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 117

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 117

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JAMES R. GRAY. Among the younger members of the legal profession in Georgia no advocate enjoys a higher degree of prominence or a more suc- cessful practice than Mr. James R. Gray. Devotion to the interests of his clients, associated with exceptional talents for serving them, and a stainless integrity that no one has ever dared to assail, has made this brilliant young attorney one of the most reliable in the brotherhood of the Atlanta bar. James Richard Gray is a native Georgian and was born at Adairsville, in the upper part of the state, on Sept. 30, 1859. Hc received his primary instruction from the schools of that vicinity, graduating from the North Georgia Agricultural college at Dahlonega, a branch of the state university, in 1878. The legal predilections of the young stu- dent began to assert themselves at a very early age, and long before he received his diploma he conceived the idea of becoming a lawyer and of reaching, in the

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course of time, the highest rounds of the profession. Equipped by nature and education for the legal combats of the forum, the young student, immediately after graduation, began his preparations for the bar. He studied with zealous application in the law office of Col. Abda Johnson, at Cartersville, Ga., and after reading law for several months under that able counselor, he passed a rigid examination, and, with the compliments of the court pronounced upon his excep- tional qualifications for the practice, he was admitted to the bar in 1879. The small town of Cartersville was too restricted in the field of opportunities presented to the outlook of a bright, ambitious young lawyer, and accordingly, in the summer of the same year, Mr. Gray located in Atlanta. He at once entered upon a good practice and never for a moment has regretted the impulse that prompted him to come to Atlanta. He continued in the practice alone until 1883, building up a splendid clientage and earning a high reputation among his associates and brother members of the bar. He then formed a legal part- nership with Col. B. F. Abbott, one of the ablest civil lawyers of the state, and a man of varied and successful experiences in the profession. At the expiration of the first year this partnership was dissolved and Mr. Gray continued to practice by himself until 1887, when he formed a partnership with Col. W. D. Ellis. This combination continued for several years until the admission of Capt. W. D. Ellis, Jr., into the firm, and with that addition to its legal talent the firm has remained unchanged. Mr. Gray has been associated in the management of quite a large number of civil proceedings and his skill and research as a lawyer are manifested with renewed emphasis at each successive appearance in court. He is not only a shrewd and successful practitioner at the bar, but his financial and business qualifications place him in the front rank of those who, in recent years, have promoted the growth and material upbuilding of the city. Mr. Gray is the vice-president of the American Trust and Banking company, and is also a member of the board of directors of that institution. He is also a director of the Atlanta Savings bank, and of the Southern Glass company. His business tact and versatility are demonstrated by his active participation in the manage- ment of all these business enterprises. Mr. Gray was married in 1881 to Miss May Inman, daughter of Mr. Walker P. Inman, of Atlanta. Five children have resulted from this happy union, two sons and three daughters. The domestic life of Mr. Gray reveals the true tenderness and refinement of his character. He is always happy in the companionship of his wife and children, and believes in making his home attractive by bringing into it all that tends to make it beautiful.

A consistent member of the First Presbyterian church, Mr. Gray is regular in his attendance upon the exercises of divine worship, and is always in his pew, when not prevented by sufficient or providential reasons. He has never sought political preferment, though he takes a lively interest in all public questions, and is able to converse thoughtfully on all the current topics of the day. Col. John W. Gray, the father of the subject of this sketch, commanded the Forty-second Georgia battalion during the late war, and served with distinguished valor throughout that bloody conflict. He is a native of Georgia, and was born and reared near Augusta, Ga. As a member of the state legislature he has been instrumental in securing wise laws for the government of the state, and has been a faithful, upright and conscientious citizen, devoted to the welfare of the commonwealth. Col. Gray is still living at Adairsville, Ga. The maiden name of Mr. Gray's mother was Miss Sarah Venable, a lady of gentle blood and rare mental gifts. Under the refining influence of her life and discipline five children were reared, the youngest of them being the subject of this sketch. Mr. Gray is still in the prime and vigor of his young manhood and if the achievements heretofore recorded, during his brief

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career at the bar form any indication of his future honors, he will no doubt mount to a much higher pinnacle of success and usefulness.

