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 123

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 123

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HUGH THEODORE INMAN, of the firm of Inman, Smith & Co., wholesale shoes and notions, and capitalist, of Atlanta, was born in Jefferson county, Tenn., and there he resided until eighteen years of age, receiving his early educa- tion in the town academy. In 1867 he removed to New York city, entered the cotton exchange, and was associated with Messrs. Inman, Swann & Co., cotton dealers, for six or seven years. By cautious yet numerous speculations in the cotton traffic, he amassed a small fortune, and then came south again, locating in Savannah, Ga. He remained in the "Forest city" about three years, prosecuting the same business, gradually increasing his finances, and moved to Atlanta in 1876. Mr. Inman has been engaged in many enterprises. He built the Exposition cotton mills, and conducted their successful operation, and at the same time was engaged in the fertilizer and the cotton compress business. In 1892 he formed the

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partnership that is now recognized as one of the strongest in the state. For several years he was director in the Central railroad, of Georgia, the Atlanta National bank, and is now director in the Home Insurance company, the Con- stitution Publishing company, the Atlanta Trust and Banking company, president of the Franklin Publishing company, and controller of the Kimball House com- pany, of Atlanta. He has never coveted public office, nor sought positions of notoriety. However, the people, knowing his ability as a financier and his power as a thinking man, insisted on his becoming a city councilman, and thereafter he was appointed chairman of the finance committee, and now wields the sceptre of economy and guarded policy over the municipal government. Mr. Inman is a deacon in the First Presbyterian church and superintendent of the Sunday school. He has always devoted much time to religious work, and has effected unlimited good by his generous endeavors. He was married, on May 23, 1871, to Miss Vandyke, of Athens, Tenn., daughter of Chancellor Vandyke. This union has been blessed with five children; those surviving are Josephine, Edward and Annie, wife of Mr. John W. Grant. Mr. Inman is generally considered the wealthiest citizen of Atlanta, owning immense tracts of real estate and maintaining vast interests in numerous industries and corporations. From a poor, humble country boy, he has, by thrift, tenacity and perseverance, combated the hindrances that confront the American youth, and acquired affluence and social prestige. His character, manly in every fibre, embraces the attributes that command respect and accumulate friends. Virtue, strength of mind and body, vigilance, piety and a will power that surmounts all difficulties, have made his fortune and his name.

DR. WILLIAM CALVIN JARNAGIN was born in Macon, Miss., Aug. 28, 1850, was there brought up and attended an "old-field" school taught by a noted Connecticut teacher named Hubbard, celebrated in that day and generation for his educational ability. Young Jarnagin left this school when he was seventeen years old and entered the university of Mississippi at Oxford, where he reached the senior year in 1870, going from there to the university of Virginia at Charlottes- ville, taking a medical course there and graduating in 1872. Then he took a summer and winter course at Bellevue Hospital Medical college, and returning to Macon, Miss., practiced his profession until 1875. Returning to New York he took a post-graduate course at Bellevue and the College of Physicians and Sur- geons. Going back to Macon, Miss., he remained there till in the spring of 1882, when he removed to Atlanta, Ga., where he has since practiced. Dr. Jarnagin belongs to the State Medical association and to the Atlanta Medical society. He has contributed articles to medical journals-one on typho-malarial fever, which was widely copied. He is surgeon for the R. & D. railway (Atlanta & Charlotte division) and the E. T., V. & Ga. railway (Atlanta division). He is also medical examiner for the Mutual Life Insurance company of New York and medical referee for the state for the same great insurance company. He is examiner for the Washington Life Insurance company of New York, and holds the same position with the Maryland Life of Baltimore, the Connecticut Mutual, the Phoenix Mutual of Hartford, Conn., the Travelers' Insurance of Hartford, the Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance company of Hartford, and the Home Life Insurance company of Brooklyn, N. Y. Dr. Jarnagin is a member of the I. O. O. F. and encampment, the Knights of Pythias and of the Cherokee lodge, No. 1, A. O. R. M. He is also a member of the First Baptist church. He was married, first in 1873 to Sallie M., daughter of Col. L. J. Dupre, Memphis, Tenn., and in 1894 to Miss Erskine, daugh- ter of J. L. Richmond, Atlanta, Ga. Dr. Jarnagin's father was Hampton L. Jarna- gin, a native of east Tennessee, where he was brought up. When a young man

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he removed to Macon, Miss., where he practiced law for forty years and died in 1887. Hampton L. Jarnagin went to school in Greeneville, Tenn., and Andrew Johnson, afterward vice-president, made his clothes for him. He was for twenty years a member of the upper and lower houses of the Mississippi legislature, and his brother, Spencer Jarnagin, was United States senator from Tennessee. The Jarnagin family is of Huguenot ancestry.

