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 118

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 118

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FULTON COUNTY SKETCHES.

he was given a home with a maternal aunt. When eleven years of age he was bound to William Robertson, editor and proprietor of the Savannah Georgian, to learn the printers' trade, served more than his full term of years, and is possibly not only the oldest printer in the state, but the only one who served a regular seven years' apprenticeship. In 1834, soon after the expiration of his time, he went to Augusta, Ga., and assisted P. C. Guieu in getting out the first number of the "Con- stitution," which, after thirty years of lusty life, was merged into the "Augusta Chronicle." After going thence to Alabama and assisting in making a railway survey, he accepted the position of foreman of the "Montgomery Advertiser," James E. Belden, editor and proprietor. While visiting relatives in Macon, he assisted in running an experimental railway line from Macon to Dublin, under L. O. Reynolds. Proposing to make a permanent home in Macon, he accepted a posi- tion on the "Macon Messenger," of which Simri Rose and Isaac G. Seymour were editors and proprietors. He employed his leisure hours in publishing the "News Courier," a small weekly, which evolved first into the more pretentious "Southern Post," and then into the "Southern Lady's Book," monthly, published in the inter- ests of the Georgia (now Wesleyan) female college, edited by Rev. George F. Pierce, afterward the distinguished Methodist bishop. In 1840 he went to Forsyth, Ga., and published the "Southern Botanico Medical Journal," and the next year he published "Worthy's Botanic Practice," a volume of 500 pages. In 1842 he pur- chased the office and moved it to Madison, Ga., and established the "Southern Miscellany," of which he was sole editor and proprietor, and in which first appeared "Maj. Jones' Courtship," contributed by W. T. Thompson, afterward editor of the "Savannah Mining News." In 1847 he moved his office and business to Atlanta, "to grow up with the city." In 1852 he published the "Reveille," a whig campaign weekly, and the same year sold his office to a party of gentlemen who established the "Atlanta Intelligencer," which after a life of a quarter of a century was merged into the "Atlanta Constitution." Early in 1857 he established the "National American," tri-weekly, which was conducted with conspicuous ability on lines of progressiveness and development-advocating with spirit and vigor cotton and other manufacturing industries, the construction of the Georgia air-line, now R. & D., and Georgia Western, now Georgia Pacific, railways, and direct foreign trade, and when disunion began to be talked his opposition was fierce and strong. The "National American" was not only powerful and popular politically, but it was a model family paper-not a line was given space that would cause the slightest flush to mantle the cheek of any around the family circle. It was subsequently merged into the "Southern Confederacy" newspaper. In 1860 Col. Hanleiter organized a strong company and established the Franklin Publishing company, which was disposed of while he was doing duty in the Confederate service on the Georgia coast, and for which he never received a cent. The present great Franklin Publishing company is the outcome of this organization. Early in the seventies, in connection with Col. B. C. Yancey, he published the "Plantation," which is his last important connection with the printing business. He helped to organize the Gate City Guards in 1855, was elected a lieutenant, and his eldest daughter, Josephine, presented the company with a costly silk flag. In 1856 he was a member of the city council (when it served for nothing); was a justice of the inferior court, and was principally instrumential in establishing a house of refuge for the poor. After the war, about 1870, he was superintendent of the celebrated Orphans' home at Bethesda, near Savannah; and while holding the position raised $8,000, mostly from distinguished citizens of the north, and thereby saved from forced sale and being sacrificed, property worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. When in Macon, in 1837-40, he was foreman of fire company No. I,

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and ex-officio chief of the fire department, and vice-president of the Macon Benevo- lent association, composed of the leading citizens of Macon. In 1844, in Madison, he was marshal of the day when the great Clay mass meeting was held. Col. Hanleiter is spending his closing years with his children at Atlanta, prepared for and calmly awaiting the time when he shall be summoned to a re-union of those of his family who have preceded him to the great unknown. Col. Hanleiter was twice married; first to Miss Mary Ann Ford, born in New Haven, Conn., Feb. 22, 1837, and who died in 1848, leaving five children; and second he was married to Miss Ann Elizabeth Shaw, Atlanta, September, 1850, who died in December, 1893, bearing eight children. Ten of his children attained to maturity: Josephine, deceased wife of Henry Gullatt; William R., merchant, Griffin, Ga .; Ida, unmar- ried; Katharine Anna, wife of J. S. Peterson; Bertha E., unmarried; Victorine, Mrs. Stowers; Cora, Mrs. Catchings; George S., Methodist preacher; James McP., in business, Savannah; Elizabeth, clerk superintendent of public schools, Atlanta.