JOHN M. GREEN. No citizen of Atlanta is more universally admired for his business talents and for his character as a Christian gentleman than Mr. John M. Green. For a number of years Mr. Green has occupied an influential place among the promoters of Atlanta's growth and no public enterprises that have sought to advance the material welfare of that city have appealed to him in vain. Since coming to Atlanta in 1875 Mr. Green has been connected with the fertilizing industry and, under his wise and successful management, the business has grown into mammoth proportions. The subject of this sketch was born in Macon, Ga., in Bibb county, on Jan. 5, 1847. His father, Franklin Green, was a native of this state and a man of brilliant promise, who died on the threshold of his business career. Though only twenty-six years old at the time of his death, he had succeeded by dint of pluck, energy and perseverance, in establishing a splendid credit and would no doubt have become a wealthy merchant had he lived. Mr. Green's mother, whose maiden name was Mary Ansley, was the daughter of Rev. M. Ansley, a Baptist clergyman of Knoxville, Crawford Co., Ga. A woman of deep piety, she reared her children in the nurture and ad- monition of the Lord and the influence of her life and Christian example had much to do with the growth and development of their characters. Two children sprang from her union with Franklin Green. These were John M. Green, the subject of this sketch, and Mary F., the wife of J. H. Mckenzie, of Americus, Ga. Shortly after the birth of the subject of this sketch his parents moved from Macon to Griffin, Ga. Here his father carried on for a short while a general merchandise business, dying in 1850. At this time his son was only three years old, and his mother a helpless widow with two little children. Leaving Griffin with her children, Mrs. Green went to her father's home in Crawford county. Here the subject of this sketch developed into a strong lad and gave promise of the useful manhood to which the principles by which he was actuated, even as a boy, all pointed. As soon as he was old enough to go to school he was given the benefit of the best instruction to be obtained in that county, and being a boy of studious disposition he made the best of his opportunities and advanced rapidly in his books. At the age of fifteen he entered the Georgia Military institute at Marietta, Ga., and in 1864, with the other cadets, he entered the Confederate service, re- maining in the service actively until the close of the war. He and his school- mates were in quite a number of battles, among them being the engagement at Turner's Ferry on the Chattahoochee river, and the battles fought in the neigh- borhood of Atlanta. After the war, having nothing else to do, as the business of this section was completely paralyzed and no avenue of success appeared to open a way for him, he decided to follow the plow as a safe and honest means of earning a livelihood. Accordingly, he farmed for two years in Macon county and after- ward for seven years in Cobb county. In 1875 he came to Atlanta and entered the fertilizing business, engaging in the manufacture of fertilizers on a small scale. His experience on the farm opened to him this line of business, which proved to him a doorway to success. From a small beginning he has steadily risen by slow degrees and is now at the head of one of the largest fertilizing in- dustries of the south. He is the president of the Atlanta Guano company, located in Atlanta, Ga .; the Americus Guano company, at Americus, Ga., and the Walton Guano company, at Social Circle, Ga. He was also one of the organizers of the Trust company of Georgia. Mr. Green has no taste for political life and has never allowed himself to be influenced by the greed for office. Though qualified,

G. V. GRESS.

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by reason of his talents, for the discharge of public duties, he has always preferred to serve the community in the role of a humble citizen, giving his cordial support to all enterprises that have tended to promote the welfarc of the city. As one oi the deacons of the First Baptist church of Atlanta, Mr. Green devotes much of his time to religious work and is one of the most enthusiastic and loyal members of his denomination. Mr. Green has been identified with the church ever since his removal to Atlanta. He has always contributed with a liberal hand to the support of its enterprises, both at home and abroad, and has been a delegate to nearly all the Baptist conventions that have met in the state since his connection with the church. He is chairman of the finance committee, and also of the board of deacons, and is the treasurer of the church. He has also been frequently a delegate to the Southern Baptist convention. Mr. Green has always been an ardent worker in the cause of young people, and for several years was president of the Fulton County Sunday-school association. He has also been at the head of the state organization. Mr. Green was one of the organizers of the Travelers' Protective association and as the head and front of that movement has made it one of the most flourishing organizations of the state. As a member of the com- mittee of arrangements to prepare for the coming of the Georgia manufacturers to Atlanta, Mr. Green is entitled to much of the credit bestowed upon that committee for the success of the convention. He devoted himself with tireless zeal to the special work assigned to him and won the gratitude and praise of all who labored with him in the cause. His election to the high office of treasurer of the association was an honor worthily bestowed. Mr. Green was married in 1869 to Miss Eunice Clifton, of Marietta,. Ga. They have three children, two sons and one daughter. Devoted to his family, Mr. Grcen has made an ideal husband and father, and his home life, no less than his success in the business world, furnishes a splendid example for encouragement and emulation.

