USA > Georgia > Fulton County > Atlanta > Atlanta City Directory Co.'s Greater Atlanta (Georgia) city directory including Avondale, Buckhead and all immediate suburbs [microform] 1871 > Part 4
USA > Georgia > Morgan County > Buckhead > Atlanta City Directory Co.'s Greater Atlanta (Georgia) city directory including Avondale, Buckhead and all immediate suburbs [microform] 1871 > Part 4
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PHILLIPS & CREW BOOK SELLERS, Corner Marietta and Peachtree Sis
LAWSHE & HAYNES, JEWELERS, 50 WHITEHALL ST. Page 200
HANLEITER'S ATLANTA CITY DIRECTORY.
27
ocean, and there was no other way to get to either place except to pass through Atlanta.
The first engine that came here was called the Florida. It came up from Madison and was drawn by 16 mules. The first car that came here was made at Milledgeville by General Madison, keeper of the Pen- itentiary. It.came through Decatur. The engine was built and came up here, I believe, before the car that I have spoken of.
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MR. NORCROSS .- At the time I was elected Mayor there were what was called an orderly party and a rowdy party. The rowdy party was very strong, and they bid defiance to law and were very bitter against me because I was in favor and took active steps in the direction of law and order. The leaders of this party, the rowdies and ruffians and gamblers, swore that I should not be the Mayor of the city, and said if I did not resign I should leave town. I concluded I would not do that, and two or three mornings after I was inaugurated I got up and found a cannon pointed directly at my store door. They said that they had. fired it off, but there was no mark of any shot around my store any-
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L where. They swore the cannon should remain there until I left. I went around and took counsel of the good citizens, and I found that
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T there were plenty of men who, when, they could have the law to uphold them, were ready to enforce peace and good order. We organized about
H forty or fifty and drilled, and they were well drilled too. There was a
1 young man by the name of Chase, a bold, active, determined young
N man, who was foremost in the matter. This rowdy party saw the G movement that was being made against them, and they went to work and entrenched themselves, and swore that they would not be arrested, H but when they saw the force that was collected against them they made 0 no resistance. From that time to this the people of Atlanta.have been
U a peaceful and law-abiding people, that is, the party of law and order
S have been triumphant whenever they have showed their determination to uphold the law and preserve the peace. Mr. Formwalt was the first Mayor and I was the fourth.
There is one or two more items that I want to mention, and one of them is this: When the Georgia Railroad was finished, or about that time, there was a change made in the kind of currency used for change. The usual way of keeping accounts was by 6t cents, 12} cents, 372 cents, etc., fractional parts of a cent being used. I was the first man that commenced keeping accounts by the Federal money sys-
P tem, cents, dimes, half dimes, etc., and I believe Atlanta was the first place in Georgia this change was inaugurated. The. first merchants E
R that came here were men of small capital, almost no capital at all, and
who were not able to give credit. Trade was always brisk. A good deal of trade always centered here, but our merchants never sold on
D credit, and the consequence was that from the first we established a cash trade, and a result of this system was we always sold our goods for a less price and realized less profits.
JUDGE HAYDEN .- My friend Kyle here wrote to a man in New York stating his circumstances, and saving that he wanted about $15 worth of liquor, and he started out on $15 worth of liquor on credit.
J H. GAVAN, Cincinnati Beer and Ale Depot, 11 Alabama Street. Page 104.
BUY FANCY AND STAPLE GROCERIES FROM BRUMBY & McPHERSON, 18 WHITEHALL STREET . Page 66.
GEO. SHARP JR., LIVE JEWELER, WHITEHALL ST. See Front Cover
28- HANLEITER'S ATLANTA CITY DIRECTORY.
