Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I, Part 102

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1294

USA > Georgia > Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I > Part 102

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GEORGE W. ADAIR, the foremost real estate dealer of Atlanta, is the son of John F. Adair and Mary Slavin, and was born in Morgan county, Ga., March 1, 1823. His father followed the trade of a wheelwright, and settled in De Kalb county, five miles south of Decatur. He resided here until the death

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of his mother in 1835, and was then sent to Decatur, Ga., to enter the employ of G. B. Butler. His bright, winning ways soon attracted the attention of those about him and in 1840 Col. J. M. Calhoun, William H. Dabney, Hon. Charles Murphy and Dr. Ephraim M. Poole, desiring to forward his interests, advanced the necessary amount for a two years' course in the Decatur academy. After com- pleting this, young Adair studied law in the office of Judge John J. Floyd and Gen. J. N. Williamson, of Covington, Ga., and after two years' application was admitted to the bar. Being young and inexperienced he found progress slow, and having a debt of several hundred dollars to cancel, he withdrew from his profession and accepted a position tendered him by J. Edgar Thomson, chief engineer, as conductor on the Georgia railroad, running between Social Circle and Augusta, and was in charge of the first train that entered Atlanta. After leaving the employ of the railroad he moved to Covington, Ga., thence to Charles- ton, S. C., and located permanently in Atlanta in 1854. Under the firm name of Adair & Ezzard he conducted a mercantile store for two years, and then entered the general trading and real estate business, which he still continues. Col. Adair, originally a whig in political belief, vehemently opposed the idea of secession, and was defeated in the race for the secession convention. When, however, war was declared, he placed himself beside his southern comrades, ready to assert the claims of his people. He established in 1860 the "Southern Confederacy," being assisted by J. Henley Smith. This daily journal, issued until the battle of Chicka- mauga, was bold and decisive in its advocacy of the southern cause. In the last year of the war he volunteered as an aid on the staff of Gen. N. B. Forrest. This association developed a strong and lasting friendship that was broken only by the death of that gallant leader. When the war was over he returned to find his home destroyed and his accumulated fortune well-nigh vanished. In partner- ship with Messrs. Clayton, Adair & Purse he opened a general commission house, and at the same time resumed his interest in the real estate business. In 1865 he retired from the firm and has since confined himself to real estate and auctioneer- ing. In the latter avocation he has conducted large sales with marked success in Atlanta, Birmingham, Sheffield and Chattanooga, and in all his transactions has never lost a dollar through irregularity of procedure or defective title. Col. Adair has ever manifested his loyalty and love for Atlanta and Georgia. He has been prominently connected with numerous important enterprises, especially the building of railroads. His zeal and energy gave a decided impetus to the rapid growth and prosperity of this city. He was an earnest promoter and vice-presi- dent of the Atlanta Street railway in 1870, being associated with Richard Peters. In the financial panic of 1873, followed by the resumption of specie payment, Col. Adair was compelled to make an assignment of all his property. With indomitable determination, possessing the respect, confidence and sympathy of the com- munity, he again began at the foundation, and by honesty, tenacity and ability, has erected a large and handsome fortune over the wreck of his former accumu- lation. Col. Adair has been connected with the Atlanta Cotton factory, the Atlanta Cotton exposition, director of the Kimball House company, president of the Georgia Western railway, director of the Piedmont exposition and director of Mrs. Ballard's Female seminary. He is a member of the constitutional conven- tion in 1865, of the city council, the board of water commissioners and the board of county commissioners of roads and revenues. He has never sought political honors, but naturally takes a devoted interest in both state and national affairs. Col. Adair as a writer is terse, convincing and logical; as a speaker eloquent and witty, with a gift for repartee seldom equaled; as a business man active, energetic and far-seeing, and a gentleman of kind and attractive disposition, and a character

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stainless and honorable. He married Mary Jane Perry, a daughter of Josiah Perry, and has a happy family of four sons and three daughters: Robin, Jack, Forrest and George, and Sallie, Annie and Mary, the oldest, the wife of G. A. Howell of Atlanta. Col Adair is of Irish and French origin. His ancestors came to America in 1711, landed in Charleston and then separated to different sections of the country.

