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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.