LAWSHE & HAYNES, JEWELERS, 50 WHITEHALL ST.' Page 200
. HANLEITER'S ATLANTA CITY DIRECTORY. 29
MR. NORCROSS .- The earliest merchants that came in after John Thrasher were myself and Collier & Lloyd. The first time that a train of cars came here on the Georgia road, which was about the 15th of September, 1845, there were but two stores here that sold general mer- chandise, and they were Collier & Lloyd and myself. Kyle had a little A grocery store, and Dunn had a little bonnet and hat store, but they did M C not amount to a great deal. 1 up and they commenced to build it. They at first decided to run the track in up by the State road shops, and to make the depot there. With that view, the embankment up there was constructed. Those of us who lived here then and had bought property, thought that the town would be up there, and we went to work and held a meeting and brought all the influence we could to bear upon the company to get them to change P B JUDGE HAYDEN .- When I first came here, Mr. Norcross had a saw- mill turned by two old blind horses, and he sawed about 175 feet of E lumber per day. The women of the country came in on purpose to L L look at it, and the peeple swore that he fed his horses on sawdust. This mill was located just about where the Air-Line Railroad Depot is now. the proposed location and bring it down here, and we prevailed on Mr. Tyler, who was President of the company, to bring the road down here (Kimball House) to this public square, upon condition that Mr Mitchell would give a place for the depot. It was done, and that was a turning point in the history of Atlanta. & MR. THRASHER. That was my ruin. I bought 100 acres of land with the expectation that the Macon road would stop up by the State road shops, and when I found that the road was going down here, I was very 0 'S much enraged, and sold out my interest in that 100 acres for 84 an acre, although it was about one-half of what I gave for it. I did not think the property would ever be worth any thing out there, and I sold out and went to Griffin. MR. NORCROSS -The first hotel here, after the Georgia road was finished, was started by Dr. Thompson. Previous to that there was a little house here on this (Kimball House) square, with two rooms on the ground and two above. That was all the hotel and all the board- ing house there was in Atlanta. The postoffice was there too. C L MR. JOHN GLENN .- The first engine that came here was in 1844, 0 MR. NORCROSS .- The reason why the streets are so crooked is, that T every man built on his land just to suit himself. The charter that was broken up by "cousin John" and those associated with him, provided for N I the appointment of commissioners to lay out the streets, but they were not allowed or would not exercise their duties, and so every man built upon his own land just as he pleased. There were only a very few that believed there ever would be a town here at all. That was one reason HI why the commissioners would not act, they did not think it a matter of much importance. Gov. Crawford did not believe that there would S ever be a city here, and Col. Long, the Chief Engineer of the Georgia road, said that Atlanta would never be anything but a wood station. hauled up from Madison. It came through Decatur, and I think there were at least 500 men came up with it from Decatur. MR. EZZARD .-. I recollect very well when the first passenger car came up from Milledgeville. The Western'& Atlantic road was then finished as far as Marietta, and the car went on through. There was one old farmer that made the engineer promise that he would stop and let him and daughter walk over the bridge across the Chattahoochee. 1 O U MR. NORCROSS .- I recollect very well the arrival of the first train of cars over the Georgia Railroad. It was on the 15th of September, 1845. The train came in about dark, Jugde King was on board and a great many others. There were a great many people out, and there was a great deal of excitement. There was a well in the square here and such was the excitement, and it being dark, a man fell into the well and was drowned. Judge King came very near falling in there also. T It was dark and he was just on the point of stepping in when some one cauglit him and saved him. I suppose there were about twenty fam- ilies here at that time. E JUDGE HAYDEN .- Col. Long spent all of his money at Marietta. He spent thousands of dollars there." Ile gave it as his opinion that when all the roads were built, Atlanta would consist of a cross road store, a blacksmith's shop, and perhaps, a little cobler's shop. MR. NORCROSS .-- I do not think that any of the engineers of the roads except L. P. Grant, had any idea that Atlanta would ever be a large town. MR. MEYER .- In 1848 there were 215 votes polled at the election for THE FIRST MURDER. Mayor. There was great excitement, and everybody was drummed up. MR. NORCROSS .- The first man that was murdered was killed below MR. KYLE .- In 1843 there were about seven families here. Just beyond where the Governor's mansion now stands was the burying ground. The present cemetery was not established until Sept., 1850. the house where I lived down near the LaGrange depot lot. I don't recollect his name. D MR. BRAY .- His name was McWilliams, and he was killed by a man named Bill Terrell. He was stabbed. It was during a canvass in 1848. THE FIRST FIRE. JOHN T. HAGAN, SOLE AGENT FOR THE PETRO OIL, WHICH IS WARRAED NOT TO EXPLODE, See Page 92. BUY FANCY AND STAPLE GROCERIES FROM BRUMBY & McPHERSON, 13 WHITEHAL STREET. Page 66
MR. NORCROSS .- The next great event in the history of Atlanta was the arrival of the cars on the Macon road. It was in 1846 or 1847. When it fell into new hands the name was changed from the old Mon- roe railroad to the Macon and Western railroad. The stock was bought
PHILLIPS & CREW, BOOK SELLERS, Compur Multia and P achtrue Sts.
