WI BIO - Dane Co - ATWOOD, David
Biographical Review of Dane County, WI. Chicago: Biographical Review Pub. Co. 
1893. Vol II, pp 365-368

David ATWOOD, late editor-in-chief of the "Wisconsin State Journal," was one 
of the earliest, as well as one of the most prominent of the Badger State 
journalists. He came of good English Puritan stock, and could trace 
his ancestry back to John ATWOOD, who settled at Plymouth [town established 
in 1620 in what was then New Plymouth Colony; Plymouth County established in 
1685], MA, in 1643. By the time David ATWOOD was born at Bedford 
[Hillsborough County], NH, 15 Dec 1815, this English strain had become mixed 
with Scotch-Irish blood. A NH farmer's boy, David ATWOOD was from the first 
trained in the school of industry. At the district school one of his 
companions was Horace GREELEY, who was somewhat older than David and left the 
school and the town before the latter, but they were warm friends and 
maintained cordial relations throughout GREELEY's life. The late Zachariah 
CHANDLER, afterward U. S. Senator from MI, was also one of David ATWOOD's 
boyhood friends and a classmate of his in the old Presbyterian Sunday school.

At the age of 16, with only such learning as the Bedford, NH pedagogue could 
impart, but well grounded in the virtues, in the principles of integrity and 
frugality and in particular views of live, David ATWOOD set out from the 
old homestead upon a career quite foreign to that of his ancestors, who had 
been tillers of the soil. He became apprenticed to the firm of Tredway & 
Atwood, of which his brother, John ATWOOD, was the junior member. They were 
printers and publishers of law books at Hamilton [Madison County], NY, and at 
the close of his five years apprenticeship David was familiar with the trade 
in all its departments.

During 1838 and 1839 David ATWOOD traveled with a horse and wagon some 10,000 
miles through NY, PA, MD, VA, OH, and other states as far west as MO, 
endeavoring to sell a work in eight volumes entitled "The American Common 
Law." The young agent, in a matter of course, suffered much privation, 
especially in the Far West, and oftentimes met with narrow escapes when 
storms had blocked the forest roads, and bridges had been carried away by 
swollen steams; but in all that time, despite his youth and slender figure, 
and the well known fact that he often carried considerable sums of money, he 
never received even a threatening glance. Much of the country was then in a 
state of nature, the small settlements were few and far between, but the 
people were good hearted, and the stranger was ever welcome. David ATWOOD 
was always glad to turn back in memory to those pioneer experiences, and it 
was a rare treat to hear him relate incidents of his remarkable wagon 
journeys, which were admirable pictures of the times.

In Sep 1839, being now 24 years of age, he united with his brother John in 
the publication of the Hamilton "Palladium," a weekly Whig newspaper. In 
Cincinnati, David ATWOOD frequently met with General HARRISON, and he 
returned to Hamilton [NY] imbued with enthusiasm for "old Tip." He was long 
known as "the original HARRISON man" in Madison County, [NY], and was much in 
demand at campaign meetings as a leader. Although in charge of the 
mechanical department [p 366] of the paper, he also wrote vigorous political 
articles. In 1844 he entered into the campaign for Henry CLAY with intense 
enthusiasm, and from that date until his death he was actively engaged in 
political management, but he ever looked back to the CLAY campaign as the one 
in which he had made the greatest personal exertions of his life. So 
seriously had these labors undermined his health that he withdrew from the 
Palladium, moved to Stephenson County, IL, and went into sheep raising. He 
regained his health, but lost his money, and financially broken he resolved 
to return to his trade.

