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 105

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 105

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L. E. BLECKLEY.

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without having shed any one's blood or lost any of my own. When I consider how destructive I might have been, had my health supported my prowess, I am dis- posed to congratulate 'gentlemen on the other side' upon my forced retirement from the ranks at an early period of the contest. After my discharge from the army, I served the Confederacy in much of the legal business in and around Atlanta. In 1864, about the time Gen. Sherman left Atlanta on his march to the sea, I was appointed to the office of supreme court reporter. After reporting two volumes, the Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth Georgia, I resigned the office. This was in the spring of 1867. From that time until I was appointed to the supreme bench in 1875, I practiced law continuously in Atlanta." Judge Bleckley remained on the bench until 1880, and then resigned on account of impaired health. He closed his term of service with a brief judicial poem, found in the Sixty-fourth Georgia, entitled "In the Matter of Rest." In this connection Judge Bleckley observes in his letter to posterity: "Perhaps I ought to confess that divers other poems, happily none of them judicial, may be laid to my charge. During most of my life I have had a strong and to me unaccountable tendency to metrical transgression. Over and over again I have suffered the pains and penalties of poetic guilt. Besides a score or two of convictions I have had many trials and narrow escapes. But even now I am not a hardened offender for a bashful hesitation always tempers iny gallantry with the muses." Remaining in private life until 1887, Judge Bleckley was recalled to the supreme bench to succeed the late Chief Justice Jackson. His term of office expired in 1892, but, in spite of the hardships of his office, becoming daily more burdensome with the weight of advancing years and increasing litigation, he consented to a re-election with the hope that by a constitutional amendment an addition might be made to the judicial group on the supreme bench. This would be a great relief to him and would enable him, without personal sacrifice, to remain in the service of the commonwealth. The amendment, however, failed, and he was forced to send in his resignation to Gov. Northen to take effect on Oct. 29, 1894. The resigna- tion was accepted by Gov. Northen with great reluctance, and he took occasion, in behalf of the state, to conimend his able and patriotic services and to express his estimate of the state's loss in his retirement from the bench. From a lengthy editorial which appeared in the Atlanta "Constitution," the following is taken: "The resignation of Chief Justice Bleckley will excite sincere regret throughout the state. Full of years and honors, this eminent and learned judge retires from the bench because he believes that it is an impossibility for three men to deal with the rapidly increasing volume of business in the supreme court. The resig- nation of this great jurist is a public calamity. He has been so wise, so clear in his great office, so just and so lovable that all classes of our people regard him with veneration and affection. He has been not only a great lawyer and a just judge, but he has proved himself a philosopher whose practical wisdom and benevolence have left their impress upon our legislation, our literature and our morals. Chief Justice Bleckley hardly seems to belong to our day and genera- tion. When we measure his scholarship, his purity and noble simplicity of char- acter, he reminds us of such judges as Matthew Hale-wise and good men who devoted their lives to justice and the interests of mankind. Such a man is not seen more than once in a century. If he had been at all ambitious he would have been one of the most famous of Americans, and notwithstanding his modesty and his quiet mode of life, he is to-day one of the most notable figures that ever adorned the bench, and in every state in the union his decisions are quoted and held in the highest esteem." The reputation of Judge Bleckley as a jurist is co-extensive with this entire country. His opinions are models of precision and perspicuity,

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and are characterized by their sound judgment and correct apprehension of the law. Explaining the preparation of his decisions Judge Bleckley says: "I recon- sider, revise and scrutinize; then I revise the scrutiny and then I scrutinize the revision." Judge Bleckley has never sought the accumulation of riches, and the lesson of his life may be summed up in his own noble declaration: "Service is better than salary and duty more inspiring than reward." Judge Bleckley has been twice married. He was first married in May, 1857, to Miss Clara Caroline Haralson, who died in March, 1892, leaving five children, three boys and two girls, one of the latter dying in infancy. His second marriage was to Miss Chloe Herring, in August, 1893, who has borne him two sons.

