USA > Georgia > Chatham County > Savannah > A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume II > Part 15
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Benjamin II. Levy was born in Alsace-Loraine (then part of France), and came from his native land when a youth, to Savannah, Georgia. For a short time he clerked in the store of Julius Polinski. on Bryan street, before he made a business venture of his own. In 1871 he started out for himself, August 26th, opening a retail store at the corner of Bryan and Jefferson streets, where he remained until October, 1874. On that date he moved to the corner of Congress and Jefferson streets and here he soon built up a large country trade. In August. 1877, the business having increased, its quarters were extended to include an additional store room on Congress street, and he continued to do business at this location until 1885. In October of that year he removed to 161 Congress street, where he remained till October 1, 1895, when the present com- modious quarters on West Broughton street, near Bull street. were occupied. In February, 1904, to accommodate increased business, an- other story was added to the building. making four stories. In 1891, a branch store was established at Brunswick. Georgia, which. like the parent establishment. has continued with undiminished success. The business was at first conducted by Mr. Levy, under his individual name. Later, his brother, Henry Levy, became a member of the firm. the name of which was then changed to B. H. Levy & Bro. On February 29, 1904, Arthur B. Levy, the son of B. H. Levy, and Sidney Levy, the son of Henry Levy, were admitted to the firm, and the name was changed to B. II. Levy Bro. & Company.
The Levy store handles both men's and women's clothing and fur- nishings, on a large scale, and is one of the most extensive establishments of its kind in Georgia. The store on Broughton street has a frontage of sixty feet, has four stories and basement, and is equipped and con- ducted in the most modern and up-to-date manner, one hundred and . twenty-five people being employed. The "square-deal" spirit which per- vades this establishment makes it popular alike with employe and patron.
Mr. Levy is active in both the business and the social life of Savan- nah. He is a director of the National Bank of Savannah, vice-president of the Georgia State Savings Association, director of the Savannah Fire Insurance Company. The board of curators of the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences includes him as one of its members, and he has fraternal identity with the Masonic order; he is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner.
Mr. Levy was married March 1, 1876, to Miss Rebecca Dryfus, of Savannah, and a native of Brockhaven, Mississippi. Besides the son . above mentioned as being in business with his father. they have three -the children: Stella, wife of Mr. Simon Gazan; Miss Lucile Levy and itrice Levy,
ROBERT TYLER WALLER. Of distinguished Virginia ancestry, Robert Tyler Waller, a well-known business man of Savannah, comes from a stock that has produced strong characters, particularly as soldiers, since early colonial days. A notable example of the soldierly element of the present generation of the family is Col. L. W. T. Waller, who suc- cessfully conducted operations against the insurgents in the Philippines, and later, when determined action was necessary. was sent to China. In the war between the states, every member of the Waller family in Virginia who was eligible to military duty joined the Confederate ser- vice.
A native of Virginia. Mr. Waller was born May 17, 1851, at Williams- burg, a son of William Waller, who was the third in direct line to bear that name.
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Benjamin Waller, the great-great-grandfather of Mr. Waller, was a life-long resident of Virginia, and a man of great prominence and influence. He was born in 1716 and died in 1786. He was one of the leading members of the Virginia convention of 1775-1776, and during the Revolutionary war was judge of the admiralty court of that state. His son, Benjamin Carter Waller, was the next in line of descent, and his son, William Waller, second, married a daughter of Thomas and Mary, and granddaughter of Cyrus Griffin, who was the last president of the continental congress.
William Waller, third, spent his entire life in Virginia. He mar- ried Elizabeth Tyler, who also belonged to a noted Virginia family. Her father, John Tyler, a native of Williamsburg, Virginia, was active and prominent in public life, serving as a judge, a member of con- gress, United States senator. as vice-president, and as the tenth presi- dent of the United States. Her grandfather, the maternal great-grand- father of Mr. Waller, John Tyler, Sr., was born in Virginia in 1748. He, too, acquired distinction as a patriot and a statesman. He was a delegate to the Virginia convention of 1774; speaker of the House of Burgess; judge of the court of admiralty; as such deciding the first prize case after the War of the Revolution. He was called the "Patriot of the Revolution." He served as governor of Virginia, and was judge not only of the state district court, but of the United States district court.