WILLIAM CORY HALE, banker, Atlanta, Ga., was born in Columbus, Miss., in 1858. He received his education in the schools of his native city. At the age of seventeen he entered his father's office. In 1880 he accepted a position as general bookkeeper for a cotton commission house, and remained with them until he removed to Atlanta, Ga., in 1887. His first work in Atlanta was in the insurance business, but realizing the importance and future of the city as a financial center, he soon organized the Southern Mutual Building and Loan association and the State Savings bank, both of which companies he is president of. He is also presi- dent of the Hale Investment company, and a director in several other organiza- tions. Enterprising, yet cautious, prompt in all business obligations and engage- ments, and thoroughly systematic in his business methods, he has established a fine reputation and been eminently successful in his undertakings.

JUDGE WILLIAM R. HAMMOND. Few men have reached a higher dis- tinction at the bar or enjoyed, in fuller measure, the respect and confidence of their fellow-citizens than Judge William Robinson Hammond. Though just in the prime of life, at an age when the greatest legal successes are usually attained, Judge Hammond has been recognized, for a number of years, as one of the foremost members of his profession. A native of this state, Judge Hammond was born in Franklin, Heard Co., Ga., on Oct. 25, 1848. His father, Judge Dennis F. Hammond, was a man of distinguished ability and of great usefulness. His attainments at the bar and in private life were such as to merit incidental mention in this connection. He was born at Newberry, S. C., in 1819, but came to Georgia in his youth, settling first in Lincoln county. He was subsequently united in marriage to Miss Adeline Robinson, of Carroll county, and nine children sprang from this union, four of whom survive: Octavia, wife of A. D. Adair, of Atlanta; William R., the subject of this sketch; Dr. John D., president of Central college, Missouri, and Edward M., a practicing lawyer of Orlando, Fla., and formerly a member of the state senate. Judge Hammond, the elder, was admitted to the bar in 1840. He moved to Newnan, Ga., in 1850, and five years later was elected to the superior court bench as judge of the Tallapoosa circuit. Leaving the bench in 1862, after an able and fearless administration of the law, Judge Hammond came to Atlanta and entered upon the active practice of his profession. In 1870, during a period of great disturbance and of frequent violations of the law, Judge Hammond was elected mayor of Atlanta. His administration was one of the most conservative the city has ever enjoyed and its influence was. felt in the superior moral tone imparted to the city's daily life. Judge Hammond remained in the