G. V. GRESS. At the head of the largest lumber business of the south, and the owner of thousands of acres of the finest timber lands in the wire grass section of Georgia, G. V. Gress, of Atlanta, can well bc termed the lumber king. And he is a very young king, too, for it was about 1870, when a boy just entering his twenties, he came from his native state of New York and entered the employ of D. R. Wadley, the leading lumber manufacturer of this part of the state at the time. Young Gress has managed saw-mills and cut timber up in the Empire state and his industrious habits, experience and thrift soon attracted the eye of Mr. Wadley and he was given charge of important trusts in connection with the business. In a few years Mr. Wadley died and Mr. Steele was his successor, from whom Mr. Gress purchased a one-third interest. He worked no harder for himself than he did for his employers, but his rare judgment exercised in the business brought big profits to the company and his interest continued to increase until he owned the entire interest, amounting to something like $100,000. More money was then put in the concern and its business quadrupled, and so successful has it been in this line of prosperity and enterprise, that now the Gress Lumber company handles a big part of the lumber traffic of the south. The chief mills of the company are located in Wilcox county, but they have others in surrounding counties, all of which do a thriving business. The company has fifteen or twenty miles of steel railway track, standard gauge, well equipped with locomotives and cars, and is provided with every facility for supplying the lumber products, in any form, at the market prices. Mr. Gress, in adopting Atlanta as his home, wisely appreciated its advantage as a business center and a desirable residence place, and has for years made large investments in real estate, and still has big holdings. He

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also owns one tract of land in southern Georgia, of over forty thousand acres of timber, which is estimated to be worth nearly $300,000. Mr. Gress was one of the organizers of the Georgia Loan and Savings bank, which was established in 1891, and he has been ever since president of the company. In 1893 the Hart Lumber company was organized in Finn, Ga., and Mr. Gress is president of this concern. Mr. Gress, like most self-made men, is of a liberal mind and generous nature. He has started many a young man on a high road to competence, and several have amassed fortunes through help extended them by him. Messrs. J. A. Hart and D. N. Hughes, wealthy bankers of Chattanooga, owe their success in life through the efforts of Mr. Gress. He also has distinguished himself as a public benefactor, by purchasing the menagerie of the Hall & Binley circus, which he gave to the city, providing a nucleus for a zoological garden, located in Grant park. In recognition of this kind act Mr. Gress was unanimously elected president of the park commission, a board which is doing grand work in the care and improvement of the public grounds of Atlanta. Mr. Gress is a gentleman of whom any city might feel proud, as is evidenced by this tribute paid him by the "Atlanta Constitution": "It is a pleasure to see a man who can handle his business with as much ease as Mr. Gress does. There is not as much friction in his large business, in all its details, as there is on many two-horse farms in this state. The men who work for him like him, and respect him; he pays good wages, requiring hard work and the men get their pay without fail on pay day. He is not pompous or puffed up, but is a fair, square man in all his dealings, and has that reputation among all the men who have dealt with him. Mark our prediction: the wire grass region of Georgia will some day be the most populous part of the state, and George V. Gress, if he lives, will be one of the richest men of the south. He is now one of our most liberal and progressive citizens, and men of his makeup are always lucky and happy. If they are not they ought to be." Mr. Gress was married to Abbie J. Morgan of Chattanooga, Tenn., Dec. 23, 1873. She was a devoted wife and noble Christian lady of the Methodist Episcopal (South) faith. Mr. Gress attributes much of his success in life to the wise counsel of this helpmate. To them were born Morgan V., Jan. 7, 1875, and John Hast Gress, September, 1877, both members of the church of which their mother belonged. Mrs. Gress died from heart disease in April, 1881. In May, 1883, Mr. Gress married Ida May Nelson of Indianapolis, Ind., whose father was also a Tennes- seean. To them was born in November, 1885, Marie Gress.