Growing to manhood, Robert Tyler Waller completed his early studies in Lynchburg, at Norwood College, a famous institution of learning of the past generation. A resident of Savannah, Georgia, since 1871. he has been engaged, principally, in the cotton industry since that time. In 1905. Mr. Waller became a member of the firm of Derby & Waller, cotton warehouse men, and has since carried on an extensive and profitable business, their warehouse being one of the largest in the city. In September, 1912, Derby & Waller dissolved partnership, each party now being in business for himself.
Mr. Waller married, in Savannah, Miss Emily Greene Johnstone, who was born in Georgia, and likewise comes from a family of worth and distinction, being a great-granddaughter of Gen. Nathaniel Greene, the friend of George Washington, and commander of the troops of the Southern colonies during the Revolutionary war. Robert Tyler Wal- ler, Jr., the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Waller, is treasurer of the Carson Naval Stores Company of Savannah.
CORNELIUS F. MOSES, manager for the Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany, is the scion of one of the oldest families of South Carolina, whose history dates back to the period before the Revolutionary war. Mr. Moses was born in Augusta, Georgia, in 1865, where he was reared and educated. He was but twenty-one years of age when he first formed the connection with the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York which has continued through all these years and as whose representative Mr. Moses is so widely known in the state of Georgia. His first work was as a local agent in Georgia, and through his energy and ability he was from time to time promoted to higher position. In 1898. he was appointed district agent at Savannah, and since that time he has made his headquarters in this city, here maintaining his residence. In 1905, the state was divided into two divisions, and Mr. Moses was appointed to his present position as general agent for the South Georgia terri- tory, which embraces practically the southern half of the state. His first year's efforts in Savannah were rewarded by receiving the beauti- ful silver loving eup of his company, known as the "President's Cup,"
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one of which was in that year presented to the agent in each state pro- ducing the largest amount of business. Mr. Moses' agency has never been a laggard one in the matter of produetiveness, and it is recognized by the New York office as being the most productive agency of the company, in proportion to the population of the territory he repre- sents. He is widely known as one of the most successful insurance men in the United States, and the record of his achievements in the insurance world is one of which he might well be proud. He was at one time president of the Savannah Life Underwriters' Association, at the present time he is vice-president of the Southern Managers Association of the Mutual Life Insurance Company, comprising all the southern managers of the company, and in the next year will be made president of the association. In a fraternal way, Mr. Moses is a member of Ancient Landmark Lodge No. 231, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, being affiliated with R. J. Nunn Consistory No. 1. IIe is a member of Alee Temple A. A. O. N. M. S., a member of the Oglethorpe Club, the Yacht Club, the Cotillion Club, and the Golf Club, being secretary of the last mentioned club, and an enthusiastic golfer.
In 1889, Mr. Moses was married at Washington to Miss Anna II. Sneed, a daughter of the late James Roddy Sneed, a prominent news- paper man, who was editor of the old Savannah Republican prior to and during the war.
THOMAS H. MACMILLAN. Noteworthy among the prominent busi- ress men and the active and enterprising citizens of Savannah, is Thomas H. MacMillan, one of the leading manufacturers of the city, a former member of the state legislature, and an ex-alderman. A native of North Carolina, he was born March 11, 1854, at Fayetteville, where he was brought up and educated.
Learning the trades of a machinist and coppersmith when young, Mr. MacMillan followed them in Fayetteville for several years. Locat- ing in Savannah. Georgia, in December, 1878, he embarked in the manufacture of copper turpentine stills, a venture that proved so successful that he has continued it ever since, his plant being one of the substantial industries of the city. Associated in business with Mr. MacMillan is his brother, Ronald H. MacMillan, of Fayetteville, North. Carolina, the firm name being MacMillan Brothers. The business of this firm has kept pace with the growth of the naval stores industry of the South, and in order to meet with greater facility the demands for their stills MacMillan Brothers maintain branch establishments at Jacksonville, Mobile and Pensacola.
The products of the MaeMillan plants are notable throughout the turpentine regions for first-class material, honest, durable workman- ship, and resultant satisfactory service to the nser. In addition to the making of seamless stills. the MaeMillan copper shops in Savannah, and the branch shops in Jacksonville, Mobile and Pensacola, mamifae- ture other appliances used in the turpentine industry, doing general coppersmith work.