W. K. FOX, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALER IN FURNITURE, cor. Marietta and Broad Sts. Page 82.
COL. BLECKLEY .- The first fire took place in 1850, on Alabama street, near the place where the building occupied by the Southern Express
J. H. GAVAN, Cincinnati Beer and Ale Depot, 11 Alabama Street. Page 104
GEO. SHARP, JE, LIVE JEWELER, WHITEHALL ST. See Front Cover.
30
HANLEITER'S ATLANTA CITY DIRECTORY.
marked ATLANTA, and very soon the town came to be known as ATLANTA. It was not named after the goddess Atalanta, and only the most ignorant people called it by that name. I recollect the matter distinctly. Atalanta had nothing to do with it. Company now stands. It was on the 16th of April. It made a light that illumined the whole town. Soon after this fire commenced, the alarm was given at a warehouse two or three hundred yards off, and several bales of cotton were destroyed. Then, about the time that fire had been extinguished, another alarm was given. The property dam-, aged and lost was very large. There were of course no steam engines, or no engines of any kind, nothing but buckets of water with which to put out the fire. During the fire some one entered the Georgia railroad depot and with an axe broke open the money drawer and took from $40 to $70. There were search warrants issued and arrests made and a court of investigation held. There was great excitement. The impression was that thieves were those who brought about these fires for the pur- pose of getting an opportunity to rob. MR. FLYNN .- I never began to hear of the town being called Atalanta until we began to get proud. I always understood that the reason the city was called Atlanta, was because it was one end of a connecting link between the Atlantic ocean and the waters of the Mississippi, and it was several years before I ever heard of its being named after the god- dess Atalanta. B E PRICE OF BOARD, ETC. THE FIRST CHURCH. COL. BLECKLEY .- In 185.1, board in Atlanta, at hotels, was $12 per month. Dr. Thompson, in 1851, advanced his to $15, and many of his boarders left on that account. The price at private boarding houses, was from 8 to $11 per month. MR. KYLE .- The first church that was built was a Methodist Church. It was built by public subseription. That was built about 1845. 4 JUDGE HAYDEN .- The first place that I attended church in Atlanta was up here in the Methodist Church (Wesley Chapel). After that they commenced preaching in the Baptist Church. They first built a school T house, which was also used as a church. Then they moved from that H place, when the lot was sold, down to where the church now stands. The next year the Baptist Church was built. MR. HOLCOMBE .- In October, 1847, I leased Washington Hall and kept that hotel until two years from that time. I boarded persons for $12 50 per month. I bought chickens from 64 to 10 cents per pair ; butter from 8 to 10 cts. per pound; eggs from 64 to 10 cts. per dozen. I have bought good beef for 2} cts. per pound; and the first time I paid N 6 cents a pound for beef was during a fair held at Stone Mountain. There was not room enough at Stone Mountain, and we had to provide G for a good many at Atlanta .. CAPT. BRAY .