A. D. ADAIR is one of Atlanta's most progressive and enterprising citizens. For a number of years he has been identified with the commercial interests of that city, and no man in Atlanta exercises a more potential influence for good. Mr. Adair was born in Talladega county, Ala., on July 17, 1835. Like many other successful men in Atlanta whose talents have commanded the respect of the business world, Mr. Adair was reared on a farm and spent the period of his boyhood in the furrows. It proved a splendid discipline, however, and gave him a robust constitution. By reason of the vigorous out-door work to which he was accustomed when a boy he has enjoyed life to the fullest extent, as only those can enjoy it whose health has never been impaired by indiscreet habits. Mr. Adair remained on the farm until he reached his twentieth year. He then taught school in the county for one year, after which he began to clerk in a dry goods store. He came to Atlanta in 1858, entering the dry goods emporium of Sal- monds, Mathews & Co., the leading merchants of the city at that time. Though his salary was only $20 a month, he managed by strict economy to live within his means and to lay by a few dollars from his monthly earnings. He remained in the employ of this firm for three years, after which he formed a partnership with his cousin, Col. George W. Adair, and Mr. A. T. Anderson, of New York, the style of the firm being that of Anderson, Adair & Co., the subject of this sketch being the company. The war, however, prevented the prospects begotten of this enterprising partnership from being realized. Two years after going in business for himself Mr. Adair enlisted as a private in the Confederate army, and was assigned to Gen. Forrest's body guard. He served in this capacity until the surrender of Gen. Forrest at Gainesville, Ala. Mr. Adair was in the following engagements : Franklin, Tenn., Murfreesboro, Fort Pillow, Selma, Ala., and forty or fifty skirmishes. During his military experience Mr. Adair was in quite a number of perilous situations, and his life was more than once saved, as it seemed, by miraculous intervention. He was captured at Memphis, Tenn., and held for twenty-four hours. After the war he returned to Atlanta on horseback, and, though he found the city reduced to ashes, he lost no time in devoting him- self to the rebuilding of his shattered fortunes. Engaging in the commission business with his two brothers, G. B. and Walter Adair, under the firm name of Adair & Bros., he soon established himself securely in the confidence of the mercantile world as well as in the patronage of Atlanta's returning population. The firm of Adair & Bros. continued to operate successfully until 1885, a period of twenty years, and was then changed to that of Adair Bros. & Co. Mr. G. B. Adair left the firm in 1891 and the business has since been carried on under the name of A. D. Adair & McCarty Bros. In 1885 Mr. Adair purchased an interest in the Furman Farm Improvement company of East Point, Ga., of which he has been for several years the president. The products of this enterprising fac- tory are sold by the firm of which Mr. Adair is the leading member, and the satisfaction they have given is demonstrated by the yearly increasing business of the firm. Mr. Adair has also been in the fertilizer business since 1866. Mr. Adair has few superiors as a skillful financier and his talents in this direction have brought him before the public in various positions of trust and responsi-