Mr. MacMillan has other interests of note. also. He established and for eight years was president. of the Savannah Blow Pipe and Exhaust Company, manufacturers of blow pipes systems. Withdraw- ing from that concern in 1911. he founded, in 1911. a new organization to carry on the same line of industry, it being the South Atlantic Blow Pipe and Sheet Metal Company, of which he is president, the head- quarters of the company being in Savannah, with branch establish- ments at JJacksonville and Atlanta.
Roz . He Ki Millan.
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Mr. MacMillan is one of the directorate of the Citizens and Southern Bank; he is a member of the board of trade, of the chamber of com- merce, and other business and social organizations. Fraternally he is a prominent member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, being a Knight Templar, a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a member of Alee Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
For many years . Mr. MaeMillan has taken an active and public- spirited part in eivie affairs. For two terms he served as alderman, and was chairman of the committee which had in hand the completion of the new water works system. He is a member of the Savannah park and tree commission, which is doing much towards improving and beautifying the city. During the administration of Governor Candler, Mr. MaeMillan represented Chatham county in the state legislature, for two terms rendering appreciated service as a member of the finance and appropriation committees.
Mr. MacMillan married, in Savannah, Gertrude Bliss, who was born and educated in this city. Their union has been blessed by the birth of four children, namely: D. B. MacMillan, who has charge of the MacMillan interests in Pensacola : Thomas H. MaeMillan, Jr., con- nected with the Savannah plant; Raymond H. MaeMillan, represent- ing South Atlantic Blow Pipe Company in Jacksonville; and Miss Alice MacMillan.
ROBERT P. LOVELL, of the firm of Edward Lovell Sons, hardware merchants of Savannah for many years, is one of the well-known busi- ness men of this city. He is the brother of Edward F. Lovell, who is his partner in the firm, and the son of Edward and Mary A. (Bates) Lovell.
Edward Lovell was born at Medway, Massachusetts, March 4, 1816. When he came to Savannah in 1835 the place was little more than a small seaport, but he remained in and of the city long enough to see it attain a growth and prominence which placed it among the foremost southern cities. Mr. Lovell's first business venture in Savannah as a young man of twenty-one was as proprietor of a gun store. He achieved success in the smaller venture, and was encouraged to reach out from time to time, until in 1857 he established the house of Lovell & Latti- more, his brother Nathaniel also entering the firm as a member. In 1868, Mr. Lovell retired from the firm of Lovell & Lattimore and in the fall of that year Edward F. Lovell entered into the partnership with William C. Crawford, which continued until the death of Mr. Crawford in 1884, when the firm was changed to Edward Lovell and Sons. the new members being Edward Lovell and Robert P. Lovell. The Lovell's have continued in the business established so many years ago by their father, and it has prospered in a manner highly pleasing to its members, and wholly consistent with the excellent management it has undergone in the passing years.
Mr. Lovell was for twenty-one years an active member of the Savan- nah Cadets, enlisting as a private, and he has occupied every rank in his company up to and including that of second lieutenant. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, affiliating with Zerubbabel Lodge No. 15, the Georgia Chapter No. 3, R. A. M., and Palestine Commandery No. 7. Ile was for many years treasurer of the chapter and commandery.
In 1907, Mr. Lovell was elected mayor of the town of Tybee, on Tybee Island, and he has since served in that capacity. He has a summer home there, and has taken an active part in building up and maintaining Savannah's attractive coast resort.
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In 1892, Mr. Lovell was married to Miss Katrina A. Schrim, who was born in this city. She is of German parentage, her father coming to this country from Germany in 1860. They have five children : Robert P., Jr .; William S .; Frank D .; Eleanor and Grace.