CAPT. W. W. BOYD, formerly of the firm of E. Van Winkle & Company of Atlanta, is a native of Spartanburg, S. C., and is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. When a child he removed with his father to Marietta, Ga., and attended the pri- mary schools of that prospering little north Georgia city. When he reached a suitable age and when he was sufficiently advanced he was enrolled among the members of the Georgia Military institute, then in its flourishing condition, with an attendance of nearly two hundred cadets. He obtained a splendid education, but his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the civil war. When only eighteen years of age he enlisted in the Sixty-fourth Georgia regiment, com- manded by Col. John W. Evans. His courageous conduct is known to all his comrades and friends. He was captured immediately before the surrender, but suffered little inconvenience, as he remained in captivity only two days. Return- ing home, with a determination as strong as his heart was brave, he began to reconstruct his fallen fortunes. During 1880 he bought a half interest in the E. Van Winkle Manufacturing company, which, without the aid of municipal or national backing, has acquired a magnitude and prominence that is not felt by a similar industry in the state. It is a prodigious industry, employing about 150 hands, and supplying the states west of the Mississippi with their cotton-presses, cotton-gins and like machinery used in the preparation of market cotton. So rapid has been the growth of the business that a branch house was lately estab- lished in Dallas, Tex., to facilitate and supply the increasing demand. Mr. Boyd is an officer in the First Presbyterian church, and lends his aid and wealth to the furthering of religious labors, and especially the mission work. His heart goes out in sympathy to those in poverty and distress, and his open charity is a specific characteristic. During his life from earliest youth he has prominently in- terested himself in stock raising and now owns one of the largest Jersey farms in the south, on which may be found the finest stock, both native and imported. His wife was a beautiful, talented lady from the old north state, and the seven children who survive her are justly the pride of their father. Mr. Boyd's father was a gallant colonel of the Nineteenth Georgia regiment, attached to Phillips' legion, a stalwart command that left traces of their heroism on the hills of northern Virginia. Mr. Boyd has lately served on the board of aldermen of the city gov- ernment, and his popularity may be inferred when it is known that he polled the heaviest vote on the citizen's ticket, composed of many popular candidates. He is public-spirited and generous and bears for the community a genial affection.

H.A. BOYNTON, one of Atlanta's best known wholesale grocers, is a native of Lumpkin, Stewart Co., Ga. He was born Oct. 12, 1842, and resided in that city until thirty-three years of age, when he came to Atlanta, where he has since lived. He received his early education in the schools of Stewart county, and attended these until 1858, and then accepted a position as clerk in a retail

MORRIS BRANDON.

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FULTON COUNTY SKETCHES.

store. During May, 1862, he entered the Confederate service, enlisting in Com- pany K of the Third Georgia cavalry as a private, but in 1863 was appointed sergeant-major of the regiment and occupied this office throughout the war, fre- quently acting in the capacity of adjutant. Mr. Boynton fought bravely in the following battles: Munfordville, Ky .; the skirmishes around Murfreesboro and Chattanooga, Chickamauga, the campaign of East Tennessee with Gen. Long- street, Knoxville and Dandridge; the engagements in Virginia; then back into Georgia, at Dalton; Resaca, Rocky Fall, Calhoun, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, numerous raids in the rear of the Federals, extending south to Florence, Ala., and then followed Sherman in his memorable march to the sea, fighting at Griswoldville and Waynesboro, Ga. After his first battle Mr. Boynton was taken prisoner and held in confinement for thirty days. This was the greatest mishap that befell him during the four years' conflict. With the surrender of the Confederates and the cessation of hostilities, he returned to his home in Lumpkin and entered the general merchandise business, which he conducted until 1875, and then moved to Atlanta, where he established a large wholesale grocery house, of which he is still owner and manager. Shortly after his locating in Atlanta he married Miss Louise, daughter of the late Lucius Mansfield of Lump- kin, Ga. In 1888 Mr. Boynton was elected to the city council of Atlanta from the second ward and held this office with credit for two years. In the same year he was honored with the appointment by the county commissioners of tax collector of Fulton county, to fill an unexpired term of six or eight months. Mr. Boynton's father and mother were natives, respectively, of New Hampshire and Virginia. The former was Hollis Boynton, a gallant soldier in the war of 1836, and died in 1847. The latter was Clara M. Rawson. To this tie were given four children: William W., lieutenant of Company K, Second Georgia infantry, who was killed at Sharpsburg; Charles E., a lieutenant in Company E of the Third Georgia cavalry, who survived the war and died in 1890; George H., of Atlanta, and Hollis A., the subject of this sketch. Mr. Boynton is a member of Trinity Methodist church of Atlanta. He is a broad-minded, experienced busi- ness man, and stands at the head of one of the oldest and most reliable grocery houses in the city.

