USA > Georgia > Fulton County > Atlanta > History of Atlanta, Georgia : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 18
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Ever since his residence in Atlanta Colonel Markham has been a member and active worker in the First Presbyterian Church. He was early elected an elder, and organized the first Presbyterian Sabbath school in the city ; was in- strumental in forming Sabbath schools in other places, and he was actively en- gaged in this branch of church work for sixteen years. He is also connected with the Young Men's Christian Association, and in the promotion of all reli- gious and charitable work has been a generous contributor. For the last twelve years he has taken a deep interest in orange cultivation in Florida, and owns an orange grove of one hundred acres eight miles from Sanford, on the We- kiva River.
Colonel Markham has contributed in many ways to the advancement of Atlanta. Here all his interests are centered, and his money and talents have been almost solely devoted to the development of the city. He is a man of good business judgement, careful and methodical in habits, and has proven his unbounded faith in the future growth and prosperity of the capital city. He freely contributes to all benevolent objects, while his private charities, always unostentatious, are bestowed in an unstinted way. His sturdy honesty and unbending integrity in all business affairs are known to all who have had busi- ness relationship with him, and no man in Atlanta possesses more unreservedly the trust and confidence of the commercial community. His life, viewed from all sides has been a success, and in all the relations of a father, husband and citizen alike honorable and worthy of imitation. Although past the allotted three score and ten his mental and physical vigor gives promise of years of usefulness, and that he may live many years to enjoy a well earned repose, is the wish of every friend of the city which his years of honorable toil has en- riched and made more prosperous.
M ILES, WILLIAM BURTIS was born in Champaign county, O., and is a son of Abram C. and Martha J. (Miller) Miles. His parents were of Welch and German descent. His father was a contractor and builder, and through the State of Ohio erected numerous public and private buildings. He died in 1875, but his wife is still living, and resides with the subject of this sketch in Atlanta.
W. B. Miles lived with his parents at West Liberty, O., during most of the years of his boyhood, where he received a common school education. At the age of nineteen he enlisted as a private in Company "S," First Regiment of
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New York Sharpshooters, but was soon after promoted to the rank of sergeant- major of the regiment. This command formed a part of the Army of the Poto- mac, and participated in all the principal engagements in which this division of the Union forces took part until the war closed, when Mr. Miles was mus- tered out of service at Rochester, N. Y.
After the war he settled in Toledo, O., and began his career as a contractor and builder. The most prominent of the early buildings erected by him were the Masonic Temple and Hotel Madison at Toledo. He remained alone until 1882, when I. K. Cramer and Charles D. Horn became associated with him as partners under the firm name of Miles, Cramer & Horn. Mr. Cramer re- tired in 1884, and from that time until the death of Mr. Horn in August, 1887, the firm name was Miles & Horn.
Besides the construction of many business blocks and private residences in Toledo, Mr. Miles erected court-houses and other public buildings in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. In 1884 he and his partner secured the contract to erect the State capitol at Atlanta, and in the fall of that year he moved to this city, where he has since been principally engaged in prosecuting this work. This building, finished in January, 1889, is the finest structure in the State, and the admirable manner of its construction will be a fitting monument to the skill and honesty of Mr. Miles, under whose personal supervision and direction the work progressed.
Onerous as have been the duties in connection with the capitol building, it has not consumed all the time and energies of Mr. Miles. He is president of the Atlanta Bridge and Axle Company, which is the only bridge company engaged in building iron and steel bridges throughout the South, and employs about three hundred men.
Mr. Miles is also general manager of the Southern Marble Company, which was organized in 1886, and now has offices in Cincinnati and Atlanta. The quarries and mills of the company are located in Pickens county, Ga., and the superior quality of marble obtained from this section of the State has devel- oped into an extensive enterprise.
Mr. Miles was married in 1868 to Sarah M. Morehead, of Ottawa, O. They have had four children, three of whom are living. Mr. Miles and his wife are members of the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta.