EDWARD LOVELL. Among those men who have contributed by their enterprise and public spirit to the permanent growth and prosperity of Savannah, Edward Lovell will always have a prominent place. Mr. Lovell was born at Medway, Massachusetts, on the 4th of March, 1816. and came to Savannah in 1835, then a little seaport having a limited commeree carried on by sloops and brigs, the river being too shallow to admit larger vessels. Mr. Lovell, as soon as he attained his majority, embarked in business for himself, his first venture being a gun store, and in addition to the sale of guns, he carried on a repair department. Three years of continued success in the primal undertaking warranted him in enlarging the business, and he then added a complete line of hardware and house-furnishing goods. Prosperity attended his every effort, and in 1848 he established the honse known as Lovell & Latti- more, his brother Nathaniel coming into the firm as a member, as well as his friend, William Lattimore. The firm continued with this person- nel until 1868. In that year his son, Edward F. Lovell, having reached his majority, Edward Lovell retired from the firm of Lovell & Latti- more, leaving the good will, the established stand of the business and the familiar firm name to his partners. Upon the death of Mr. Crawford in 1884, a new firm took its place, comprised of Edward Lovell and his two sons, Edward F. and Robert P. Lovell. The new firm soon came to be recognized as one of the largest hardware and iron houses in the state and has so continued, notwithstanding his death, which occurred on August 25, 1888.
Mr. Lovell, by his sagacity and experience laid the foundation broad and deep for an ever growing and snecessful business, and the impress of his wisdom and integrity is exemplified in the name of Edward Lovell Sons, under which the business still continues. Mr. Lovell was a man of great industry and application, but so methodical and exact was he in all his transactions that he was able to carry out every detail of business without hurry or confusion, accomplishing a vast amount of work without the apparent sacrifice of mental or physical activity. He was excessively loyal to his adopted city and had confidence in her ultimate success. He did not hoard his gains and after filling his coffers remove himself and his wealth to the place of his birth, there to enjoy in ease and comfort his well earned rest, bnt actively participated in every important enterprise that promised to advance the interest and prosperity of Savannah. He invested his income judiciously in perma- nent improvements, in real estate in and out of the city, and he became interested in financial and manufacturing ventures which have con- tributed largely to the growth and progress of Savannah. He was early interested in the Savannah & Ogeechee canal, which. in its day, floated millions of feet of lumber and timber to the city and before the con- struction of the Central railroad was an important highway of com- merce to this point on the coast of Georgia. Mr. Lovell hell the office of president of this company for many years. Ile was a director in the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad. president of the Savannah Brick Mannfac- turing Company. vice-president of the Oglethorpe Savings and Trust Company, while his name appeared as a stockholder and contributor to many of the corporations and associations formed for the promotion of manufacturing and commerce. Not only was Mr. Lovell loyal to his adopted home in contributing to its growth and material prosperity,
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but he was also true to it in time of war and pestilence. Although he was exempt from service by reason of his age, he served the Confed- eracy in superintending the construction of batteries and earthworks in the defense around Savannah. With the capacity and fitness for busi- ness so eminently displayed, Mr. Lovell possessed the estimable qualities of charity and benevolence, unostentatious but effective, dispensing re- lief to the needy and distressed with a lavish but discriminating hand. No worthy objeet ever appealed to him in vain.
Mr. Lovell was married on May 4, 1845, to Miss Mary A. Bates, of Cohasset, Massachusetts, who proved herself a devoted wife and con- stant companion. They became the parents of two sons. Edward F. and Robert P., who were associated with their father in business during the latter years of his life, and who now are carrying on the business founded by him. Both of them have been given more detailed mention in separate biographical sketches elsewhere in the pages of this work. The wife and mother did not long survive the death of her honored husband, her pass- ing taking place on December 23, 1891. This worthy couple left a good name to their children, a heritage more lasting than wealth or earthly preferment. Mr. Lovell was social in his instincts and feelings, and while immersed in the cares of business and discharging many duties and trusts, both of a public and private nature, he found time to par- ticipate in the pleasant associations of Odd Fellowship as a member of Live Oak lodge, and he was for many years an honored member of that time-honored corps, the Chatham Artillery .- a military company which united the discipline of the soldier and the amenities of social engage- ment more successfully than any other of the volunteer militia of Geor- gia. Mr. Lovell was an honorary member of the Chatham Artillery at the time of his death. In connection with his military record, Mr. . Lovell came of a family which has. since its establishment in America, given aid to the public cause. His father, Zachariah Lovell, son of Nathaniel, who was a Continental soldier in the Revolutionary war, and his great-grandfather, Ilopestill Lovell, took part in the French and Indian war of 1745.
EDWARD F. LOVELL is a merchant of considerable prominence in Savannah, and is a member of the hardware firm established by Wm. C. Crawford and Edward F. Lovell. He was born in Savannah in 1847 and is the son of Edward and Mary A. ( Bates) Lovell.