MR. MORRIS BRANDON is one of the leading lawyers of Atlanta's bar, though one of its younger members. He was born in 1863, in Stewart county, Tenn., where his people before him have lived for a hundred years or more. He spent the entire period of his boyhood on his father's plantation, and by a judicious admixture of out-of-door work and recreation he succeeded in laying the foundation of a strong constitution, which was essential to the studious life that was to follow. The Brandon family is of English extraction. The grandfather of the subject of this sketch, Christopher Brandon, was a native of North Carolina, to which state his father emigrated early in the history of the colonies, and several of his sons, of whom there were a number, brothers and half-brothers of Christopher Brandon, distinguished themselves in the war of the American revolution. The name is a familiar one among old revolutionary annals. Early in his life, and in the pioneer days of that state, Christopher Brandon removed to Tennessee, where his son, Col. Nathan Brandon, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born. Col. Nathan Brandon was a prominent lawyer and successful business man. During the late war he served as lieutenant-colonel of the Fourteenth Tennessee regiment of infantry volunteers, remaining in the field until the battle of Fort Donelson. In this engagement he was so severely wounded as to be disqualified for further active duty. His gallantry as a soldier was recognized no less by his superior officers than

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

by the men who fought under him, and his disabilities were regarded in the light of a calamity. Col. Brandon was a prominent figure for many years in the political life of Tennessee, and before the war was elected to the general assembly of that state as a Union man, and afterward served in both branches of the assembly a number of times. In 1870 he was a member of the constitutional convention held at Nashville. Col. Brandon died in April, 1891. The subject of this sketch, after receiving his preliminary education from the schools of Stewart county, entered a private institution at Elkton, Ky., for the purpose of preparing himself to enter college. He also carried on his studies for a while at Clarksville, Tenn., and in the fall of 1880 entered Vanderbilt university. After completing his academic course in that institution, he entered the law school at Yale, and graduated in 1884, with the degree of LL.B. Returning to his home in Stewart county, Tenn., he remained there until the winter of 1886, when he came to Atlanta and opened a law office, believing that he could make no better selection for the practice of his profession. He subsequently formed a partnership with Judge Henry B. Tompkins, the firm being that of Tompkins & Brandon. This firm enjoyed a fine practice, but the partnership was dissolved in 1889, and in 1893 the present firm of Brandon & Arkwright was formed, Mr. P. S. Arkwright, one of the most brilliant young lawyers of Georgia, being the junior member of the firm. Mr. Brandon, since locating in Atlanta, has made a splendid success of the practice of his profession. He is known as a hard worker, and the method, skill and patience with which he conducts his business won for him early in his professional career an enviable repu- tation with the courts and in the business world. Socially, he has always occupied a leading position, due to his elegant manners and his ripe intellectual and scholarly attainments. Genial and obliging, yet always dignified and reserved, Mr. Brandon inspires respect and makes permanent friends of those who come in contact with him. He is a member of quite a number of secret organizations, among them being the F. and A. M., the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Red Men. In each of these organizations he holds an influential position, and is universally esteemed for his sterling character and pre-eminent ability. In June, 1892, Mr. Brandon was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Inman, daughter of Mr. Walker P. Inman, of Atlanta. In his home life his disposition is portrayed in the genial light of those domestic qualities that indicate a thoroughly noble and splendid character.

WELLBORN MITCHELL BRAY, a practitioner of zest, earnestness and superior worth at the Atlanta bar, was born in Henry county, Ga., Aug. 29, 1835, and in 1847 moved with his parents to Atlanta. Here his mind was drilled in the primary branches and prepared for a higher education. He spent two years in the state university at Athens, Ga., and in 1855 graduated from Emory college, Oxford, Ga., with the degree of A. B. He read and studied law with Col. James Milner, of Cartersville, Ga., and was admitted to the active practice of his profession in 1858, at Cassville, Ga., and afterward located in Calhoun, Ga. During April, 1862, he enlisted in the Fortieth Georgia regiment. as a private. Earlier in the war he was elected captain of the Toombs volunteers, organized at Calhoun, but by reason of severe illness was unable to accept the command. After serving six months in the Fortieth regiment, he was authorized by the secretary of war to raise a siege artillery company. This he accomplished near Savannah, Ga., was chosen first lieutenant, and served in this capacity until early in 1865, when by reorganization this was changed into an infantry company, and Mr. Bray made captain of it. The close of the conflict found him in that position. He fought with laudable valor in the following battles: Dalton, Resaca, Rocky Ford, Kennesaw