W. R. HAMMOND.

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practice of law with his son until 1881. Leaving Atlanta, he then removed to Orlando, Fla., to engage in the orange industry, and devoted himself to that pursuit, though not giving up his professional practice entirely, until his death in 1891. The passing away of this great and good man was sincerely mourned. Among the tributes of sympathy received by the afflicted family were letters from Senators Alfred H. Colquitt, John B. Gordon and one from Judge B. H. Bigham. The press of the state teemed with eulogies upon his noble and useful life and the memory of his stainless record is still fresh in the minds of his fellow citizens. Returning to Judge William R. Hammond, the son of the foregoing: he lived only two years in Heard county, removing with his parents to Newnan, Ga., where he received his primary education. In 1862 the family came to Atlanta and William attended the private schools of that city for three years. He then entered the state university at Athens, Ga., in 1867, graduating from that institu- tion in 1869, with the highest honors of his class. Dr. A. A. Lipscomb was the chancellor of the university at that time, and the class was one of the brightest and largest that ever graduated, several of its members having since attained botlı state and national distinction. After graduating the young student entered the law office of his father, Judge Dennis F. Hammond, and after preparing himself for the practice was admitted to the bar in 1870. Forming a partnership with his father they continued to practice, as a law firm, until 1881. In the following year William R. was elevated to the bench of the Atlanta circuit, having been elected by the general assembly to fill the unexpired term of Judge Hillyer, who resigned. He was subsequently re-elected for a term of four years but after serv- ing for only a few months he resigned in November 1885, to resume the active practice. As a judge his decisions were sound and logical and he enjoyed the confidence of both the bar and the public. During the period of his practice from 1870 to his election as Judge in 1882 Mr. Hammond had charge of, and success- fully conducted, some of the most important and difficult litigation in the state. One of these was the case of the state against the Scofield Rolling Mill company, brought under a special act of the legislature, in which Mr. Hammond was for the defense. He obtained a new trial in the supreme court, after a heavy verdict for the state, and got a verdict for the defendant, on the second trial. Another case was the state vs. Cox, charged with the murder of Alston. He was convicted, and Mr. Hammond was selected, by five or six prominent lawyers who represented Cox, to argue his case in the supreme court. He obtained a strong dissenting opinion from Chief Justice Warner, on which Cox was pardoned. Mr. Hammond was highly complimented by the supreme court in both these cases, Judge Warner having said that his argument in the Cox case was the finest he had ever heard. These cases attracted a great deal of attention, and his management of them made hin a great reputation and character as a lawyer throughout the state. After leaving the bench he formed a, partnership with Judge John I. Hall, the present assistant attorney-general of the United States. Judge Hammond was elected a member of the board of education of the city of Atlanta in 1887, for a term of six years, and was subsequently re-elected in 1893, serving with pay. His work on the board has demonstrated his abiding love for the public school system of Atlanta, and his desire to elevate the masses by giving to all the wholesome advantages of a good education. Judge Hammond is a man of deep religious convictions, and has always been active in the affairs of his church. He is chairman of the board of trustees of Trinity church, and is also chairman of the board of stewards. In addition to these religious offices Judge Hammond is a life trustee of Wesleyan Female college, the oldest institution of its kind in the world. He is also president of the board of trustees of the Atlanta Dental college, and a member

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of the board of trustees of the colored branch of the state university, located in Savannah, Ga. Judge Hammond has always taken a profound interest in this work, and has made it a matter of careful study. He has also been engaged, as a prominent factor, in some of the leading enterprises of the city. In the early period of his professional life Judge Hammond was united in marriage to Miss Laura Rawson, the daughter of Hon. E. E. Rawson, one of the most prominent and enterprising citizens of Atlanta. In his private, as well as in his professional life the career of Judge Hammond has been above reproach, and his integrity has never been assailed. The firm of Hall & Hammond is one of the ablest in the state, and controls an extensive general practice, not only in Atlanta but throughout the state. His success as a practitioner, with his natural business capacity, has brought Judge Hammond a handsome competence, and in the financial world he enjoys a high rating. He exercises the same prudence, consideration and sagacity in his business interests that he brings to bear in his profession, and with a corresponding result. Judge Hammond is held in the highest esteem by all classes and his career of public service has not only been one of honor to himself but of usefulness to the community.

DR. VIRGIL O. HARDON, the son of Betsy (Packard) and Charles W. Hardon, both of Massachusetts, was born in Mansfield, Mass., March 13, 1851, and removed, when four years of age, to Providence, R. I., where he attended the public schools and received his early training. From here he went to Brown university, taking a two years' course in the academical department, and after its completion, taught school for two years in East Providence. Here he conceived the idea of becoming a physician, and having excellent opportunities when not engaged in school duties, applied himself constantly to the study of medicine; but finding that self-instruction made slow progress, he became a student in the Har- vard medical school, spent one and a half years as interne in the Rhode Island hos- pital at Providence, and finally went to New York, where he attended the Bellevue Hospital Medical college and graduated in 1874. Selecting Providence as his field of labor he practiced his profession there until 1881, and then came south, settling in Savannah. There he did not continue practice, but entered the mercantile firm of Solomon & Co. After remaining here for some months, he decided that Atlanta afforded more encouragement to young men and removed to that city, accepting a position with Messrs. Pemberton, Iverson & Co. Shortly after he became chief bookkeeper for John B. Daniel, the wholesale druggist. Finding this constant confinement injurious to his health, Dr. Hardon became traveling salesman for Messrs. Hail & Ruckel, of New York. Since resigning that position he has been in the active practice of medicine in the city of Atlanta. Dr. Hardon is widely known throughout the state among the members of his profession, and takes great interest in all organizations controlled by them. He is a member of the Atlanta Society of Medicine, the State Medical association, the Southern Sur- gical and Gynecological, and the American Gynecological societies, and for five consecutive years has acted as censor in the former association. For two years he filled the presidency of the Atlanta Society of Medicine. Dr. Hardon does not confine his enthusiasm and knowledge of medicine to practical experience alone, but in the broader scope of its literature has displayed a keen interest and con- tributed numerous articles to the various medical journals of the country, chief among them the "American Journal of Obstetrics" and the "Atlanta Medical and Surgical Journal." In addition to the honors bestowed upon him in recognition of professional skill and learning, he is a zealous Christian worker and a vestry- man of St. Philip's Episcopal church. Dr. Hardon now holds the chair of