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bility. He is the president of the Merchants' and Mechanics' bank of Atlanta, a director in the Merchants' bank, and also a director of the Cotton States and International exposition. Mr. Adair has never sought or held political office, preferring the simpler avocations of private life, to the glare and turmoil of the public service. He is always ready, however, to discharge his full duty as a citizen, and is well informed on all the topics of the day, financial and political. A close observer, nothing escapes his attention, and his views on all public questions are carefully formed before he ventures to express them. Mr. Adair is a man of deep religious convictions, and for a number of years has been one of the most influential members of the Baptist denomination in the state. As the treasurer of the home mission board of the southern Baptist convention for nine years he made one of the most efficient and devoted officers of that body. He is now the chairman of the committee on appropriations, and is the senior deacon of the Second Baptist church of Atlanta. He is also president of the Baptist state mission board. Mr. Adair was married in 1868 to Miss Octavia Hammond, the daughter of the late Judge Dennis F. Hammond of Atlanta. Four children have sprung from this union, as follows: Adeline, the wife of Mr. Julian Field, of Atlanta; Laura, Barbary, and A. D., Jr. The home life of Mr. Adair is picturesque and beautiful. No man is more devoted to his family or takes a deeper interest in the affairs of his household. The name of Mr. Adair's father was Capt. James Adair. He was a native of Georgia and was born in Morgan county. He was a son of Capt. John Adair, who was a soldier in the revolution. The Adair family in all of its generations has been noted for its sterling char- acteristics and for the strength and value of its contributions to the state and to the community.

DR. JAMES FRANKLIN ALEXANDER, was born in Greenville district, S. C., May 28, 1824, on a farm belonging to his father, Dr. Thomas W. Alexander. He came with his parents to the state of Georgia when a little child, the family settling in Lawrenceville, where he received the principal part of his education at a school taught by Rev. James Patterson. Dr. Alexander also attended Oglethorpe university two years and completed his education at Law- renceville. In 1846 he began the study of medicine with Dr. James Gordon and was graduated at the Medical college of Georgia, Augusta, in 1849. He attended his first course of lectures in 1847 at Augusta, but his father dying that year he was compelled to devote the remainder of that twelve months to the adminis- tration of the estate, studying at home. He resumed his college course in 1848 and graduated the year following. In April, 1849, a man was attacked with small-pox, and Dr. Alexander, though he had just graduated, thought he saw an opportunity to establish himself at Atlanta. He immediately went there, thinking, as he says, "that it was no worse to run the risk of catching small-pox than to have no practice." Arriving in Atlanta he met Dr. E. C. Calhoun, or Decatur, Ga., a former classmate, who had come on the same errand and who had secured the refusal of the only room then to be had that would serve as an office. Dr. Calhoun, however, finally decided that the rent asked for the little office (it was only $6 per month) was too great, and Dr. Alexander at once secured it. The small-pox patient was lying ill at the old Thompson house, which stood where the Kimball house now stands and was conducted by Dr. Thompson, who soon after erected a little board structure outside of the city limits, to which the patients, two men and one woman, were removed. There Dr. Alexander took charge of them and under his efficient care and treatment they all recovered. This made Dr. Alexander's reputation at once and he imme-