Although he has been only a few years a resident of Atlanta Mr. Miles has. become thoroughly identified with the city by extensive business interests. He has been remarkably successful in his line of work, and has the power to carry on large and varied enterprises without difficulty, and in such a way as to secure the best results. He possesses executive force of unusual degree, and in the management of large bodies of men has attained a high degree of suc- cess. The rapid progress he has made is the best proof of the honorable man- ner in which he has performed his business obligations. His record in this re-
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gard has secured for him the unbounded confidence of the people, and is the best guarantee that whatever interest is intrusted to him will receive faithful and honest attention. His selection of Atlanta as a permanent home has in numerous ways advanced the material welfare of the city, while the progress and development of the enterprises with which he is connected will still further add to the general prosperity.
M YNATT, COLONEL P. L., one of the leading lawyers of Atlanta, was born in Knox county, Tenn., about fifty years ago, and is a son of Joseph and Eliza (Hickle) Mynatt, the former of English and the latter of German descent. His ancestors settled in Virginia before the Revolution, and here both of his parents were born. His father was a farmer and the early life of the subject of this sketch was passed upon a farm. His elementary education was received at the old field school of his native town. He afterwards at- tended Marysville College in Blount county, Tenn., from which he gradu- ated in 1850. After a short period in teaching school in DeKalb county, Ala., he began the study of law at home, supplemented by a term in the Lebanon law school of Middle Tennessee. He was admitted to the bar in 1855, and at once began the practice of his profession at Jacksboro, Campbell county, Tenn. Here he remained but a short time, when desiring a wider field, he removed to Knoxville, Tenn., where he was gaining a lucrative practice when the war between the States began. In this struggle, by conviction, education and ties of kindred his sympathies were naturally with the Confederate cause. He ac- cordingly in the early part of the war united with Company B, of the Sixty- sixth Confederate Regiment of Tennessee Infantry, which for several months was mainly engaged in guarding bridges. In the early part of 1862 he enlisted in Company I, Second Cavalry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Henry Ashby, and during the battle of Murfreesboro he was made commissary of the First Cavalry Regiment under Colonel James E. Carter. While serving in this capacity he was made commissary of the cavalry corps commanded by Gen- eral W. Y. C. Humes, which formed a part of General Wheeler's cavalry com- mand. He remained in the latter position until the close of the war, and was paroled at Charlotteville, May 3, 1865. During his extended military career Colonel Mynatt served principally on staff duty, and was almost constantly in the field, exposed to all the dangers of many of the most hard fought battles of the rebellion.
After the close of the war Colonel Mynatt came to Atlanta, and no young attorney ever began the practice of his profession under circumstances of more discouragements. Not only was the field selected at that time anything but promising, but his books and property in Tennessee had been confiscated, and without money or aid of friends, he was compelled to commence life anew. Pressing necessities gave him no time to waste over useless regrets, and in hard 13*
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work and patient industry he began to lay the foundation of his present de- served success at the bar. His clientage increased rapidly, and but a short time elapsed after his removal to Atlanta before he had acquired as profitable a practice as held by any member of his profession in the city. His position as one of the ablest members of the Atlanta bar was soon gained, and during the many years that have since gone by, not only has this position been main- tained in a vigorous contest for professional laurels, but it is not too much to say that few, if any, in the State stand higher in the estimation of the members of his profession for his thorough knowledge and mastery of the principles of law. His practice has been general in character, but has pertained principally to civil and especially corporation cases. He has been connected with some of the most important litigations in Atlanta, a notable case being a suit brought by the bondholders against the Air Line Railroad, involving $11,000,000. In this case Colonel Mynatt was the principal attorney of the railroad, and was opt posed by some of the leading lawyers of the State. It attracted wide attention by the new and novel legal questions it gave rise to, as well as the large amount of money involved. After a long and closely contested fight, it was decided in Colonel Mynatt's favor, and is justly considered one of his greatest legal vic- tories. Another test of his legal ability was furnished in 1885, in the noted contest relative to the constitutionality of the prohibition enactments. This case grew out of the adoption by the people of Atlanta