- My recollection is, that the first church I attended after I came to Atlanta in July, 1848, was the Methodist Church. The THE FIRST FRAME HOUSE. Baptist Church was in process of erection at the time. The Methodist Church was a simple hull of a church, and remained so for a long time. O My impression is that services were first held in the Methodist Church, MR. THRASHER .- The first frame house was built on the corner of Whitehall street in the summer of 1846. It was considered, at that time, as being out in the woods. but that the Baptist Church building was first completed. U S E THE FIRST MAN HUNG. 0 F H. C. HOLCOMBE .- In the year 1844 I was in Atlanta, Georgia, (then Marthasville,) and found only a few small houses on Decatur street, T THE FIRST LAWYER. H opposite the Kimball House, two or three on Kiles' corner, and some few scattering shantees on other points. MR. NORCROSS .- The first man hung was Radford J Crockett, and the name of the next man was John Cobb. E No running of the cars here then-there being no railroads com- L. C. Simpson was the first lawyer, and S. B. Hoyt the first law P I became a citizen of Atlanta on the 4th of May, 1847. I then found E R a population of about two hundred and fifty or three hundred persons, . ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF ATLANTA. counting all ages and colors, males and females. student. John T. Wilson and S. B. Hoyt, studied law together and went into partnership. Hoyt studied a little before Wilson. pleted to this point at that time, (July 28th, 1844). I In September of that year the Methodist Episcopal Church held its D quarterly meeting under a cotton shed which stood very near the pres- ent residence of Mr. James H.'Porter, on Wheat street. JOHN T. HAGAN, SOLE AGENT FOR THE PETRO OIL. WHICH IS WARRANTED NOT TO EXPLODE, See Page 92. BUY FANCY AND STAPLE GROCERIES FROM BRUMBY & McPHERSON, 18 WHITEHALL STREET. Page 66. .
MR. NORCROSS .- I recollect distinctly how the name of Atlanta was given to this city. It was formerly called Marthasville, and was also known throughout the State as Whitehall. I had a conversation with J. Edgar Thompson about it, and he said that he was going to call the depot ATLANTA in connection with the Western and Atlantic Rail- road. He said he did not care what they called the town, but he was going to call the depot Atlanta, and he did so, and the freight all came
PHILLIPS & CREW BOOK SELLERS, Corner Marietta and Peachtree Sts.
W. K. FOX, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALER IN FURNITURE, cor. Marietta and Broad Sts. Page 82.
LAWSHE & HAYNES, JEWELERS, 50 WHITEHALL ST. Page 200
EANLEITER'S ATLANTA CITY DIRECTORY.
31
.
There was not then a church building in the place sufficiently large in which that assembly could be convened. All of the lots now .occu- pied by church edifices were then in rough brush and forest' trees. There was a circular saw cutting lumber by horse power on the lot now occupied by the second City Market House, which is now being used as City Police headquarters.
J.H. GAVAN, Cincinnati Beer and Ale Depot 11 Alabama Street. Page 104
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GEO. SHARP JR., LIVE JEWELER, WHITEHALL ST See Front Cove