Edward Lovell was born at Medway, Massachusetts, March 4, 1816, and died in Savannah in 1888. He first came to this city in 1835. In the year 1848 he, in partnership with his brother, Nathaniel Lovell and William Lattimore, founded the firm of Lovell & Lattimore, hardware merchants. Edward Lovell was the senior member of the firm, and owner of one-half the business. The original place of business was on Bernard street, near Congress street, and the establishment was there maintained for a long period. In 1868 Edward Lovell sold his interest in the busi- ness to Nathaniel Lovell and William Lattimore, and he retired tempo- rarily from the business, the two others mentioned contiming therein for many years thereafter. It was about the time that the elder Lovell disposed of his interests in the business that his son. Edward F. Lovell of this review, started in busines with W. C. Crawford, under the firm name of Crawford & Lovell, which was a hardware business, similar to that conducted by his father for so many years. In 1884 Mr. Crawford died, and at that time Edward Lovell, the father of Edward F'. Lovell, eame back into the hardware business. Robert P. Lovell, the brother of Edward F .. also became a member of the firm at that time, and the firm was known as Edward Lovell & Sons. With the death of the father
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in 1888, the firm became Edward Lovell Sons, with Edward F. and Robert P. Lovell as the owners and members of the firm, and as such it has continued up to the present time. The elder Lovell was a man of the fine, sturdy type, possessing those qualities which made it pos- sible for him to conduet his affairs along the lines of strictest integrity, and maintain business principles of the highest honor. He was far sighted and careful, and in the business world was known as a man of strength and wisdom. The business which he founded so many years ago still stands firm, a monument to the splendid business principles of the man who gave the best years of his life to its establishment and main- tenanee. In 1872 the Lovell store was removed from Congress street to Broughton street, and in 1906 was moved to its present position, 14-18 State street, West.
Both Edward F. Lovell and his father were Confederate soldiers in the Civil war. The elder Lovell was a member of Company A, Chatham Siege Artillery, in which he was very active, and he had charge of the work of placing the cannon for the defense of the city of Savannah. Edward F. Lovell joined Simmons' Battalion in the Georgia Reserves in 1864 on his seventeenth birthday. His service was mostly in the vicinity of Savannah till the occupation by Sherman's army, after which he was in the Carolinas till the close of the war.
Mr. Lovell is the oldest living director of the Citizens Southern Bank, Savannah's largest financial institution.
In 1870 Mr. Lovell was married in Savannah to Miss Emily Williams Dasher, a native of this eity. They have three children: Edward F., Jr., Gilbert M., and Mary Laura, the wife of R. S. Cope.
THOMAS FREEMAN THOMSON. The gentleman to a brief review of whose life the reader's attention is herewith directed is one of Chatham county's most admirable publie officials and business men and has by his enterprise and progressive methods contributed in a material way to the development of city and county. He has in the course of an honorable career been most sneeessful in his various associations and is well deserving of mention in the biographical memoirs of this part of Georgia. Thomas Freeman Thomson, state and county tax colleetor, was born in Macon, Georgia, July 12, 1850, the son of Dr. Methiven S. and Mary E. (Freeman) Thomson. He is of Seotch descent, the birth of his father having oceurred at Perth, Seotland, Jamary 7, 1815. The elder gentleman was reared and educated there and came to America at about the age of twenty-one years. He located in Macon, Georgia, about the year 1840 and resided there for over half a century, his demise ocenr- ring December 10, 1893. IIe had been all his life active in the practice of his profession and was widely known throughout middle Georgia. He was three times mayor of Macon, being the "war mayor" of the city and serving in such capacity throughout the period of the great confliet. Dr. Thomson is remembered by all as a man of the finest characteristics. The subject's mother, who died in January, 1887, was of an okler family in Georgia. She was born on Staten Island, New York, October 24, 1824, the danghter of Azel Roe and Delia (Shaw) Freeman. Azel Roe Freeman was a soldier of the War of 1812, who removed to Macon with his family in 1827. Her brother. George C. Freeman, who is the father of Judge Davis Freeman, of the Savannah city conrt. removed from Macon to Savannah in 1854 and is still living in this city.
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