commerce Association and in Minneapolis, as in St. Cloud, he is intensely interested in all that pertains to public welfare, sup­porting those plans and projects which are ever a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride. The family resides at the Leamington Hotel in Minneapolis, maintaining its summer home, however, in St. Cloud.