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FULTON COUNTY SKETCHES.

mountain, Atlanta, Franklin, Nashville and Pulaski, Tenn., and at New Hope church. In this last-named engagement he was wounded by the explosion of a shell. After the surrender Capt. Bray returned to Atlanta and established the first school in the city's limits. This he continued with unusual success and popularity, being associated with Prof. W. A. Bass and other noted instructors, until the public school system was founded. He was then elected principal of the Ivy street grammar school, taught there through the year 1873, and then resumed the practice of law. In 1886-87 he represented Fulton county in the state general assembly. While a member of this body he was appointed on the finance, educa- tional and the committee on corporations, and bitterly opposed the convict lease system. His argument was termed "able, eloquent and masterly," and elicited the approval of the entire commonwealth. The peroration of his speech contained these memorable words: "No man is utterly irredeemable. But if you extinguish within him the light of hope, you educate him in crime. The lease system is an educator in crime, denying all the principles of humanity. Treat the convict as a human being and you may reform him." Capt. Bray was elected a member of the board of education in 1889, and was lately re-elected for a second term. `, He is a master Mason, a Red Man and a member of the Atlanta Pioneer society, and warmly co-operates with each. He is a city father who has guarded Atlanta's welfare faithfully.

COL. P. H. BREWSTER. It has been observed of the subject of this sketch that no lawyer in North Georgia is better equipped for the practice of his profession. A profound student, he has mastered by patient application, the great principles of the law, and is able to hold his own in controversy with the most distinguished talent of the land. Col. Brewster has practiced law in Atlanta for only a few years, but the extent of his qualifications for the practice was discov- ered as soon as he appeared in court for the first time, and his reputation as a lawyer has steadily grown until now he commands a large and lucrative practice, and in addition to this is a general favorite with the members of the Atlanta bar. Col. Patrick H. Brewster is a native Georgian, and was born in Campbell county, on his father's plantation, on Sept. 9, 1846. During his early childhood he moved with his parents to Coweta county and continued to reside in that county until his removal to Atlanta a few years ago. The father of Col. Brewster, whose name was James Brewster, was born in the state of South Carolina. He came to Georgia, however, during his early manhood, and died in this state in 1893. The family is noted for its longevity. The father of Col. Brewster died at the patriarchal age of ninety-four years. His grandfather, William Brewster, lived to be a hundred years old. If heredity furnishes any indication the subject of this sketch, though now in the prime of life, faces a vital prospect of fully half a century. The boyhood days of Col. Brewster were spent after the usual fashion of country boys in Coweta county. He received his primary instruction from the schools in Newnan, and acquired, by diligent application to his books, a fairly good' education, as the basis of his subsequent career in the practice of his chosen pro- fession. The subject of this sketch was too young to enter the Confederate army at the breaking out of hostilities. In the fall of 1863, however, being then only seventeen years old, he shouldered his musket and went to the front, enlisting as. a private in Company A of the Fifty-sixth Georgia regiment. He served as a private soldier until the close of the war, surrendering with Gen. Joseph E. John- ston in North Carolina. Col. Brewster was in the fight at Dalton, Ga., and the battles of Resaca and Kennesaw Mountain, receiving a severe wound in his arm at the latter place. He was also in the battles around Atlanta, Lovejoy Station I-46