The desire had for year been strong within him to establish a newspaper at 
some State capital. The neighboring Territory of WI was then experiencing 
somewhat of a boom, it was engaged at the time in seeking entrance to the 
Union, and for many reasons public attention was being attracted to this 
Territory in a marked degree. Madison, Dane County, WI, the capital was 
merely a name to David ATWOOD, but he resolved to go there, confident that 
the village must grow with the common wealth. He arrived in Madison, WI, 15 
Oct 1847, and at once engaged with William W. WYMAN, the publisher of the 
Madison "Express," at a salary of $6 a week, with board and lodging thrown 
in. During the winter of 1848, he accurately reported not only the doings of 
the Legislature, but the debates and transactions of the important and 
protracted convention that drafted the constitution, under which WI became a 
State in May 1848. David ATWOOD was never absent from the sessions of that 
convention for a moment. He wrote all of the editorials in the "Express," 
set some type on the tri-weekly edition, made up the forms, often working 
until midnight in order to fully meet the pressing demands of the day 
upon one, who was editor, reporter, foreman, compositor, and all hands.

In Oct 1848, with Roal BUCK, David ATWOOD purchased the "Express" and the 
name was changed to the "Wisconsin Express," and it appeared on 16 Nov 1848 
with many improvements. In the fall of 1851 the Whigs, for which the 
"Express" had fought, elected their candidate for Governor, but as all the 
offices were still in the hands of the opposition, it brought no patronage to 
the "Express." In the spring of 1850 a new Whig paper called the "Statesman" 
had appeared, and in Jun 1852 a consolidation was effected, with David ATWOOD 
as one of the new staff, but the enterprise failed and out the wreck David 
ATWOOD single handedly reared the "Wisconsin State Journal," daily and 
weekly, issuing his first number on 28 Sep 1852. The "State Journal" 
continued as the only Whig paper in the place until the organization of the 
Republican party, in 1854, since which time it has been the sole champion of 
the latter at Madison, WI. In the spring of 1853 David ATWOOD associated 
with him Horace RUBLEE, a vigorous editorial writer, who was appointed 
Minister to Switzerland in 1868, and is at present the editor-in-chief of the 
Milwaukee "Sentinel." He was succeeded by J. G. CULVER, who remained with 
the "State Journal" until Jan 1877. Ever since David ATWOOD has been sole 
proprietor.

In 1841 David ATWOOD was appointed Adjutant on the staff of Colonel James W. 
NYE, afterward U. S. Senator from NV, who was then in command of the 65th NY 
Militia. In 1842 he was promoted to be Major of the regiment. On NYE's 
promotion, Major David ATWOOD [p 367] succeeded him, and in 1851, then a 
resident of WI, he was appointed by the Governor Quartermaster General of the 
State, and in 1858 he was appointed Major General of the 5th Division of 
State Militia. In 1861 General David ATWOOD represented the Madison district 
in the State Assembly, and was a very active worker in the business of 
raising and fitting troops for the front, and was an enthusiastic and 
efficient manager. In 1862 President LINCOLN made him Internal Revenue 
Assessor, but in 1866 he was removed by President JOHNSON, as an offensive 
partisan, being the first WI officer to be thus sentenced. He was the 
valuable Mayor of Madison in 1868-1869, and during the latter year the whole 
state press urged his nomination as Governor, and the vote he received in the 
convention was a flattering evidence of his personal popularity.

In Jan 1870 Benjamin F. HOPKINS died, and within the following month David 
ATWOOD was elected as his successor in the 40th Congress, taking his seat on 
23 Feb. He was placed on the then important committee on the Pacific 
railroad and in Congress he soon established a reputation as an industrious 
and eminently useful man, his name being connected with some of the 
successful bills of the session. From 1872 until the close of the 
Centennial, in 1876, David ATWOOD was Commissioner from WI, appointed by 
President GRANT, and executed his important trust with signal ability. He 
was for a time President of the fall body, which included some of the most 
distinguished men of the nation.