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obstetrics and diseases of women and children in the Atlanta Medical college. His career has been successful from its beginning, and is the result of untiring energy, close, assiduous study and a persevering devotion to duty. One of the best methods of ascertaining a professional man's true worth is to learn the opinion held of him by his colleagues. One of Atlanta's most prominent physicians is quoted as saying: "Dr. Hardon has made an enviable reputation in his especial line of work, obstetrics and gynecology, and is widely known throughout the state and beyond its boundaries. He is a bold and successful surgeon, a very accurate diagnostician and a conscientious man; one who shrinks not from the many unpleasant obliga- tions of the profession. He is a quiet, reserved and generous gentleman, making and holding friends. He is a fluent talker, and in the medical societies of which he is a member, is one of the best impromptu speakers who discuss the essays pre- sented for consideration. His argument is clear and concise, and his thoughts arranged as promptly as though carefully prepared in advance." Dr. Hardon was married Jan. 1, 1885, to Miss Julia A. Robinson, who died in 1891. He was married again Dec. 27, 1892, to Miss Bertha Wardell, of Bainbridge, Ga. They have no children.

NATHAN OVERTON HARRIS, M. D., was born in Culpeper county, Va.,

Dec. 4, 1851. During the late war he removed with his parents to Atlanta, Ga., where he was raised and educated. In 1868, he went to Covington, Ky., where he attended school one year and then returned to Atlanta, where during the following year he pursued a course of study at the Houston street high school. He next entered the office of his father, who at that time was sheriff of Fulton county, where he remained four years. After clerking a year in Atlanta he com- menced the study of medicine under Dr. T. S. Powell, and was graduated from the Southern Medical college, in Atlanta, in 1881. After graduating he practiced medicine in Atlanta eighteen months, and during three months of that time had charge of the small pox hospital in that city, where he treated two hundred small pox patients. His duties at the hospital were so exacting that he found it neces- sary to deny himself the ordinary physical comforts of life; and for two months he was compelled to seek such brief moments of rest as nature demanded, without removing his clothing. In 1882 he went to New York, where one year later he was graduated from the Bellevue Hospital Medical college, and returned to Atlanta, where he has since been engaged in the practice of medicine. In 1888, he was assistant professor to the chair of obstetrics and diseases of women and children in the Atlanta Medical college. Dr. Harris is a member of the Georgia Medical association and of the National Association of Railway Surgeons and of the American Medical association. He is medical examiner for the Aetna Life Insurance company of Hartford, Conn .; the Equitable of New York; the Union Mutual of Portland, Me .; American Union Life Insurance company ; Michi- gan Mutual Life Insurance company; the Providence Savings of New York; the Phoenix Mutual of Hartford, Conn., and for the endowment rank, section 611, Knights of Pythias. He is also chief surgeon for the Georgia, Carolina & Northern division of the Seaboard Air Line (260 miles). He is police surgeon, and is city physician for the sixth ward of Atlanta, and surgeon Fourth battalion, Georgia volunteers. In 1886, Dr. Harris was chosen president of the Atlanta Society of Medicine for one year; and since that time he has been corresponding secretary of that society. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias and has held the chairs in Atlanta lodge No. 20, K. P. He was a delegate to the grand lodge, which met at Brunswick, Ga., in 1891. He is also a member of St. Phillip's church (Episcopal). The father of Dr. Harris was James O. Harris, who was born in