DR. HUGH HAGAN is one of Atlanta's prominent physicians, who is held in high esteem by his colleagues. He was born in Richmond, Va., June 22, 1863, and there passed his early youth and learned the rudimentary branches of study. When eighteen years of age he became a dealer in tobacco in that city, but finding his tastes did not favor the pursuit of merchandising, he abandoned that business a year later, and with the intention of completing his education and taking an academic course, went to Europe. He chose the university of Berlin as his "alma mater," and attended there for twelve months, returning to America when the term was concluded. In 1885 he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city, applied himself diligently for three years, and graduated with dis- tinction in 1888. Shortly after Dr. Hagan became imbued with the desire to be- come a physician, so he again crossed the Atlantic ocean with this object in view, and studied medicine for one and a half years in the cities of London, Vienna and Paris. He gained valuable experience in the hospitals of the old world, and having the most learned practitioners of the day as his tutors, advanced rapidly in the acquisition of the science. On returning to his native

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country, Dr. Hagan located in Atlanta, where he has since pursued his profession. His reputation has extended far beyond the limits of his practice, and besides being a member of the Atlanta Society of Medicine, he is also identified with the State Medical society, and holds the chair of diseases of the mind and nervous system in the Atlanta Polyclinic. He also occupies the responsible position of medical examiner for the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance company, of Philadel- phia. Thesc various offices testify strongly to the confidence placed in his ability. Dr. Hagan was married, Oct. 26, 1887, to Miss Sarah Cobb Johnson, daughter of the late Dr. John Milton Johnson, whose biography appears elsewhere in this work. Dr. Hagan's father was Hugh Hagan, who was a native of South Carolina, but removed to Virginia between the years 1830 and 1840, and there resided for half a century, dying in Richmond, Va., in 1881. When the civil war called volun- teers to the front, Mr. Hagan was too feeble to enter the active service, and became a member of the Virginia reserves. His loyalty and fidelity were not dimmed by age. His wife, Sarah Copeland McMinn, was of Scotch-Dutch descent, and born in the state of Pennsylvania. To this marriage were given two sons and two daughters, of whom the survivors are Stella, wife of Charles E. Smith, of Rich- mond, Va., and Dr. Hugh Hagan, of Atlanta. The paternal grandfather was Alexander Hagan, a jeweler and lapidary, whose native place was northern Ireland. This ancestor emigrated to America and settled in South Carolina soon after the war of 1812. Dr. Hagan is not so entirely engrossed in professional duties but that, after office hours, he can devote much of his time to the pleasures of society. Being a popular club man, he heartily believes in the promotion of friendship and good feeling among his fellow men. As a member of the school of medicine and a gentleman of individuality, with the magnetism that attracts companion- ship, Dr. Hagan is a strong factor in the state.

