Horace B. Atwood Pg. 471-473 - A glance at the lives of therepresentative men whose names appear in this volume will reveal many sketchesof honored and influential citizens who have resided many years in this county,but among them none are more worthy or deserving of mention than Mr. Atwood, whois a true type of a successful Michigan farmer. He is a product of the BuckeyeState, born September 30, 1840, and the son of Morris and Phoeba A. (Archer)Atwood, natives of New York. The Atwood family came originally from England andsettled in the United States a short time after the Revolutionary War. TheArchers came from Germany. Morris Atwood was a blacksmith by trade, and after reaching mature yearsmoved to Ohio. Later he returned to his native State, and there died in 1872, atthe age of sixty-five. His wife died in the Empire State in 1891. They were theparents of the following children: Horace, our subject; Elizabeth, the wife ofJ. W. Pearson; David, deceased, who left a family in New York; Ann; Frances,Mrs. Broth, of New York; Corella, the wife of a Mr. Reynolds, of New York; Rose,the wife of Lou Darbey; and John D., of New York. Horace Atwood received only a limited education in the common schools of Ohioand New York, and at the youthful age of fourteen started out to fight his ownway in life. He left the parental roof and sailed on the bark ‘Columbus’, ofFair Haven, MA, as a sailor. He went to some of the islands off Brazil, andafter being before the mast for one year, and touching at Java, and otherplaces, landed in Australia, where he remained for some time in the Swan RiverColony. While there he engaged in whaling for two seasons, and received for hisservices $7.50 per month. After leaving that place he went to Hobart Town,Tasmania, and remained there in all about two years. While there he visited thePhilippine Islands and made five trips to the Island of Mauritius, where he wasengaged in the sugar trade. From there he went to Valparaiso, Chili, and wasengaged in the employ of Chilian merchants at the copper ports. While in Chilihe walked from Valparaiso to Tucumana, a distance of over two hundred miles,without any company. His only experience during that time was when his coat andcap of blue cloth were stolen by a peon, who kindly left his own in their place. For about eighteen months Mr. Atwood remained in Chili, and then went toCallao, Peru, where he also engaged in different work for six months. Afterthis, for six or seven months, he worked the nitre beds, and then went toLiverpool, England, where he hired to go on a merchant vessel and took two tripsto southern Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea, making about forty ports. Late hesailed to Calcutta, India, the island of Colombo Seon and to Marseilles, France,also to various other ports, and then returned to Liverpool. From there hesailed to Sidney, Australia, and later from London to Liverpool, carrying acargo of tea. Afterward he sailed to Quebec, Canada, but returned to Liverpool,thence going to the East Indies, and back to Liverpool, where he shipped for thewest coast of Africa on the Senegambia River and touched many points in thatcountry. Returning to Liverpool, he shipped for New York, but the vessel spranga leak and sank twelve hundred miles west of Cape Clear about four p.m. The crewwas picked up about nine a.m. next day by a steamer and carried back toLiverpool, where our subject remained for one month. He shipped again for NewYork, and arrived in that city in May, 1865, after having been absent from homeeleven years. During that time he had heard from home but once, and hisrelatives had heard from him but once. After returning home, he was engaged in tilling the soil on a farm in theEmpire State, but shortly afterward returned to Ohio and worked for theCleveland, Columbus at Cincinnati Railroad for two years. In 1866 he came toMichigan and was engaged in lumbering and other occupations from that date until1874, when he moved on his present farm of eighty acres. He now has thirty acresunder cultivation, and is one of the prosperous and substantial agriculturistsof his section. He has served as Highway and Drain Commissioner from 1878,except about five years, and also, has served as School Director for threeyears, holding that position at the present time. In the year 1873, he wasmarried in September, to Miss Helen Orton, a native of New York and daughter ofArcelus and Mariah (Cressett) Orton. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs.Orton, those living being: Helen; Clara, the wife of Angus McDonald; Alice, thewife of Alexander McDonald; Lena, the wife of Ellis W. Lang, and Kate, wife ofFrank Taylor. Mr. Orton died September 11, 1860, and in September, 1863, Mrs.Orton married William Lowing. They now reside in Georgetown Township. Mr. andMrs. Lowing have one living child, Edgar. Mr. and Mrs. Atwood have been theparents of six children: Morris, Vesta and Ruby, deceased; Lena, Allie andFrank. Politically, Mr. Atwood is a Democrat, and socially he is a Mason, amember of Crescent Lodge No. 322. In 1865 he shipped from Liverpool on the ‘GreatEastern’ with troops for Quebec, Canada.