JAMES CALDWELL JENKINS, a brainy Atlanta attorney, is a native of North Carolina, having been born in Gaston county, in that state, on May 22, 1853. Here he resided for eighteen years, and in the fall of 1871 left home to attend college. He first entered Wake Forest college, and remained in this institute for three years. When the course was completed he matriculated in Princeton university, and was graduated in the Centennial class of 1876 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, but by a continued application as post-graduate he received the Master of Arts degree after the lapse of three sessions. On leaving Princeton, where he went through three classes in one year, he traveled through Europe for six months, visiting the famous resorts and places of interest to Americans. Re- turning to his native country he took a course of study in the Columbian university of Washington, D. C., in the law department for two years, and there won the first prize for the best essay. Finishing here he went to the Columbia law school in New York ,and received a diploma in 1881 with degree of LL. B. Soon after he came south, locating in Atlanta, Ga., where he was admitted to the bar in 1881, to the supreme court and United States district courts, and in 1889 to the United States supreme court. From March, 1883, to June, 1884, Mr. Jenkins acted as assistant United States attorney for the northern district of Georgia, appointed by Benjamin Brewster, and made an efficient officer. Indeed the marked ability he displayed gave him a high reputation. Mr. Jenkins was married May 24, 1882, to Miss Susie M. Scruggs of Atlanta. They have six children, a happy household, as follows: James C., Jr .; Welling Field, Eleanor Marjorie, Lydia Louise, Theodore Dwight, and a daughter not yet named. He is a tender, affectionate husband and father, and enjoys no evenings like those with his little ones about him. He is a devout member of the Second Baptist church of the city. Mr. Jenkins' father was David A. Jenkins, of North Carolina. He was state treasurer of his common- wealth between 1868 and 1876, serving two terms. He was also two terms in the legislature from Gaston county, N. C. The Jenkins family is of Welsh descent. Mr. Jenkins is a thorough, conscientious and painstaking lawyer, who is never discouraged by obstructions in his path. He has managed with success a number of large cases, and his practice is constantly growing.

HON. GEORGE E. JOHNSON, the chairman of the board of police commis- sioners, and one of Atlanta's most progressive and enterprising merchants, was born in the city of Richmond, Va., on Feb. 14, 1855. His father, Joseph A. John- son, who is still living, is also a native Virginian, and was born in Richmond in 1827. He resided in that historic city until the breaking out of the late war, engaged in the sash and blind manufacturing business. Prior to the war he was the captain of the National Grays. In 1862 he entered the Confederate service, and after a year's experience in the field he was detailed to take charge of the arsenal at Tallassee, Ala., and remained there until the close of the war. He then came to Atlanta, Ga., where he has since resided. For the first eleven years of his life the subject of this sketch lived in Richmond and enjoyed for two or three years the best primary instruction of that city. Moving with his parents to Tallassee, Ala., where his father was stationed in charge of the arsenal, he remained there for two'

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years and carried on his studies. In 1868, being still a mere boy, he came to Atlanta with his parents and went to school for three years. Leaving school he accepted a position with Mr. G. W. Jack, the candy manufacturer, at $10 a month, and later as head clerk at $85 a month; holding the latter position for two years. He then decided to go into the manufacturing business for the purpose of making himself familiar with its details. He accordingly threw up his $85 a month job and entered Jack's candy factory, working for nineteen months at the low rate of 40 cents a day. In 1874 Mr. Jack sold out to his brother, W. F. Jack, and the business was carried on for several years under the firm name of Jack & Holland. Mr. Johnson was at once made general superintendent with a salary of $175 a month. He held this position for five years, after which he bought out the firm and has since carried on the business by himself. Mr. Johnson is now at the head of one of the largest candy manufacturing enterprises in the south. He employs thirty people for nine months in the year and fifty for three months. The capacity of the establishment is 25,000 pounds of candy a week. Mr. Johnson has never had a man to voluntarily quit his employ on account of dissatisfaction. This speaks well for the kindness of heart as well as for the splendid administrative ability of Mr. Johnson. He has men in his employ who have been with him ever since he started up in business. For a number of years it has been the custom of Mr. Johnson, just before Christmas, to give a package of candy to every poor child in Atlanta, thus making the season one of thankfulness and joy. Last year he gave away, in this manner, 3,500 pounds of candy. His trade extends into North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida and Georgia. He has two men on the road and two in the city and runs four delivery wagons. In March, 1894, Mr. Johnson was elected a member of the board of police commissioners and just one year later on the five hundred and nincty-first ballot he was elected chairman of the board, defeating Capt. James W. English. Mr. Johnson belongs to the Order of Red Men, and also to the Odd Fellows. In 1885 he was united in marriage to Miss Eleanor Morgan, daughter of Mr. D. Morgan of Atlanta. They have three children, as follows: Mabel G., Lillian, and Edgar M. The household is a happy one and Mr. Johnson is fond of spending his leisure hours with his wife and children. Though not by any means a politician, Mr. Johnson has always been a wide-awake and public-spirited citizen, devoted to the welfare of the community. He has been the friend and, to a large extent, the patron of all enterprises that have promised to eventuate in good to the city. His career as a business man has not only been one of phenomenal success, but one of marked honor and usefulness.