JOHN I. HALL was born Feb. 20, 1841, in Jackson, Butts Co., Ga. He was partly educated at Erskine college, South Carolina, but only went through the sophomore class at that institution, his cducation having been interrupted by the coming on of the war between the states. He enlisted as a volunteer in the Fourteenth Georgia regiment, in July, 1861, and served as a lieutenant in that regiment until December of that year, when he resigned his commission, on account of ill-health, and returned home. In February, 1862, he returned to the Confederate army as first lieutenant of a company in the Forty-fifth Georgia regiment, and was in the battles around Richmond in June of that year, and on the 30th day of that month he received severe gunshot wounds, from which he has never fully recovered. He was promoted to the rank of captain, and in the winter of 1862-63 was detailcd to post duty in Georgia, where he remained until the fall of 1863, when he was elected to the legislature of Georgia, as a member from his native county of Butts. On his election to the legislature he resigned his commission in the army. Judge Hall was admitted to practice law by the superior court of Henry county, in the spring of 1861, after having taken a course of reading under Judge James S. Boynton, then a practicing lawyer in Butts county, and practiced law in the counties of Butts, Upson and Spalding. He was married, in 1864, to Miss McMichael, of Butts county, and has now living four children: Mrs. R. A. Drake, of Griffin, Ga .; Robert M., M. P., and J. E. Judge Hall served the term in the legislature to which he was elected, and resided in Butts county until 1869, when he removed to Upson county, and was sent from there to the legislature in 1870, serving one term. Soon after the expiration of his legislative term he was appointed judge of the superior courts of the Flint circuit, and served six years on the bench. This office gave him an opportunity for the I-51

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display of those high and broad powers of his mind in the administration of justice, and that perfect fairness and impartiality which soon marked him as one of the ablest lawyers and jurists of the state. He manifested, while on the bench, pro- found knowledge of legal principles, unusual energy, and that rare combination of great breadth and subtle acumen which gave him what appeared to be an intuitive power of applying the law to the particular case before him, and almost unerring accuracy in reaching legal conclusions. In 1875, while on the bench, Judge Hall removed to Griffin, Ga., and was again elected to the legislature from the county of Spalding, in 1878, and in November of that year resigned the office of judge, to take his seat in the general assembly, where he served a term. After this he resumed the practice of the law at Griffin, in connection with John D. Stewart, who was afterward judge of the superior court and member of congress. This partnership lasted for two years, until Judge Stewart went upon the bench. In 1884 he practiced law with Hon. John J. Hunt, of Griffin, who afterward became judge of the superior court. In November, 1885, Judge Hall entered into a law partnership with Hon. W. R. Hammond of Atlanta, Ga., who had just resigned from the superior court bench of that circuit. This partnership has existed since it was formed and still continues, under the firm name of Hall & Hammond. At the bar Judge Hall has displayed his greatest powers, and won his most enduring fame. As an advocate, both before courts and juries, he has no superior, and his equal is rarely found. Of large stature and commanding appearance, his very presence inspires respect and confidence. Add to this his thorough knowledge of his case, as evidenced in every phase of the trial, and his complete mastery of law as applied to all parts of it, and his great suceess at the bar is easily accounted for. Ever and thoroughly vigilant and watehful, he is a tower of strength to his clients in the court house and a terror to his adversaries. Judge Hall's great activity and energy, which qualities have always been con- spicuous in him, and the unusual interest he has always taken in current events, have not allowed him to keep entirely aloof from politics, though the law has always been his first love, and he has never permitted himself to yield to any desire for personal promotion which would divorce him from that. Thus he has been elected to the legislature of his state five separate times, having besides those already mentioned, been returned to the state senate in 1888, and again to the general assembly in 1892, and he was a presidential elector on the Hancock ticket in 1880. In April, 1893, the high office of assistant attorney-general of the United States was tendered to Judge Hall by President Cleveland. The office was entirely unsought by him, and was accepted with hesitation. But it was in the line of his profession, and he entered upon the discharge of its responsible duties with his accustomed energy and ability, and has secured for himself an enviable fame, which is not bounded by state lines, but is national in its character. Judge Hall's character can best be summed up by saying that he is one of the great lawyers of his time. As said in the outset, he is equaled by few and surpassed by none.

C R. HANLEITER. Among the earliest of the devout Salzburg immigrants who founded the famous colony of Ebenezer, in what is now Effingham county, Ga., was John Jacob Handleiter. An only son who bore the same name changed the spelling of the surname to Hanleiter. A descendant still bearing the name of John Jacob was married in 1812 to Miss Elizabeth McFarland, daughter of William McFarland, of distinguished Scottish lineage of Cowpens, S. C. They had four children, of whom Cornelius R. Hanleiter, born in Savannah, Ga., June 14, 1815, was the youngest. He was left an orphan quite young, his father dying the year after he was born, and his mother when he was about eight years old, but

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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 117

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