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Curtis B. Attwood

Curtis B. Attwood, farmer and real estate dealer, Rison, Ark.

In a country like that of Arkansas, with so much land still unoccupied or not built upon, the office of the real estate agent is an important one, and exercises considerable bearing upon the welfare of the community. Among those interested in this line of business, is Mr. Attwood, who is thoroughly conversant with all the details of his business.

He was born in Newberry District, S. C., in 1846, and is the son of Capt. R. F. and Jane (Clark) Attwood, natives also of Newberry District, S. C. The parents were married in their native State, and in 1865 came to Arkansas, settled in what is now Cleveland County, and there Mr. Attwood died in 1867. His wife is still living, is about sixty-five years of age, and is a worthy and consistent member of the Methodist Church.

The father was a successful agriculturist, was a railroad man, and was also a prominent banker. He commanded Company F, of a South Carolina Regiment in the Confederate army. He was the son of Dr. Curtis B. Attwood, who was originally from Watertown, Conn., where he was born and reared, but who went to South Carolina, when a young man.

He graduated in medicine from Yale College, and was one of the leading physicians of his county in South Carolina. He amassed a fortune and died in that State. His father, Noble Attwood, passed his entire life in Watertown, Conn., where he was born. The maternal grandfather of Curtis B. Attwood, Rev. George Clark, was born in Maryland, and was a Methodist minister of considerable note.

The first conference in South Carolina was held at the house of our subject's maternal great-grandfather, Rev. Edward Finch, who was one of South Carolinas' able divines and educators. He established Mount Bethel Academy at Mount Bethel, S. C., and during the Revolutionary War was in the battles of Eutaw Springs, Yorktown and Cowpens.

Curtis B. Attwood was the eldest of six sons and one daughter born to his parents. He attended the common schools until January, 1861, when he entered Furman University of South Carolina, but about one month later flung aside his books, donned his suit of gray, and enlisted in Company A, Sixteenth South Carolina Volunteer Infantry.

He served for about two years in South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, and participated in the battles of Missionary Ridge, Altoona, etc. He was then transferred to Company C, Nineteenth South Carolina Cavalry, and soon after was detailed as a scout and commanded about a dozen men until the close of the war.

He came with his parents to Arkansas, and was Assessor of Cleveland County from 1872 to 1880. A member of the Masonic fraternity, he was secretary of his lodge six years, and was once senior warden for three years. He is a member of the Royal Arch Chapter at Kingsland, and has held prominent offices in the same.

In politics he is a Democrat, and cast his first presidential vote for Horace Greeley in 1868. He is the owner of About 2, 500 acres of good timbered land, and has been real estate agent for a number of years.

 

Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas
Copyright 1890
Published by The Goodspeed Publishing Co.; Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis