Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II, Part 31

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-1933
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Byrd Printing Co.
Number of Pages: 1274


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Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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BROWN


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OAKLAND


The inscriptions higher up on the monument are as follows :


(West)


Near this stone repose the remains of JOSEPH EMERSON BROWN. He was born in Pickens District, S. C., April 15, 1821, and died hoping and relying, through faith, for salvation, in the future world, alone upon the mercies of Jesus Christ and the atonement made by Him, in Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 30, 1894. He was State Senator, 1849-1850; Presidential Elector, 1852; Judge of the Superior Courts, 1855-1857; Governor of Georgia for four consecutive terms, 1857-1865; Chief- Justice of Georgia, 1868-1870; United States Senator, 1880-1891; President W. & A. R. R. Co., 1870-1890. His history is written in the annals of Georgia.


(East)


By the side of those of her husband repose the mor- tal remains of ELIZABETH GRISHAM BROWN, wife of Joseph E. Brown and daughter of Rev. Joseph and Mary Steele Grisham. She was born in Pendleton, S. C., July 13, 1826; married in Westminster, S. C., July 13, 1847; died in Atlanta, Ga., Dec. 26, 1896. In all the duties of life she was faithful and true. She was a loving daughter, a faithful wife, a devoted mother, a true friend, and a sincere Christian. "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me,''


Besides the inscriptions above given, there are also inscriptions to his children on the other two sides of the monument. The grave of Senator Brown is covered by a solid block of granite, on' which is carved a cross. His beloved wife sleeps near him. Her grave is marked by a handsome marble headstone, on which, in addition to her name, is chiseled an excellent likeness of Mrs. Brown. On the same lot are buried Julius L. Brown, Franklin Pierce Brown and Charles McDonald Brown, three sons of Senator Brown; Colonel William Steele Grisham, a brother of Mrs. Brown, and several others. Charles McDonald Brown died while a student at Athens. In honor of this splendid youth, the sum of $50,000 was


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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS


afterwards given to the State University by the bereaved father, an amount which the former was to have received on the twenty-first anniversary of his birth. Franklin Pierce Brown died at the age of seventeen. On the monument is inscribed this estimate of him from the pen of Alexander H. Stephens: "Such a prodigy of intel- lect and virtue in a body so frail I never met with in any other human form and never expect to if I were to live a thousand years." Julius L. Brown was the eldest of the Senator's children. At the time of his death in 1910 he was a distinguished member of the Georgia bar.


Three hundred yards east of the Brown lot is the grave of COLONEL NATHANIEL J. HAMMOND, a former mem- ber of Congress from the Atlanta district and a lawyer of wide reputation. It is marked by a plain shaft of granite, bearing this inscription :


In memory of Nathaniel J. Hammond. Dec. 26, 1833. April 20, 1899. "Behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace."


On the base below, in large raised letters, is inscribed :


HAMMOND


In a separate lot nearby sleeps his honored father, COLONEL AMOS W. HAMMOND, with whom for a number of years he practiced law.


To the left of the Hunter Street driveway, not far from the Confederate monument, is a handsome marble column, around which is entwined a wreath of sculptured ivy. It is one of the finest memorial shafts in the ceme- tery-an exquisite work of art. The grave which it marks is the last resting place of CHIEF JUSTICE OSBORNE


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OAKLAND


A. LOCHRANE. The inscriptions on the monument are as follows :


(West)


In Memoriam. Judge Osborne Augustus' Lochrane. Born, Armaugh, Ireland, 1829. Died, Atlanta, Ga., 1887. (North)


Generous spirit, kingly heart, matchless orator, up- right jurist, loving father, tender husband, princely man; sweet be thy sleep until the glad resurrection morn shall summon thee to a glorious reunion with those whose hearts now bleed-


"For the touch of a vanished hand


And the sound of a voice that is still."


(Sonth)


"Land of my adoption, where the loved sleep folded in the embraces of your flowers, would that today it were my destiny to increase the flood-tide of your glory, as it will be mine to share your fortune, for when my few more years tremble to their close, I would sleep be- neath your soil, where the drip of April tears might fall upon my grave and the sunshine of your skies would warm Southern flowers to blossom upon my breast."


GENERAL ALFRED AUSTELL, the noted financier, who or- ganized the first national bank in the Southern States, just after the close of the Civil War, and Dr. Abner W. Calhoun, the distinguished specialist, occupy handsome vaults in this same neighborhood.


At the Fair Street entrance, an unpretentious shaft marks the last resting place of a distinguished minister of the Gospel, Congressman and jurist. It contains the following epitaph:


MARSHALL J. WELLBORN. Died at Columbus, Ga., Oct. 16, 1874, in the sixty-seventh, year of his age. Ever embarrassed by physical infirmities, he rose by in- tellectual excellence and rare energy to high judicial dis- tinction and served with honor in the halls of Congress. In the fullness of worldly success he forsook all to follow Jesus, and lived and died an able, devoted, and self- denying minister of the gospel.


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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS


His nephew, JUDGE MARSHALL J. CLARKE, for a number of years judge of the Atlanta Circuit, sleeps beside him.


To the south of the Brown monument, in the north- west part of the cemetery, is the grave of JUDGE JUNIUS HILLYER, an eminent jurist, Congressman and man of af- fairs. The spot is impressively marked by a handsome shaft of marble, on which is lettered the following simple epitaph :


JUNIUS HILLYER. Born April 23, 1807. Died June 21, 1886.


Just a few feet to the east, under a shaft of marble somewhat colored with age, sleeps one of the pioneers of Presbyterianism in upper Georgia, a distinguished edu+ cator and a noted pastor. The inscription on his monu- ment reads :


REV'D JOHN S. WILSON, D. D. Born, Jan. 4, 1796. Died, Mar. 27, 1873. For more than half a cen- tury a standard-bearer of the cross, he closed his long and useful ministry as pastor for fifteen years of the First Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Ga.


"Servant of God well done, Rest from thy loved employ. The battle fought, the victory won, Enter thy Master's joy."


In this same part of the cemetery sleep MAJOR CAMP- BELL WALLACE, a noted financier and railway builder; CAPTAIN W. A. FULLER, who overtook and captured the notorious raider Andrews, in one of the most thrilling exploits of the Civil War; COLONEL W. A. HEMPHILL, long the business manager of the Atlanta Constitution;


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OAKLAND


JUDGE W. H. HULSEY, a distinguished lawyer; COLONEL W. T. WILSON, a gallant Confederate officer, who fell at Manassas, one of the first victims of the Civil War, and MAJOR SIDNEY ROOT, a useful pioneer citizen.


7


To the south of the foregoing group, in an unmarked grave, repose the mortal ashes of the foremost criminal advocate of his day and time in Georgia; GENERAL LU- CIUS J. GARTRELL. Prior to the Civil War, General Gar- trell was a member of Congress. On the field of battle he won merited distinction, and in 1882 he opposed Alexander H. Stephens for the high office of Governor. It is to be hoped that ere long a substantial monument will mark the last resting place of this lamented Geor- gian.


Another eminent citizen of the State whose grave in Oakland Cemetery is at present unmarked, is the re- vered CHIEF JUSTICE LOGAN E. BLECKLEY; but the proba- bilities are that a handsome memorial in the very near future will be placed over his ashes.


Just a few feet from the Bleckley lot is the grave of COL. BASIL, H. OVERBY, marked by a substantial head- stone. Judge Overby was perhaps the first man in Geor- gia to run for Governor on a straight Prohibition ticket. Judge Bleckley and he married sisters, daughters of General Hugh A. Haralson. Still another sister married General John B. Gordon.


On the left of the Hunter Street driveway, some three hundred yards from the gate, under a simple monu-


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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS


ment of marble, sleeps COLONEL JAMES M. CALHOUN, At- lanta's war-time mayor. On the south side of the monu- ment is inscribed the following epitaph :


JAMES M. CALHOUN. Born in Calhoun Settle- ment, Abbeville District, S. C., February 12, 1811, and died in Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 1, 1875. Aged 64 years, 7 months and 18 days. An able and faithful lawyer, a true and honorable public servant, an upright and con- scientious citizen, a generous and warm-hearted friend, an affectionate husband and father. "His life, taken all together, was an eminent success and he left the world with friends, relatives, and a great city to mourn his loss."


In a neighboring lot his son, Judge William Lown- des Calhoun, a gallant Confederate soldier, a former mayor, and a well-known lawyer-for years the Ordi- nary of Fulton County-lies buried.


MR. RICHARD PETERS, one of Atlanta's earliest pioneer citizens, a substantial man of affairs, is likewise buried on the south side of the Hunter Street driveway, where his grave is handsomely marked. IRA O. MCDANIEL and JAMES E. WILLIAMS, both carly mayors of the city, the former the father of Governor Henry D. McDaniel, are also buried in this part of Oakland. On the north side of the driveway is the Collier vault, in which reposes the body of JUDGE JOHN COLLIER, who framed Atlanta's ear- liest municipal charter.


One of the handsomest mausoleums in Oakland Cem- etery is occupied by the GRANTS-JOHN T. and WM. D .- father and son, two of Atlanta's wealthiest citizens.


In the neighborhood of the Hill lot, on an eminence to the right of the main driveway, at the eastern extreme


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OAKLAND


of the burial-ground, is a neat shaft of marble, which marks the last resting place of PROFESSOR BERNARD MAL- LON, the first superintendent of Atlanta's public schools. The inscriptions on the monument are as follows :


(North)


Bernard Mallon. Born in Ireland, Sept. 14, 1824. From Nov., 1848, until Aug., 1879, a citizen of Georgia. Died in Texas, Oct. 21, 1879.


(South)


A trusted leader among Southern workers in the cause of popular education, for thirty-one years. As teacher and superintendent, he devoted his life to organ- izing public schools in Georgia.


(West)


Erected by the teachers and pupils of the public schools of Atlanta. Our First Superintendent.


(East)


Patient and wise teacher, he loved God and little children. Gentle and pure man, honor was his shield, his golden motto, duty without fear.


The list of Oakland's distinguished dead includes also : HON. JONATHAN NORCROSS, JUDGE SAMUEL B. HOYT, DR. E. N. CALHOUN, JOSEPH WINSHIP, founder of Atlanta's pioneer iron works; JOHN F. MIMS, an early mayor; GREEN B. HAYGOOD, REUBEN CONE, JULIUS A. HAYDEN, THOMAS G. HEALEY, N. L. ANGIER, AMMI WILLIAMS, WALKER P. INMAN, HUGH T. INMAN, RHODE HILL, WILL- IAM MARKHAM, C. E. BOYNTON, E. P. CHAMBERLIN, W. A. RAWSON, E. E. RAWSON, WM. M. LOWRY, PHILIP DODD, GREEN T. DODD, M. C. KISER, J. F. KISER, F. M. COKER, JOHN NEAL, T. B. NEAL, COLONEL R. F. MADDOX, JOHN T. GLENN, PORTER KING, J. W. RUCKER, JOSEPH HIRSCH, W. A. MOORE, E. W. MARSH, W. B. COX, IRA Y. SAGE, JUDGE WILLIAM EZZARD, G. J. FOREACRE, JOHN R. GRAMLING, COLONEL E. N. BROYLES, MAJOR B. E. CRANE, HON. MOSES


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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS


FORMWALT, Atlanta's first mayor, in a grave unmarked; COLONEL WM. HI. DABNEY, WM. C. SANDERS, JOHN R. GRAMLING, JOHN D. TURNER, WM. B. COX, JUDGE JOHN L. HOPKINS, JUDGE JOIIN ERSKINE, JARED I. WHITAKER, JOHN M. HILL, JUDGE JOHN L. HOPKINS, R. H. RICHARDS, JOHN RYAN, ANTHONY MURPHY, PROF. W. A. BASS, DR. D. C. O'KEEFE, one of the founders of Atlanta's public school system ; COLONEL REUBEN ARNOLD, DR. H. H. SMITH, and a host of others, who may not improperly be called the real builders of the Gate City of the South.


Perhaps the most unique memorial structure in Oak- land is the JASPER N. SMITH vault, to the right of the main driveway, near the Hunter Street gate. Above the door of the vault is a granite statue of Mr. Smith, which portrays him seated in an easy chair, with his beaver in his hand, looking toward the North. There is no semblance of a necktie about the collar-band, for the reason that no one ever saw him when he wore this unnecessary article of adornment. The original of the statue is still in life, an eccentric old gentleman of large means, whose first contribution to Atlanta's architec- tural attractions was the quaint structure, at the corner of Peachtree and Forsyth, known as the "House that Jack Built." The inscription on the vault, waiting to be completed hereafter, is as follows :


Jasper N. Smith. Born in Walton Co., Ga., Dec. 29, 1833.


Westview, Atlanta


Westview, the modern cemetery of Atlanta, is lo- cated four miles from the center of the city, on the Green's Ferry road. It is controlled by a joint stock company, organized in 1884. The site is a beautiful one


.


429


WESTVIEW


for the purpose, and the grounds have been highly im- proved. There are several hundred acres of land within the enclosure, and for years to come it is likely to be the city's favorite burial-ground, though other ceme- teries have since been opened. Here, also, a handsome Confederate monument, surmounted by the statue of a private soldier, musket in hand, has been erected on one of the highest points, and there are many substantial and costly memorial stones. The cemetery contains a number of historic shrines, including the vault in which the ashes of the illustrious Henry W. Grady are en- tombed.


To the left of the main driveway, near the foot of the first hill, occupying a lot donated for the purpose by the corporation, is the grave of Dewey's flag lieutenant, who planned the battle of Manila Bay and hoisted the American flag above the Philippines. The handsome granite shaft, on which is designed a rope coiled and knotted in sailor fashion, emblematic of service on the high seas, contains the following brief inscription :


LIEUTENANT THOMAS M. BRUMBY, U. S. N. Died, December 17, 1899, aged forty-four years.


Some distance from the Brumby monument, but to the right of the same driveway, on the slopes of one of the highest hills in the cemetery, is the Grady vault, an impressive structure of marble, in which rest the mortal remains of the South's great orator and editor. On the crypt of the vault which contains the ashes is in- scribed :


HENRY WOODFIN GRADY. Born May 24th, 1850. Died Dec. 23rd, 1889.


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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS


On the same side of the vault sleeps his wife, Julia King Grady; on the opposite side is David Banks Gould.


Directly across the main driveway from the Grady vault is the tomb of CAPTAIN EVAN P. HOWELL, for years an associate with Mr. Grady in the ownership of the Atlanta Constitution, and himself one of Georgia's most distinguished sons. The monument which marks his last resting place is a handsome shaft of granite, on which is lettered the following record :


(North) EVAN PARK HOWELL. Dec. 10, 1839. Aug. 6, 1905. (South) A Confederate soldier. A patriotic American. A pioneer builder of Atlanta.


In the same neighborhood, under a most substantial and elegant shaft of granite, sleeps PROF. WILLIAM HENRY PECK, the novelist.


Still nearer the crest of the same hill on which the Grady vault stands may be seen a boulder of rough-hewn granite, the beauty of which cannot fail to catch the eye. It marks the last resting place of JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS, the South's most illustrious man of letters and the cre- ator of the far-famed "Uncle Remus." On a copper plate embedded in the surface of the stone is inscribed in raised letters the following record:


JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS. Born, Eatonton, Ga., Dec. 9th, 1849. Died, Atlanta, Ga., July 3rd, 1908.


Then follows a quotation from the author's pen: "I seem to see before me the smiling faces of thou-


Tomb of Joel Chandler Harris (Uncle Remus)


Tomb of Henry W. Grady, the South's Great Orator Journalist


HISTORIC TOMBS AT WESTVIEW.


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WESTVIEW


sands of children, some. young and fresh and some wear- ing the friendly marks of age, but all children at heart and not an unfriendly face among them; and, while I am trying hard to speak the right word, I seem to hear a voice lifted above the rest, saying: 'You have made some of us happy,' and so I feel my heart fluttering and my, lips trembling, and I have to bow silently and turn away and hurry back into the obscurity that fits me best."


Modest to a fault, simple in his tastes and habits, rugged in his character, unselfish in his love, especially for little children, nothing in the way of a memorial to Mr. Harris could possibly be more appropriate than this boulder of mountain granite, inscribed with the sen- timent which it reproduces from his own writings.


On the summit of the hill, near the grave of Uncle Remus, sleeps GEORGE W. ADAIR, a pioneer citizen, for more than twenty-five years a close neighbor to Mr. Harris in West End; DR. HENRY HOLCOMBE TUCKER, an eminent Baptist educator, publicist and divine; JOHN SILVEY, one of Atlanta's pioneer merchants; MAJOR D. N. SPEER, for many years treasurer of the State of Georgia; COLONEL WM. L. SCRUGGS, an ex-United States Minister of Colombia and Venezuela; LAURENT DEGIVE, an ex-consul of Belgium, who built Atlanta's first opera house; and DAVID MAYER, a public spirited and generous Hebrew, one of the founders of the local system of public schools. The inscription on the monu- ment of the last-named citizen of Atlanta is a model. It reads :


Broad in his philanthropies, generous in apprecia- tion of his fellow-men, he moved through the circle of his days, uninfluenced by the spirit of prejudice against either creed or sect; thrilled by every song, moved by every prayer, and sharing every tear of our common humanity.


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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS


The list of former distinguished residents of Atlanta buried in Westview includes also: JUDGE RUFUS T. DOR- SEY, DR. R. T. SPALDING, DR. HUNTER P. COOPER, REV. E. H. BARNETT, D. D., for years an honored pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, of Atlanta; JUDGE DANIEL PITTMAN, REV. I. T. TICHNOR, D. D., long secretary of the Educational Board of the Baptist Church in Georgia; COLONEL T. W. LATHAM, COLONEL B. F. ABBOTT, CAPTAIN T. S. LEWIS, J. M. HIGH, W. A. RUSSELL, W. J. GARRETT, J. B. WHITEHEAD, COLONEL L. P. GRANT, JUDGE HENRY K. MCKAY, JUDGE JOHN S. BIGBY, and JUDGE HENRY B. TOMPKINS.


In an unmarked grave, on the slopes of Laurel Hill, the highest point of Westview, sleeps DR. JAMES G. ARM- STRONG, an Episcopal clergyman of rare attainments, whose resemblance to the Booth family of actors was most striking. He was rector of St. Philip's Cathedral for a number of years, but was unfrocked some time in the eighties for alleged offences in regard to which there has always been a diversity of opinion. At the time of his death he was the ripest Shakespearean scholar in the State. He was also an authority on Goethe; and was profoundly versed in the German, French and English philosophies. His son-in-law, HON. WILLIAM C. GLENN, at one time Attorney-General of Georgia, sleeps in an unmarked grave beside him. The State could well afford to build the latter a monument. He was the author of the famous Glenn tax bill, afterwards enacted into law, by virtue of which a vast sum of money was realized. Prior to the adoption of this measure it is said that rail- road property, aggregating in value something like $60,- 000,000, was exempt from taxation .*


Town Cemetery, Greenville


Greenville is only a small country town, with a popu- lation barely exceeding one thousand souls, but in the


*See Memoirs of Georgia, Vol. I, p. 786, Atlanta, 1895.


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TOWN CEMETERY


quiet little graveyard on the hill there sleeps a Chief Justice, a member of Congress, who was also an Assist- ant Postmaster-General; a noted educator of Georgia youth, a Judge of the Superior Court, and a Governor of the State, who was also an Attorney-General of Geor- gia and a United States Senator. Near the center of the burial ground, in a lot enclosed by a handsome iron railing, sleeps the mortal dust of CHIEF JUSTICE HIRAM WARNER. His grave is marked by an obelisk of white marble, devoid of anything like elaborate ornamentation. It merely records the fact that he was Georgia's Chief Justice, giving the date of his birth, 1802, and the date of his death, 1881.