David ATWOOD held numerous offices, of a pubic or a semi-public nature. In 
1849 he was a Justice of the Peace, and in 1854 a Village Trustee. For 13 
years, after 1857, he was Treasurer of the WI State Agricultural Society, and 
for 16 years, after 1866, a member of and President of the Board of Trustees 
of the State Insane Hospital. For many years a member of the city School 
Board, and for a time its president. For 30 years a Trustee and member of 
the Executive Committee, for five years the secretary and for a long series 
of years president of the Madison Mutual Insurance Company, which did a large 
business in the Upper Mississippi valley; for a time he was president of the 
Madison Gas, Light and Coke Company. He has been a director in several 
railroad enterprises, and from 1849, one of the most active members of the 
State Historical Society. For eight years, previous to 1876, he was the WI 
member of the Republican National Committee and he had attended every 
national convention of his party since the nomination of LINCOLN in 1860.

On 23 Aug 1849, David ATWOOD was married at Potosi, [Grant County], WI, to 
Mary SWEENEY, formerly of Canton, [Stark County], OH. They had born to them 
two sons and two daughters, the eldest of these being Charles David ATWOOD, 
who as Vice Consul at Liverpool from 1872 to 1876, and afterward an 
accomplished associate editor of the "WI State Journal." In 1874 David 
ATWOOD was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. A. J. WARD, one of the 
leading physicians of Madison, Dane County, WI; Charles died in 1878, in the 
28th year of his age, at a time when he appeared to be about entering a 
distinguished career, and his son David is of the 4th generation of David 
ATWOODs. Harry F. and Mary L., other children of David ATWOOD, reside in 
Madison, WI; Elizabeth G., lives in Milwaukee [Milwaukee County, WI], having 
in 1877 married Mr. Edward P. VILAS.

Physically David ATWOOD was of medium stature, with expressive eyes, which 
always beamed with a kindly light. He was [p 368] a charming 
conversationalist and his fine regular features were well set off by a full 
head of snow white hair. Dignified and impressive in bearing he was even 
tempered, frank in manner, hopeful in temperament and noted throughout WI as 
a public spirited man of rare political sagacity and good executive ability. 
He was a cordial host and under the roof of his spacious mansion, in the past 
40 years, have been welcomed a long line of politicians, journalists, 
statesmen and scholars, representing many sections and countries. His 
capacity for editorial work was something marvelous, and in it he displayed 
remarkable facility in composition; he possessed a simple style and was a 
rapid thinker. A politician in the best sense of the word, he never allowed 
partisan bitterness to poison his intercourse with men of every political 
creed. To all he was the same affable gentleman, considerate and kind. He 
is a fine representative of the best class of western pioneers, and although 
he was for many years a patriarch in appearance, his mind was as agile as his 
step. His editorial associates sadly felt the loss of his inspiriting 
presence and to his devoted family it seemed as though a bright and shining 
light had gone out. All who knew him were his friends and in social, 
newspaper and political circles few WI men have filled so large a space. In 
his later life David ATWOOD, with his white hair and flowing beard, bore a 
striking resemblance to the portraits of the poet BRYANT.

At half past three o'clock on the afternoon of Wed, 11 Dec 1889, David ATWOOD 
died, the life of this beloved and useful man ending in calm, as profound as 
the sleep of a child. His illness had been of short duration and the shock 
of his death to friends and family was great. On the following Saturday 
afternoon [14 Dec 1889], the funeral services were held at the family home on 
Monona Avenue. The casket rested amid a great profusion of floral offerings, 
and Dr. J. D. BUTLER, in a feeling tribute spoke in a touchingly beautiful 
manner of the life of the departed one. He related many particulars 
regarding the religious environment of the deceased in childhood and the 
cumulative influence of ear impressions on his last days. The sermon closed 
with a prayer and the choir gently sang "Nearer My God to Thee," and the 
remains were conveyed to their final resting place, at Forest Hill. During 
the service flags floated at half mast, from both the capitol and city hall. 
Had David ATWOOD lived four days longer he would have completed his 74th 
year. He was eminently a man of today, progressive in tone, and confident 
that the things of the present are necessarily an improvement on the past. 
In honoring such a man we indeed honor ourselves.

Submitted by Cathy Kubly