Reuben Atwater, also known as Reuben Attwater (May 11, 1768 – February 1831) was the Secretary of Michigan Territory and served as acting governor during 1811–1812.
Reuben Atwater was born in 1768, in Vermont,[1] the son of Reuben Attwater and Mary Russell.[2] He married Eliza Williard, and after her death married Sarah Lamb, daughter of General John Lamb.[2] Atwater had two children: Catharine Atwater and Clinton Edward Atwater.[3] Atwater was the Secretary of Michigan Territory from March 18, 1808, to October 15, 1814,[4] and was at the same time collector for the port of Detroit.[1] He directed the 1810 census of the Michigan Territory,[1] acted as Land Commissioner until 1811, and served as acting governor during the absence of Governor William Hull in 1811–12.[3] Atwater Street in Detroit was named after him.[5]
^Famer, Silas (1884). The History of Detroit and Michigan; or, The Metropolis Illustrated, a Chronological Cyclopaedia of the Past and Present, Including a Full Record of Territorial Days in Michigan, and the Annals of Wayne County. Detroit: Silas Farmer & Co. pp. 88–89. OCLC2823136.