William Q. Atwood (January 1, 1839 – December 21, 1910) was a lumber baron in

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

. Born a slave in Alabama, he was freed in 1853 in the will of his white master and father, and moved to the free state of Ohio. He became active in the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

Ripley, Ohio Ripley is a village in Union Township, Brown County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River 50 miles southeast of Cincinnati. The population was 1,750 at the 2010 census. History Colonel James Poage, a veteran of the American Revolution, ar ...

. During the American Civil War, Atwood moved to the northwest, settling in

East Saginaw, Michigan East Saginaw is a defunct city in Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. History Much of the area that later became East Saginaw was granted by treaty to James Reilly, the Métis son of fur trader Stephen V. R. Reilly and his Chippewa wif ...

in 1863. There he became successful in real estate and lumber dealing. Atwood opened a sawmill in 1874. Through his real estate and mills, he became one of the richest African Americans in Michigan. He was active in the Republican party, and served as a delegate to the

1888 Republican National Convention The 1888 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at the Auditorium Building in Chicago, Illinois, on June 19–25, 1888. It resulted in the nomination of former Senator Benjamin Harrison of Indiana for preside ...

Early life

William Quincy Atwood was born a slave January 1, 1839 on the Shell Creek plantation in

Wilcox County, Alabama Wilcox County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,600. Its county seat is Camden. History Wilcox County was established on December 13, 1819. The county was named after Joseph M. Wilcox, a US ...

near Prairie Bluff. His white father and master was Henry Styles Atwood, born March 26, 1798. His enslaved mother was born on the

Maryland Eastern Shore The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies mostly on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay. Nine counties are normally included in the region. The Eastern Shore is part of the larger Delmarva Peninsula that ...

and reared as a slave in

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and

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. William had a number of brothers, including Julius, John S. David, Olive, and Kossuth. Henry Atwood died in 1853 and freed his slaves in his will. As a result, William and twenty-one other persons went north, settling in

, where he attended a colored school. From 1856 to 1859 he went to Iberia school and later attended

Berea College Berea College is a private liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky. Founded in 1855, Berea College was the first college in the Southern United States to be coeducational and racially integrated. Berea College charges no tuition; every adm ...

. In the fall of 1859 he went with his brother, John, to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. In California, he worked on steamboats, opened a restaurant, and did some gold mining. John returned to Ohio first, followed by William in the fall of 1861.Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p651-655Kilar, Jeremy W. ''Michigan's Lumbertowns: Lumbermen and Laborers in Saginaw, Bay City, and Muskegon, 1870-1905''. Wayne State University Press, 1990. p143 Ripley was on the Ohio River opposite

Maysville, Kentucky Maysville is a home rule-class city in Mason County, Kentucky, United States and is the seat of Mason County. The population was 8,782 as of 2019, making it the 51st-largest city in Kentucky by population. Maysville is on the Ohio River, north ...

, a slave state. Atwood may have been involved in the Underground Railroad active in the area.Jezierski, John Vincent. ''Enterprising Images: The Goodridge Brothers, African American Photographers, 1847-1922''. Wayne State University Press, 2000. p221-222

Business career in Saginaw

In the spring of 1862, Atwood visited

, returning to Ripley in the fall. The ongoing

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

(1861-1865) made life difficult for a young African-American man who was not a soldier. In the summer of 1863, he returned to East Saginaw where he began land speculating. That year he bought and then sold sixteen hundred acres of land, profiting $4,000 on the deal. This was the start of his success in real estate in Michigan. In winter 1868 Atwood began working in lumber, making a profit of $6,000 (~$ in ) in the following year. He continued to cut one to five million feet of lumber until 1877. He opened a sawmill along the Saginaw River in 1874. He took a short amount of time off, but lumbered in 1880–1882, 1885, and 1886. He marketed his lumber widely, selling wood in Toledo, Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus, Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, and elsewhere. He was the only black member of the Saginaw Board of Trade. Atwood may have played a role in preventing Saginaw African Americans from joining the

Knights of Labor Knights of Labor (K of L), officially Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was an American labor federation active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada, and had chapters also ...

, especially in 1885 when lumber workers in the area struck. In the 1893 Saginaw fire, Atwood lost two houses.

Civic and political activities

Atwood was active in a number of civic and political activities. In 1866, Atwood was the treasurer of the East Saginaw Colored Debating Society. In May 1871, he was a supporter of the new library of the

Young Men's Christian Association YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

of East Saginaw. In 1884, Atwood was elected at the Colored Men's State Convention to attend the National Colored Convention at

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. In September 1886 he was a city ambassador to Grand Rapids. He was frequently involved in Emancipation Day activities. He was a lifelong Republican and in 1884 was nominated to be delegate-at-large from Michigan to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

. But, only one black man was to be selected and the honor went to Detroit city councilman Samuel C. Watson. and was the first president of the Michigan Protective League formed in 1888. With the support of the league, Atwood campaigned for presidential candidate Benjamin Harrison and served as a Michigan delegate-at-large at the 1888 Republican National Convention in Chicago. The next year, the league put Atwood's name forward for the post of

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

Recorder of Deeds Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights over ...

. In 1890, Atwood was again a delegate at a national convention of colored men meeting, this time, in Washington, DC and in 1895 in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Personal life, death, and legacy

He married Charlotte Echols in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

on May 15, 1872. Charlotte was born in

Wilkes County, Georgia Wilkes County is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,593. The county seat is the city of Washington. Referred to as "Washington-Wilkes", the county seat and co ...

and was a schoolteacher. They had five children, Willie, Freddie Stiles, Oliver Kossuth, Alice May, and Lottie. Charlotte died in 1895. Atwood died December 21, 1910, in at St. Mary's hospital in Saginaw of congestion of the lungs. He was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Saginaw. *In 2002, Atwood was inducted into the Saginaw Hall of FameSaginaw Hall of Fame nomination letter and brief biography by Lenette Brown available at "Mid-Michigan Remembers Stories about Us", Delta College, accessed November 15, 2016 at http://websites.delta.edu/michiganremembers/stories/Atwood-Brown.htm

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atwood, William Quincy 1839 births 1910 deaths People from Wilcox County, Alabama People from Ripley, Ohio People from Saginaw, Michigan Underground Railroad people Activists for African-American civil rights American civil rights activists Activists from Ohio Activists from Alabama 19th-century American businesspeople 20th-century African-American people