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diately entered upon a large practice, which has increased until for years he has had more than he could attend to. For forty-five years he has practiced in Atlanta, his practice growing with the growth of the city. In May, 1861, Dr. Alexander entered the Confederate service as surgeon of the Seventh Georgia infantry, of which regiment L. J. Gartrell was the first colonel. He served six months in the field but returned to Atlanta and was there detailed on hospital duty, in which he was actively engaged until the war closed. He was a member of the secession convention which carried Georgia out of the union in January, IS61, favoring and voting for the ordinance of secession. In fact he was the second man who recorded his vote for that historic measure. He has been a member of the Atlanta city board of health about ten years, being elected its president in 1893 and re-elected in 1894-95. He is also a member of the Amer- ican medical and Georgia state medical associations and has served as president, vice-president, treasurer and censor of the latter. Dr. Alexander is the only living member of the state medical association who helped to organize that society. In addition to his professional honors he has enjoyed political preferment, having served on the Atlanta city council. . He is also a prominent member and steward of the Methodist Episcopal church. Dr. Alexander was married in 1855 to Miss Georgia, daughter of Richard Orme, editor and proprietor of the "Southern Recorder" at Milledgeville. She died in 1876, and in June, two years later, Dr. Alexander married Miss Ada Reynolds, daughter of Permedas Reynolds, Cov- ington, Ga., who was also a member of the secession convention above mentioned. Dr. Alexander's oldest child, Jeannie, the daughter of his first wife, is now the wife of J. P. Stevens. To his second marriage were born a son and a daughter -- J. F. Alexander and Ada. Dr. Alexander's father was Dr. Thomas Williamson Alexander, who was born in Greenville district, S. C., in 1791, and was married in Pendleton district of that state to Martha, daughter of William Walker, and some seven or eight years later moved to Lawrenceville, Ga., where he lived until 1847. He was killed in an accident caused by his horse running away. Dr. T. W. Alexander had seven children who lived to maturity, of whom six were sons: John R., now living at Thomasville, Ga .; William W., deceased; Elizabeth, widow of W. W. Lowrey; D. J. F. Alexander; Thomas W., now a lawyer in Rome, Ga .; Wilson R., deceased; and Cicero N. The oldest son, John R., was a soldier in the Seminole war of 1836. Thomas W. was adjutant of a Georgia regiment during the war of the rebellion. Cicero N. entered the Confederate service in a Texas regiment, being a resident of the lone star state when the war broke out. He was mustered in with the rank of captain and was wounded at Fort Donelson. He was then placed on provost marshal duty and served in that capacity until the close of hostilities. Dr. Alexander's grandfather was John R. Alexander, the emigrant ancestor who was of Scotch-Irish parentage. He settled in South Carolina, married a Miss Williamson, and in the service of his country during the revolution attained the rank of major. At a subsequent date he, with his son, Dr. Thomas Williamson, located in Georgia, the grandfather dying in Lawrence- ville, about 1830. Dr. James F. Alexander is one of the most famous physicians of Atlanta, holding the respect of the entire business and social circle of the city in which he practices.

MARTIN F. AMOROUS, the prominent lumber dealer of Atlanta, Ga., was born in Savannah, Ga., Oct. 23, 1858. Here his childhood days were passed and here he attended school until about fifteen years of age, when he went to Eastman, Dodge Co., situated in the pine belt of Georgia, and accepted a position in a saw-mill. In 1877 he came to Atlanta and entered the employ of

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Anthony Murphy, then transacting the largest lumber trade in the city. After five years' service with Mr. Murphy, having gained much experience by his con- stant contact with the traffic, Mr. Amorous received the agency for several large lumber firms, for whom he acted until 1885, when, in connection with Mr. D. C. Bacon of Savannah, another conspicuous dealer in Georgia's great natural product, he organized the Atlanta Lumber company,with a capital stock of $25,000, since increased to $50,000. When the company was permanently established Mr. Bacon was elected president and Mr. Amorous general manager. Prosperity has followed in the wake of this enterprise since the day of its organization, and it is now mentioned among the foremost substantial and reliable commercial institutions of the city. In the private walks of life, as well as in the throbbing, thrifty circles of business activity, Mr. Amorous enjoys an enviable reputation for integrity and marked ability. He is a director of the Amoskeag Lumber com- pany of Dodge county, and has other interests that require time and attention. Possessing as he does a nature yearning for progress and advancement, and an enthusiastic advocacy and substantial support of everything promising the forward growth and welfare of the city, it is not surprising that he is one of Atlanta's most popular citizens. This fact is fully attested by his being chosen a director and a member of the executive committee of the Cotton States and International ex- position. As another instance of the esteem in which Mr. Amorous is held, he was elected and served one term-two years-as member of the general council of the city. Though a young man, his talent and executive ability were ap- preciated and he faithfully performed the duties of a city father. During this time he introduced the ordinance, now in force, regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors within the incorporated limits. Under its operation the traffic has been as unobjectionable as it could well be if tolerated and legalized. Mr. Amorous was the original promoter of the electric light company organized in Atlanta; was one of the organizers of the Home bank, now known as the Southern Banking and Trust company, and served some time as its president, was also one of the original members of the Capitol City club of Atlanta. Mr. Amorous was mar- ried in 1887 to Miss Emma Kate Williams, daughter of W. H. Williams of Colum- bus, Ga. Their lives have been blessed with two children: Clinton B. and Emma Kate. Intellectual vigor, energy and generosity have characterized Mr. Amorous' life, and to complete his personality, a genial disposition and an open-hearted nature commend him as an invaluable friend.