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and Jonesboro, and in all the fights that occurred on the way back to Nashville, Tenn., Gen. Hood having decided upon that route after the evacuation of Atlanta. He saw quite a lot of fighting after this at Columbia, Franklin, a two days' engage- ment at Nashville and a stubborn fight along the road to Pulaski. After reaching Jonesboro, N. C., the army surrendered. Returning to Newnan after the war the young soldier prosecuted his studies for a short while and then began to teach school. He continued in this latter occupation for about two years and then entered the university of Virginia, graduating from the law department of that institution in 1870 with the degree of bachelor of law. Returning to Newnan, Ga., he entered immediately upon the practice of his profession, remaining in that prosperous little Georgia town until 1891, when he came to Atlanta, be- coming a member of the firm of Dorsey, Brewster & Howell. In 1877 Col. Brewster was elected to the state senate as a member from the Thirty-sixth senatorial district, for a term of four years. He was prevented, however, from serving for the full terni on account of the action of the constitutional convention reducing its length. His career in that body was characterized by patriotism and ability. He was jealous of the welfare of his constituents and yet at the same time he allowed no selfish or local interests to interfere with the discharge of his public duty as a servant of the commonwealth. Col. Brewster was subsequently elected mayor of Newnan and filled that office acceptably for one term. Though not having any fondness for politics his regard for his party has impelled the subject of this sketch into many political campaigns. He has always been loyal to the principles of the democratic party, and has labored with sleepless devotion to rout, in every election, the organized forces of the opposition. His eloquence on the hustings has often revived the drooping hope of his party and urged its despairing members to an overwhelming victory. He has never been in any sense a political office-seeker, and all the honors that have come to him have been bestowed in the grateful appreciation of his fellow-countrymen. Col. Brewster belongs to no secret organization, but is a loyal and consistent member of the Methodist church, having been reared from boyhood in the faith of that denomination. Col. Brewster was united in marriage to Miss Laura Leigh, daughter of Anselm Leigh, of Newnan, Ga., in 1874. They have nine children, six boys and three girls, and the family group constitutes a delightful and interesting household. Five brothers of Col. Brewster, in addition to himself, served in the Confederate army, making a splendid contribution for one family. These brothers were William, who served in several regiments throughout the entire war; Daniel F., who served until the surrender; James P., who was major of the Fifty-sixth Georgia regiment, losing a leg at the battle of Kennesaw Mountain; Blake D., who served all through the war in several regiments, and Angus P., who served during the latter part of the war. They all made gallant soldiers, and displayed those characteristics that indicated a common brotherhood. No man in Atlanta is more highly esteemed than Col. Brewster, and it requires no prophetic ken to predict that abundant honors are in reserve for him in the practice of his profession. The opinion of a legal associate is con- sidered of paramount value in forming a correct estimate of a lawyer's professional ability. The value of this opinion increases with the extent of this association and the opportunities afforded for reliable observation. One who has been closely associated with Col. Brewster for several years recently observed in conversation: "Col. Brewster is a lawyer pure and simple. In my judgment he is one of the ablest lawyers in the state. His knowledge of the law and his ready grasp of legal principles command my unbounded respect and admiration."

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FULTON COUNTY SKETCHES.

GARY SHERIFF BREWSTER is another of Atlanta's bright young business men. He is a Georgia boy, having first seen the light of day at Tallapoosa, Haralson Co., Ga., Nov. 5, 1858. His father's home was in Esom Hill, Polk Co., Ga., and there he spent his boyhood days, receiving his education at Hearn school, a branch of Mercer university, located at Cave Spring, Ga. He paid for his own schooling and is thus a self-made man. In 1880 he entered the employ of Barr & Leake, dry-goods merchants at Cedar Town, Ga. He remained there about two years, when he canie to Atlanta and entered the employ of D. H. Dougherty & Co., with whom he was associated for about one year. He then accepted a position with A. M. Robinson & Co., wholesale notions and importers, and after two years as an employe, owing to his diligence and knowledge of the business, and without any solicitation on his part, he was made a member of the firm. In 1891, after six years of successful connection in this relation, Mr. Brewster retired and went into the real estate business with Col. W. A. Osborn, under the firm name of Osborn & Brewster. This partnership was continued very profitably two years, when Mr. Brewster joined Mr. John T. Moody in a private banking and fertilizer business under the name of Moody & Brewster. In May, 1895, the name was changed to the Moody Loan and Banking company. Mr. Brewster was for some time president of the Fulton Land Improvement company, and is now vice-president of and director of the concern. Mr. Brewster was mar- ried in Atlanta, Sept. 2, 1886, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of the late William C. Redwine, of Heard county, Ga., and they have three children, all daughters: Jennie Beatrice, Elizabeth and Mary. He is a member and past grand of the fraternal order of Odd Fellows and I. O. R. M. and belongs to the Baptist church. Mr. Brewster is one of the progressive spirits whose energies wisely extended the past few years have pushed Atlanta to the front as a city possessing every facility for the manufacturer and merchant. Particularly useful has he been when in the real estate business in bringing to the city manufacturing enter- prises and concerns. In a nut-shell, in a business way everything he touches turns to gold. He has been frequently solicited to accept political office, but has invariably declined, and has attended strictly to his business. Mr. Brewster has traveled extensively all over the United States and is thoroughly posted, and yet he still keeps up his studies, acquiring fresh knowledge every day, and is destined to be one of the financiers of the south.

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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 105

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