of prohibitory laws, restraining the sale of intoxicating liquors. It was sought by a few liquor man- ufacturers, representing large capital, to have these laws set aside as unconsti- tutional. Several of the ablest lawyers of the State appeared on each side, and Colonel Mynatt was selected as the leading counsel for the defense. He won in both the State and Federal Courts, and probably no legal fight in Georgia was more thoroughly and ably conducted by the respective counsel. He was also leading counsel in the State railroad commission case, commenced in 1879 and continued for more than three years. This litigation grew out of the adop- tion by the State of the law creating the present railroad commission. After the appointment of commissioners, some of the leading railroad companies of the State attempted to legally restrain them from discharging the duties of their office, on the ground that the law creating them was unconstitutional. Colonel Mynatt appeared for the commissioners against some of the leading lawyers in the State, and succeeded in gaining a victory in the State and United States Court. These three cases attracted at the time great attention, and Colonel Mynatt's prominent participation in them would alone be sufficient to entitle him to the reputation of a lawyer of marked ability. He is the legal representative of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railway Company, and the Atlanta and Florida Railroad Company. In corporation law he is particularly well versed, and his practice largely pertains to litigation growing out of the complicated and conflicting questions thereto. His wonderful suc-
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cess in this branch of practice forcibly illustrates his well grounded knowledge of the law, and his careful and continued study. He thoroughly understands that the lawyer who fails by hard work to keep abreast of the constantly chang- ing conditions pertaining to the practice of his profession must be content to occupy a secondary position. His success and standing among his legal breth- ren of the bar have not been secured by fortuitous circumstances, or by a sin- gle brilliant stroke, but can be explained only by the fact of his persistent, well directed efforts, united to a natural love for his calling, and a worthy ambition to excel. He has closely and exclusively devoted his time to his profession, to the exclusion of conflicting interests, and has not only secured a handsome fortune as the result of his professional work, but an enviable position among the foremost lawyers of the State. His distinguishing traits as a lawyer have been careful and thorough investigation of the law and facts of his cases, and the methodical and accurate preparation of them for trial. He has the judi- cial mind, united to quickness of perception, and the broadness of views so essential to a high degree of success in the legal arena. He never descends to the tricks of a pettifogger, and no lawyer at the Atlanta bar possesses in a higher degree the respect and confidence of his associates, both for profes- sional attainments and honorable, manly attributes.
In politics he is in hearty accord with the principles of the Democratic party, and has cheerfully contributed his full share of the work in maintaining its ascendency in State and national affairs, but has never permitted it, whatever desire he might have for political preferment, to interfere with the legitimate practice of his profession. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1877, and in 1878 was elected a member of the State Legislature, and served in this capacity with zeal and efficiency for nearly three years. His eminent fitness for judicial office has often been recognized by the tender of nomina- tions for such positions, but he has uniformly declined to become a candidate.
He was married in 1860 to Miss Alice Wallace, daughter of Campbell Wal- lace, of Atlanta, at present chairman of the State Railroad Commission. They have had four children, three sons and one daughter. Colonel Mynatt is a member and for several years has been an elder of the Central Presbyterian Church. He is literary in his tastes, and keeps fully abreast of the current thought of the day. Personally he is pleasant and affable in disposition, en- joys social intercourse, and finds his chief enjoyment in the domestic circle. Hle is public- spirited, and has contributed his full share to all projects which have advanced the material progress of Atlanta.
L' ISER, MARION COLUMBUS, wholesale dry goods merchant of Atlanta,
K was born in Campbell county, Ga., Dec. 21, 1830, and is a son of John and Eleanor (Howell) Kiser. His father was born in North Carolina, and moved to Campbell county in 1822, where he died in 1867. His mother was also a