DR. LUDWIG AMSTER was born in Iglo, Austria, Nov. II, 1863, and re- ceived his education in the public schools and gymnasium of that city, taking the degree of A. M. at the latter institute in 1880. After graduating he went to Vienna and there took up the study of medicine at the university, attending five and a half years and graduating in 1886. That same year he came to New York and at once took a course of lectures at the university of that city, receiving the degree of M. D. in 1888. Dr. Amster remained in New York over two years, and in January, 1890, went to Macon, Ga., removing from that city to Atlanta in October, 1892, having practiced his profession continuously since taking his degree. He is a member of the Atlanta society of medicine, of which he is a censor and is medical examiner for the following insurance companies: The Northwestern Mutual Life of Milwaukee, Wis .; the Travelers and Mutual Life of Hartford, Conn. He also holds the position of physician to the Hebrew Orphans' home of Atlanta. He is a Knight of Pythias and is affiliated with the B'nai Brith. He was married Feb. 7, 1893, to Fannie, daughter of M. Dinkem-

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spiel, Rochester, N. Y. Dr. Amster is a general favorite and occupies a higli social position.

NEDOM L. ANGIER, ex-state treasurer and ex-mayor of Atlanta, de- ceased, who was born in Acworth, N. H., Nov. 10, 1814, was of Huguenot extraction, his father being an early settler and distinguished citizen of Acworth. Mr. Angier came south about the time Hons. W. H. Seward, Lyman Trumbull and other renowned New Englanders reached Georgia, and like them, taught school, studying medicine at leisure intervals. In Coweta county he prosecuted the profession of schoolmaster for four years. In 1843 he attended lectures in the New York Medical university and began practice in Randolph county, removing to Atlanta, then a small village, in 1847, and acted as both druggist and physician. In 1850 the "gold fever" induced him to seek a fortune in California. Here he remained one year and was made a member of the vigilance committee in a rough mining-camp that resorted to summary matters in dealing with the desper- ate, lawless characters of the Pacific slope, but this wild life was unsuited to him, so he returned to Atlanta and by 1860 had amassed a competency by trading in real estate. In 1843 Dr. Angier married Miss E. A. Angier, a cultivated lady of an influential southern family. He was a Douglas democrat and strenuously opposed secession. He left the Confederacy in 1863 and ran the blockade on a steamer to Havana, Cuba, and from there took ship to, New York, continuing to the state of Iowa, but returned to Georgia in 1865. While north, having a nephew who was assistant attorney general, he had frequent interviews with President Abraham Lincoln, entreating him that when hostilities ceased, there be no crusade of prosecutions, confiscations, etc., against his old southern neighbors, but that a policy of conciliation and rehabilitation be pursued; being a New Englander it was believed his pacificatory views had great weight with the president and that he would have adopted them had not Booth's murderous bullet aggravated the trouble and incensed northern leaders. Because of his pronounced stand for the Union, Dr. Angier was appointed collector of internal revenue for Georgia by Andrew Johnson, but resigned after nine months because the "test oath" pre- cluded so many worthy men from holding Federal office. He was directly in- strumental in having this act repealed. He was elected a member of the constitutional convention of 1868, and many of the beneficent provisions were due to his clear forethought. He was elected republican state treasurer of Georgia in 1868 and as such saved the state millions of dollars. Ex-Congressman W. P. Price, when speaking of his efficient service, said: "Many men have claimed the honor of saving Georgia, but if I were to single out any special man who did signal service to the state when she so sorely needed help, I would select Dr. N. L. Angier, who won the proud title of 'watch dog of the treasury' when hordes of plunderers sought to pillage an already impoverished people." An ardent republican from conviction and principle, Dr. Angier, in a time of general moral laxity and the disorder consequent upon the close of a great civil war, held his personal integrity and official honesty pure and unsullied, and bitterly fought to a successful issue all the misdeeds of his party colleagues and stood unflinchingly by the honor of the state and the interests of its people. When the contest was adjourned to congress on the "prolongation bill," Dr. Angier was in the front battling for popular, representative government, and so favorably impressed the house that the bill was defeated. His letter to Senator Beck of Kentucky was considered the ablest exposition of self-government and often called for by both houses. Soon after the expiration of his term as state treasurer of Georgia, having gained so much praise and confidence, he was elected mayor of Atlanta, and