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Albemarle county, Va., in 1820, and married in Culpeper county, in that state, to Miss Elizabeth A., daughter of Daniel and Lucy (Powell) Brown. He moved to Culpeper county, where he was elected sheriff in 1856; the first man elected to that office who was not a native of the county. In 1863, James O. Harris moved to Atlanta and engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1866, when he was appointed deputy internal revenue collector, which office he held until 1868, when, while absent from home, he was elected sheriff of Fulton county. He served as sheriff for two terms, and one year. In 1874 he was elected city marshal of Atlanta, and at the expiration of his term he served one year as deputy city marshal. He was next elected state and county tax receiver, which office he held continuously until his death in 1891. James O. Harris had four children: Dr. Nathan O., Atlanta; Lucy Powell, who died unmarried in 1881, aged twenty- seven years; Clement Rush, who, in 1884, married Miss Sallie, daughter of Jackson Dick of Tennessee, real estate broker, Atlanta, and Daniel Brown Harris, who married Miss Bessie Sargeant, daughter of Hon. N. J. Hammond, Atlanta, adjuster and special agent for the North America Fire Insurance company of Phila- delphia, Pa. The father of Dr. Harris served in the Thirteenth Virginia regiment during the first six months of the late war between the states. His grandfather was Nathan Harris, who was born in Albemarle county, Va., in 1772; he was a man of large wealth and a gentleman farmer during his life, and owned many slaves. He never held office. He married Ann Allen Anderson, and six children were born of this marriage: Dr. Clement Rush Harris, deceased in 1869; Elizabeth, wife of a Mr. Hutchins; Fanny, deceased wife of William Davis, of Rockbridge county, Va .; James O. Harris, deceased 1891; Judge John T. Harris, who has served seven terms in congress, and now living in Harrisonburg, Va., and Rev. Dr. William A. Harris, now president of Virginia college at Roanoke, Va., and for twenty-six years president of the Western Female college at Staunton, Va. Nathan Harris died in 1853, aged eighty-one. Dr. Nathan O. Harris was married April 8, 1885, to Lula S., daughter of Maj. Rufus S. Tucker, of Raleigh, N. C .; this lady died without issue April 23, 1886.

JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS, the author of Uncle Remus and numerous other stories of southern life and character, is a native of Putnam county, Ga. He was born in the town of Eatonton in 1848, and spent most of his boyhood there. Circumstances forced him to leave school at an early age, and while still a mere child he learned the printer's trade in the office of "The Countryman," a popular weekly which was then published on a plantation several miles from any town. The proprietor of the paper had a fine library, and the boy was given free access to it. From these books he picked up the elements of an education which has carried him through a successful literary and journalistic career.

After leaving "The Countryman," while still in his teens, young Harris worked in a country newspaper office at Forsyth, Ga., and then accepted an editorial posi- tion on a monthly in New Orleans for a short time. In 1868 he accepted a position on the editorial staff of the "Savannah Morning News," and remained there until the yellow fever epidemic of 1876, which caused him to remove to Atlanta. He joined the editorial staff of the "Atlanta Constitution," and for the past nineteen years has been the leading editorial writer on that paper. Before moving to Atlanta he married Miss Essie La Rose of Canada. Mr. Harris resides at West End in a picturesque cottage, brightened by the presence of his wife and five children, one of whom, Julian Harris, is the book reviewer of the "Constitu- tion," and the author of many charming short stories.

Mr. Harris was so successful with his first book, Uncle Remus, that the

Z. D. HARRISON.

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public demanded something more from his pen, and his leisure hours are now devoted to literary work for various publishers. His books have had a large sale in England as well as in this country, and he is one of the most popular of American story writers. He rarely ever travels, and is noted for his love of home and family and his loyalty to his friends. He takes an active interest in politics and the leading issues of the day, and his writings upon these topics would fill many volumes. The ease with which he turns from his routine editorial work to literature is a mystery to his contemporaries. In the main his life has been peaceful and uneventful. He has succeeded in his modest ambitions, and is now in his prime, with the promise of many more years of useful and brilliant work.

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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 118

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