Underneath a shaft of marble, somewhat more or- namental in design, there rests within this same enclos- ure the mortal remains of JUDGE OBADIAH WARNER, a younger brother of the Chief Justice and a jurist of very great note. The inscription on his monument reads as follows :


OBADIAH WARNER. Born January 8, 1811. Died August 5, 1891. Aged cighty years and seven months. Judge of the Superior Court of the Coweta Circuit. He never fell below that standard of manhood which men recognize as of the highest type.


On this same lot sleeps ALEXANDER FRANKLIN HILL, a much beloved citizen of Greenville, who married a daughter of Judge Hiram Warner. He was the father of Judge Hiram Warner Hill, of the present Supreme Court of Georgia.


Handsomely marked by a double headstone of solid granite is the last resting place of HON. JOSEPH M. TER-


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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS


RELL, one of Georgia's most distinguished sons. On the front is inscribed :


JOSEPH MERIWETHER TERRELL. June 6, 1861. Nov. 17, 1912.


On the rear of the monument are recorded the various positions of honor which he held, as follows:


United States Senator, 61st. Congress. Governor of Georgia, 1902-1907. Attorney-General of Georgia, 1892- 1902. Legislator, 1884-1886-1890. 4


His father, Dr. Joel E. G. Terrell, whose career was likewise cut short at the age of fifty-two, is buried on the same lot, underneath a beautiful monument of marble. The lot is enclosed by an iron railing.


One of Georgia's most noted educators, HON. WM. T. REVILL, is buried on this hill. Two of his pupils sub- sequently became Governors of the State: William Y. Atkinson and Joseph M. Terrell. At the time of his death he was a member of the General Assembly of Georgia. The following inscription is lettered on his monument :


WM. TINSLEY REVILL. Born Feb. 17, 1836. Died May 9, 1904. A fond husband, tender father, and loyal friend. True to his convictions, he left to pos- terity a priceless heritage, that of an untarnished name. After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well.


Here sleeps beneath a towering obelisk of granite the mortal ashes of a former member of Congress : HON. HENRY R. HARRIS. He represented Georgia in the halls of national legislation from 1872 to 1878, and from 1884


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OAK HILL


to 1886, after which he became an Assistant Postmaster- General under President Cleveland. The inscription on his monument reads :


HENRY R. HARRIS. Feb. 2, 1828. Oct. 15, 1909. His record is on high.


The lot is enclosed by an iron railing, but opens through a gateway into an area of much smaller dimen- sions, in the center of which stands a fine old marble obelisk, somewhat begrimed with age, on which the fol- lowing inscription appears :


HENRY HARRIS. Born May 15, 1781. Died Dec. 24, 1858. In life he was upright. In death triumphant.


Mr. Harris was one of the pioneers of Greenville. He was also the founder of a most distinguished family in this State. His son, Henry R. Harris, as above noted, became a member of Congress and Assistant Postmaster- General of the United States; while two of his descend- ants have become Governors of States: Governor Luther E. Hall, of Louisiana, and Governor John M. Slaton, of Georgia.


Oak Hill, Newnan


There is not a burial ground of the dead in Georgia more beautifully kept than Oak Hill, at Newnan, nor a sexton more courteous than Mr. W. D. Palmer, under whose supervision the cemetery has grown in attractive- ness until today it is one of the beauty spots of the State. It contains a number of costly monuments, not a few of which mark the graves of distinguished Georgians. Just to the right of the main driveway, on entering this beautiful citadel of silence, is the last resting place of Governor William Y. Atkinson, whose death soon after his relinquishment of office brought to a premature close


436


GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS


one of the most brilliant of public careers. The grave of Governor Atkinson is ornamented by an unpreten- tious but handsome stone, with this inscription :


WILLIAM YATES ATKINSON. 1854-1899.


On the marble grave-cover is carved the following epitaph :


As son, brother, husband, father, he was tender and true. A friend to the poor and the weak. In the path of duty he knew no fear. His fellow-citizens recogniz- ing in him a leader among men called him to be Gov- ernor of Georgia. A friend of public education, he was the author of the acts establishing the Newnan Public Schools and the Georgia Normal and Industrial College. While still in his young manhood he was called from earth to a more perfect home in Heaven.




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