32 HANLEITER'S ATLANTA CITY DIRECTORY.
grounds were purchased by the mayor and council ; and the first grave was opened in said grounds on the 22d of September, 1850, and con- tains the mortal remains of a stranger here by the name of Asahel Caven, who sickened while traveling, but stopping at the old Wash- ington Hall Hotel, and there having died, was interred by the I .. O. of O. F., it being ascertained that he was a member of that order. The grounds upon which now stands the depot and office building of the State. Railroad were surrounded by the sturdy oaks of the forest, the immediate grounds being a caney marsh, the surfice of which was some twenty-five to thirty feet below the present grading. Cattle were frequently found mired and fast in the marsh, having gone there to feed on the switch cane and other marsh growth. Those cedar trees now growing so luxurantly in a lot on Marietta There were then but two houses on Alabama street, between White- hall and Loyd streets ; and the first fire that occured in Atlanta con- B sumed one of them- the same being in April, 1850. The first killing that occurred in Atlanta was the case of William Terrell killing ene Mr. McWilliams by stabbing, which took place in 1847. Dr. N. G. Hilburn was murdered by Elijah Bird (his brother-in-law), who cut his throat, from which he died instantly. Dr. D'Alvigny was soon at the spot, and pronounced him dead in a few moments after the cutting took place, which was in December, 1850. Bird was afterwards con- victed of murder for that act, but was pardoned by the Legislature. The first brick house erected in Atlanta was the " Atlanta Hotel," The Origin of the Name "Atlanta" Definitely Settled. which occupied the grounds now supporting the Southeast corner of the Kimball House. street, opposite the State Capitol, were transplanted there by Dr. Nat Austin in 1848, that lot being that year opened up from the wild forest by the said Austin. These trees were then mere, switchies, not so large as a convenient sized walking-cane. I saw the " razor-strap man" in 1847 standing on a large stump, from which a tree had but a little time before been cut, in Whitehall ATLANTA, GA., May 9th, 1871. street, in front of the present drug store of Redwine & Fox, crying Mr. . W. R. Hanleiter: his razor-straps off, and saying that he had " a few more of the same sort left." Then there were but a few houses in that part of the city, and they were not densely located. DEAR SIR-In answer to your note asking me to give you some information relative to the naming of Atlanta, I will state that in G the year 1845, J. Edgar Thompson, Esq., the present distinguished Civil Engineer and Railroad King, was the Chief Engineer of the H 0 Georgia Railroad from Augusta to its junction with the Western and Atlantic Railroad, then known as Marthasville. At that date I was the Superintendent and resident Engineer of the finished portion of the road from Augusta to Covington, and it became a S part of my duty to arrange the freight lists, and to notify the pub- lic of the opening of the road from Covington to Marthasville .. Atlanta was incorporated by the Legislature of 1847, and the act of incorporation provided for the election of a mayor and five members of council; and the first election under that charter was held at Kiles' corner in January, 1848. There was a few over two hundred votes polled at said election, which terminated in the choice of Moses W. Formwalt for the first mayor of the city of Atlanta. The first calaboose or city prison was put up in 1848 of hewn tim- ber, three logs thick-the middle tier or course-set in the wall on 0 I was not satisfied with the name given a point that, even at that T early day had become somewhat notorious by the Hon. John C. Calhoun, who, on passing through to the Memphis Convention, H E prophecied a great city in the future. I wrote to Mr. Thompson, P E who then resided in Madison, asking him to think of a name that would suit the place better. His reply was in substance as follows : " Eureka-Atlanta, the terininus of the Western and Atlantic the end. The building was twelve feet square on the outside and about eight feet square inside, and stood on the corner of Alabama and Pryor streets, in front of the American Hotel, that place then being remote, and the inmates not likely to annoy any of the citizens while being confined therein. The grounds now occupied by the Medical College were, in 1847 and 1848, covered with a deep and thick forest, in which small wild game were to be seen, and frequently picked off by the apt and anxious R Railroad-Atlantic masculine, Atlanta feminine, a coined word, . The building known as the Storr's School House is in the midst of suggestion, and in a few days issued the circulars adopting the what was the large fields then being planted and cultivated by the Ivy name, and had them very generally distributed throughout Georgia family, who were the owners of all that portion of grounds lying in 0 that vicinity. and if you think it will suit, adopt it." I was delighted with the I marksman. D and Tennessee, and at the next session of the Legislature, the act of incorporation was, changed by inserting Atlanta in place of Marthasville. Yours, truly, RICHARD PETERS. JOHN T. HAGAN, SOLE AGENT FOR THE PETRO OIL, WHICH IS WARRANTED NOT TO EXPLODE, See Page 92. BUY FANCY AND STAPLE GROCERIES FROM BRUMBY & McPHERSON, 18 WHITEHAL STREET. Page 66
The cemetery, or the ground used for that purpose then, are now covered with desirable and handsome residences, and are located on the left of Peachtree street, commencing North of the street crossing just beyond the residence of Col. N. J. Hammond. That was the city cemetery until 1850, when the older portion of the present cemetery
PHILLIPS & CREW, BOOK SELLERS, Corner Marietta and Peactree Sts.