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native of North Carolina. She was a sister of Evan Howell, of Guinnett county, and of Isaac Howell, of this county. The boyhood and years of early manhood of the subject of this sketch were passed on his father's farm, where he became familiar with the rugged life of a farmer, and laid the foundation of a robust physical force that has admirably withstood the drains of an unusually active career. His early educational advantages were limited, and at the age of nine- teen he went to Powder Springs, and became a clerk in the general merchan- dise store of W. J. & M. P. Kiser. He remained in this capacity until 1854, when, having mastered all the details of the business, he secured a partnership interest. He continued in this line of business with a fair degree of success until 1860, when he purchased a farm at Powder Springs, Cobb county, in the cultivation of which he was engaged until the beginning of the war. By birth, associations and convictions he naturally espoused the Southern cause, and in the early part of 1862 he enlisted in Company F, First Confederate Georgia Regiment, and soon after he was chosen quartermaster of the regiment, and served in that capacity until the war closed, and was paroled at Atlanta in May, 1865. He accepted in a manly spirit the results of the war, and imme- diately returned to his farm and began to do his share to bring about pros- perity in the devastated South. He remained on the farm for three years, and in October, 1868, moved to Atlanta, and in partnership with his brother, J. F. Kiser, established a retail dry goods store on Whitehall street, under the firm name of M. C. & J. F. Kiser. With limited means, but enthusiastic and ambitious, they applied themselves with tireless energy to their work, and at the end of two years had established a prosperous business. In 1870 they changed from a retail to a wholesale trade, and in 1872 moved to their present quarters, corner of Wall and Pryor streets. Mr. Kiser's brother died in 1882, and the firm is now composed of five partners besides Mr. Kiser, all of whom had been previously connected with the house in a clerical capacity, but whose efficiency secured for them an interest in the business. From the beginning Mr. Kiser has been at the head of the firm, and to his business generalship and personal supervision the large and profitable trade of the house is princi- pally due. As a business man his course has been marked by strict honesty, and an integrity that has never swerved from the strictest interpretation of manly honor. He possesses unusual executive ability and genius for organiz- ation and administration which fit him for the gravest responsibilities. In the line of business to which he has devoted so many years, he has had the most practical experience from the simplest details to the most complicated depart- ment, and is therefore complete master of it. He is a man of remarkably clear and well poised judgment ; has thorough control of his temper, and in the most perplexing and annoying position is always able to act considerately. Thoroughly systematic in his methods of working, with unusual power of men- tal and physical endurance, never spasmodic, but steadily and persistently, he
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pursues his plans with that fixed determination which cannot understand de- feat. He possesses none of the irascibility of temper so often exhibited by managers of great business interests, but is approachable, respectful, and con- siderate at all times, to even the humblest person who may have business with him, and is utterly lacking in the arrogance of assumed importance. Although he exacts faithful and strict obedience from those under him, it is accompanied by a kindliness of manner toward them and genuine sympathy with them which wins their good will and secures their hearty co operation in his work. Such are a few of his striking characteristics as a business man, and which have distinguished a career awarded with a high degree of success.
The various causes and agencies which have made Atlanta first among the cities of Georgia, have ever found in Mr. Kiser a steadfast friend. Every pub- lic enterprise for the last twenty years has had the benefit of his counsel and his means. He was one of the original subscribers of the North Georgia Fair Association in 1876; director and one of the executive committee, and chair- man of the building committee of the Atlanta Cotton Exposition in 1881 ; director in the Piedmont Exposition of 1887, and in the same capacity is still connected with this association. He was also one of the original promoters and subscribers to the Kimball House Construction Company, while he has been a liberal contributor to every railroad enterprise which centers at Atlanta. He is also president of the Piedmont Chautauqua Association, and all projects which have had as an object to improve the material interest of the city or to enhance the good of the people have received his cordial support. He is a member of the Young Men's Library Association, and for one term was its vice-president. He has always been a warm friend of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association, and for several years has been one of its trustees.
Mr. Kiser was first married on January 20, 1859, to Miss Octavia Mat- thews, of Clark county, Ga., who died in 1872. One child, a son, E. A. Kiser, was the issue of this marriage. He was a boy of unusual promise, and in him were centered many bright hopes of future success in life, and his death at the age of eighteen, was a severe bereavement, not only to his parents but a wide circle of friends. Mr. Kiser was again married in 1873 to Miss H. J. Scott, daughter of Dr. Scott, of Newton county, Ga. They have had four children, only two of whom, both boys, are living.