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although sectional prejudices were rife, and a democrat with a war record his opponent, yet the city was financially depleted and desired a tried, true and capable financier to assume control, and Dr. Angier, with a brilliant career behind him, was chosen by a democratic constituency. But wise administration fully justified the confidence and met the expectations of the people. While mayor he contracted a disease that resulted in his death. Dr. Angier possessed a big heart as well as a mighty brain, and instances of his benevolence and charity were of daily occurrence.

EDGAR A. ANGIER, ex-assistant United States attorney, was born in Atlanta, Ga., in a house adjoining John Ryan's old shoe store, on Nov. 26, 1861. His father being a physician he frequently accompanied him to administer medicine and to alleviate the suffering of the Federal and Confederate soldiers, who were brought wounded and sick to his native city. As Dr. Angier was a prominent Union believer and his wife a daughter of an old Georgia family, the son would not fight against the south, and in consequence was compelled to refugee to Iowa during the last year of the war. He ran the blockade with his family, but was under severe cannonading on several occasions from Federal gunboats. After returning to the south in 1865 Edgar entered the common schools of Atlanta, and on leaving them went to the state university at Athens, Ga., graduating a few years later. Then, determining upon law as his professional choice, he went to Craw- fordville, Ga., and studied at "Liberty hall" under that eminent jurist and states- man, Alexander H. Stephens. Besides being taught by the great commoner he was schooled at home in the whig doctrines of Henry Clay. Returning to his home he entered upon the active practice of his profession. Mr. Angier's first publicity as a speaker was when Mr. Stephens was a nominee of the democratic party against Gen. L. J. Gartrell, representative of the independent ticket. There he displayed decided oratorical ability, and his voice played no inconspicuous part in his candidate's election. Mr. Angier was elected city attorney of Atlanta in 1883, and chosen a member of the city council three years later. While a member of this body he was also one of the "Big Four," the others being C. A. Collier, J. T. Cooper and A. L. Greene. This designation referred to the opinions held by these gentlemen on the liquor question. They were all strong advocates of anti-prohibition, and resisted the municipal enactments to extend the local- option law. During his service in the city council he made three speeches that attracted wide attention and gave their author a favorable reputation both north and south; they were: "A Treatise on Mr. Blaine's Paris Interview," "A Plea for the Salary System, as Against Fees and Perquisites," and "An Objection Against Convict-Made Material in Public Works." Until 1888 he affiliated with the democratic party, and was a zealous supporter of Samuel J. Randall for president, but when the Carlisle-Morrison faction, with the platform of free trade, came into power, he transferred his allegiance to the republicans. He married Annie P. Isham in 1877, and has eight children. He is a member and earnest worker in the St. Phillip's church. In 1889 he was appointed assistant United States attorney by President Harrison, but resigned that office when Grover Cleveland ascended to power. In 1894 Mr. Angier was appointed special master in chancery by Judges Don A. Pardee and W. T. Newman of the United States court, and still holds this position.

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Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. I, Part 102

Author: Publication date: 1859 Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association Number of Pages: 1294

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1294