W. K. FOX, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALER IN FURNITURE, cor. Marietta and Broad Sts. Page 82.
LAWSHE & HAYNES, JEWELER3, 50 WHITEHALL ST. Pure 300
HANLEITER'S ATLANTA CITY DIRECTORY.
A
33
J. H. GAVAN, Cincinnati Beer and Ale Depot, 11 Alabama Street. Page 104
D
GEO. SHARP JR., LIVE JEWELER, WHITEHALL ST. See Front Cover.
HANLEITER'S ATLANTA CITY DIRECTORY.
34 CAPT. W. R. HANLEITER : Dear Sir-In compliance with your re- quest I herewith furnish such information in reference to the sanitary condition of Atlanta, and its claims as a health rerort, as an experience ATLANTA, GEORGIA, JAN. 1, 1871. of five years as health officer of the city has enabled me to present. Meteorological, Barometrical and Thermometrical observations have been recorded, I apprehend, by other and competent professional gen- tlemen. The altitude of Atlanta is 1050 feet above the the level of the 'sea .. The climate is remarkably saluberous, and the atmosphere pos- sesses in a high degree an elasticity that is observed by all who have resided or visited here. A's a locality promotive of health it will com- pare favorably with any Southern city. As a summer resort it is attracting much attention, and many seekers of health and pleasure repair hither to enjoy the pure and exhilerating air of this climate. The morbid sensation of languor and sense of weariness incident to lower latitudes and which state is induced by ex- haustion of strength and the encroachment of agents that exist in less favored localities and that impair health by the constant draft upon the vital forces, and that'tends to lessen the vigor of the system, is never experienced here. The water of the Atlanta Mineral Springs has demonstrated its effi- diency as a remedial agent. Its patrons have not failed to secure the advantages that were developed by an analysis furnished by Prof. A. Means, in 1859. The Spring yields 60 gallons per hour, and the re- port of the analysis is here reproduced : Estimate made upon. one gallon, Imperial measure : Specific gravity, (distilled water being 1) .. 10005 Temperature .. 32} gals 66 far Quantity per hour, (now 60). GASEOUS CONTENTS: Carbonic acid 9.66 cubic ins Hydro sulphuric acid . 2.33 cubic ins Atmospheric air. about 12 per cent SOLID CONTENTS : Iron as a proto-carbonate, suspended in carb. acid gas ... 13.34 grs Sulphate of Magnesia 11.84 grN Carbonate of Magnesia . 4.15 grs Magnesia as base in both 6.01 Sulphate of Soda 8.82 grs Chloride of Sodium. 16.06 Lime. .not estimated. Silecia 55.11 grs. Entire solid contents a trace. The analysis thus made indicates that the water is applicable to such diseases as Dyspepsia, General Debility, Chronic Diarrhea, Torpidity of the Secretory functions, etc. It may be proper to state that within a period of four years the city JOHN T. HAGAN, SOLEAGENT FOR THE PETRO OIL, WHICH IS WARRANTED NOT TO EXPLODE. See Page 92. W. K. FOX, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALER IN FURNITURE, cor. Marietta and Broad Sts. Page 82.
PHILLIPS & CREW, BOOK SELLERS, Corner Marietta and Peachtree Sta.
LAWSHE & HAYNES, JEWELERS, 50 WHITEHALL ST. Page 200
HANLEITER'S ATLANTA CITY DIRECTORY. 35
has had an accession of about 10,00 inhabitants, the knowledge of which fact will serve, to some extent, to account for the increased number of C deaths. During the years 1866 and 1867 the victims of Small pox contributed a large per centage to the lists of city interments. Atlanta being the point of intersection of a number of railroads, in order to arrive at an approximate estimate of the true sanitary condition of the city, due allowance must be accorded for invalids, who being in tran- situ, not unfrequently find places in our mortuary reports, in the act L of making a temporary sojourn here in order to seek repose or recover from the effects of fatigue or exhaustion incident to travel.
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