Mr. Kiser is a Democrat in politics, and while he gives to political affairs the attention every citizen interested in the public welfare should, he has never allowed the allurements of place and power to entice him from the legitimate pursuit of a strictly business career. He believes that legal prohibition is the best safeguard against the liquor traffic, and this phase of this great moral question has received his hearty support. In January, 1887, he was appointed a member of the county commissioners, and has since served as chairman of the committee on public buildings. He has ever been a man of exemplary
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habits, and his life from early youth has been guided by deeply grounded reli- gious conviction. Since his fifteenth year he has been a member of the Bap- tist Church, and since his residence in Atlanta has been a member and for sev- eral years a deacon of the First Baptist Church of this city. He takes an active part in church work, and is a member of the home mission board of the Baptist Church. With all his business sagacity and capacity to accumulate money he has ever been liberal, generous and charitable. Never grasping, he believes in using money rather than hoarding it, and if from the first great success has followed him, no man has been more pleased at the benefits others have re- ceived as the fruits of his own prosperity. Selfishness and greed have no lodg- ment in his nature. He has been a hard worker, but his years of active toil have had but slight effect upon his naturally vigorous constitution. His cor- rect habits and temperate mode of living, despite his gray hairs, have given him an appearance of health and vigor that belies his years. His frankness and cordiality of manner, and courteous treatment extended to all readily win friends whose esteem is not only retained but increased by time, and those who have known him longest like him best. He is cheerful in disposition, fond of social intercourse, and in the society of his friends is ever a welcome visitor. His beautiful home on Peachtree street is among the finest residences in Atlanta, and here he delights to receive his friends, and dispenses a true Southern hospitality. Such is an imperfect picture of this successful merchant and public-spirited citizen who by his own exertion has gained a position of power and influence, and who has been a recognized force in the prosperity of Atlanta for many years. His success has been achieved in fair fields by hon - est means, and by sheer force of business genius, and viewed from all sides his life and career has been honorable and useful, and worthy of imitation.
HAMBERLIN, E. P. Conspicuous among the men of great business en- C ergy, who, by right of merit and achievement, have won for themselves a well earned position of influence and power in the city of Atlanta is Edward Payson Chamberlin. He was born in Parishville, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., September 16, 1832, and is a son of Edmund and Hannah (Allen) Chamberlin. Both parents were of English descent, his paternal ancestors settled in Massa- chusetts at an early period, while his mother was a relative of that courageous Revolutionary patriot and distinguished military leader, Ethan Allen, of Ver- mont. Mr. Chamberlin's father died in 1836, leaving his widow with six chil- dren. At the age of seven years, the boy, Chamberlin, went to live with a farmer residing near his native place, and was virtually bound out to service until he should attain his majority. The following ten years of his boyhood were passed upon a farm, his life being one of drudgery and hardships, offer- ing little incentive to a boy of spirit and ambition, and affording the most lim- ited opportunity for gaining an education. During this period he attended the
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district school for a few months in each year, and, with this exception, Mr. Chamberlin received no regular school instruction. His education has been principally gained by self study, mingling with men, and in the practical school of experience. As he advanced toward manhood his ambitious nature natu- rally rebelled against the restricted opportunities of a farmer's life, and he de- termined to seek his fortune in wider fields. At the age of seventeen he re- ceived an offer of a clerkship with E. E. Rawson, now of Atlanta, but at that time a dry goods merchant of Lumpkin, Stewart county, Ga. Mr. Rawson's offer of $150 per year he accepted, and borrowing $100 of an uncle, he set out on what at that time was a long and expensive journey, and arrived at Lumpkin in December, 1849, with eight dollars, and in debt $100, as his entire cap- ital to begin life in his chosen field. Although the work was new to him, he applied himself so diligently that at the end of five years he not only had become master of all of the details of the business, but was offered a partner- ship interest in the firm, and was at that time, although but twenty-two years old. considered one of the shrewdest financiers in that country. His partner- ship relations with Mr. Rawson were continued for one year, when the latter removed to Atlanta. He then formed a partnership with W. W. Boynton, which was continued until the beginning of the war, when Mr. Boynton entered the Confederate service, and was killed at the battle of Antietam. Mr. Cham- berlin was in hearty sympathy with the Southern cause during the war, and would have entered into military service had his health permitted. At the end of the war Mr. Chamberlin found in settling up his business that his firm owed in New York some $18,500. This debt he determined to liquidate as soon as possible, and having saved 130 bales of cotton he started for New York as soon as communications were opened up, considering that he had sufficient cotton to deliver to settle all claims and interest. When he arrived in New York he found cotton had advanced from twenty in Georgia to sixty cents per pound in New York, and was thus enabled to settle all of his indebtedness by delivering only about one-half of his cotton to his creditors. The remainder of his cotton he sold as soon as it could be shipped, and thus realized good prices, as it steadily declined afterwards. With the nucleus thus gained he em- barked heavily in cotton shipping for planters, and became the largest cotton merchant in that section. The steamers on the Chattahoocheeiver were un- able to transport his cotton, and he accordingly had built several barges to- carry cotton to Apalachicola bay, from which port it was carried by ocean steamers to New York.
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