JOSEPH H. JOHNSON, president of the Atlanta Loan and Investment com- pany, Atlanta, Ga., son of Rev. Marcus D. C. and Harriet R. (Long) Johnson, was born in Culloden, Monroe Co., Ga., Feb. 20, 1840. His grandfather, Aaron Johnson, of the same stock as Hon. Reverdy Johnson, of national distinction, was a farmer, a native of Maryland, whence in early manhood he inigrated to Georgia and settled in Elbert county, where he farmed until he died. Mr. Johnson's father was born in Elbert county in 1807, where he was raised on the farm. He was a Methodist minister, and died in Griffin, Ga., in 1849, aged forty-two years, after a ministerial service of more than twenty years. His mother was born in Savannah in 1810, and is still living (1894) at the advanced age of eighty-four years. Mr. Johnson's early boyhood was spent in Culloden; but when he was eight years old his father moved to Griffin, Spalding Co., Ga., where he was educated and grew to manhood. At his death in 1849, his father left nine children, the oldest of whom was only thirteen years old-our subject being the fourth child and only nine years old. When fourteen years of age Mr. Johnson entered the general merchandise

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store of Cherry & Bro., Griffin, as a clerk, and remained with them six years; commencing on a salary of $50 a year, and board, and, later, receiving $600, and privileges which brought him that much more. In August, 1860, he associated himself with E. P. Hill-their combined capital being about $5,000-to engage in the grocery business in Griffin. Purchasing a stock of groceries they run the busi- ness prosperously until May, 1861, when Mr. Johnson, who was a member of the Griffin light guards, entered the Confederate service. The guards became. Company B, Fifth Georgia regiment, and he served in it as a private for six months, when he was discharged on account of bad health. Not long after this he was detailed to service in the quartermaster's department, in which he served at Pensacola and Mobile, Ala., and at Macon, Ga., until the close of the war, acting as chief clerk of the post. After the war Mr. Johnson, who (having made some fortunate investments) was about as well, if not better off, than when he entered the service, established himself in the banking and cotton business, which he conducted from 1866 to 1874. After farming two years he came to Atlanta-in 1877-and became connected with his brother, Mark W. Johnson, under the firm name of Mark W. Johnson & Co., in selling seeds and manufacturing and selling agricultural implements. In 1889 he sold his interest in this business and assisted in organizing the Atlanta National Building and Loan association, of which he was made general manager of agencies. He held this office two years and then resigned. He is also a director in the National Railway Building and Loan association which he assisted in organizing in 1891. In 1890 Mr. Johnson was made vice-president and general manager of the Interstate Abstract company, Atlanta. He is also prominently connected with the National Mutual Relief asso- ciation, of which he is a trustee and its treasurer. Mr. Johnson was married in November, 1865, to Miss Sarah E., daughter of James A. Beeks, Griffin, Ga., by whom he had six children, of whom five survive; Ella H., wife of J. A. Droege, Savannah, Ga .; Mary B., wife of A. S. Hook, Atlanta; Joseph H., Jr., on the Atlanta "Journal" staff; Sarah E., and Fanny. Their mother was an exemplary member of the Methodist church, and died in 1884. Mr. Johnson is a member of the I. O. O. F., a royal arch Mason, and a prominent and zealous member of the Methodist church. Mr. Johnson had four brothers in the Confederate service during the war between the states: Marcus, now a seedsman merchant, Atlanta, quartermaster; Russell P., deceased, who was in the war but a short time, on account of ill health; Wilbur F., who at the age of seventeen was appointed a lieutenant on the United States coast survey, resigned when Georgia passed the ordinance of secession, and enlisted and went to Virginia with the Macon, Ga., volunteers. Soon after he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Confederate navy, and assigned to duty at Pensacola, on the staff of Gen. Bragg, with the rank of captain of artillery. He was with Gen. Bragg at the battle of Corinth, accompanied him through the Kentucky campaign, and, returning, was wounded at Knoxville. He was next made assistant chief of ordnance under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, and served with him until the latter part of 1864. At this time he was promoted to the rank of major and associated with Gen. Pillow (whose daughter he married) in Alabama in reorganizing stragglers, deserters, etc. After serving in this capacity several months he was assigned to the command of a battalion of troops in west Florida, where he was at the close of hostilities. He died in 1879. Michael A., who was a cadet in the Georgia military institute, went into the service with his young comrades in 1864, and remained until the surrender. He died in 1876. .

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DR. JOHN MILTON JOHNSON, now deceased, was a native of Kentucky, having been born in the "Blue Grass" state Jan. 15, 1812. His father was a courteous Virginia gentleman, who fought with the spirit and fire that enthused American patriots in the revolutionary war, practiced medicine for a number of years and afterward, until death, devoted his labors to the cause of religion as a be- loved Presbyterian divine. His mother was Jane Leeper, niece of Mr. Polk, author of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. His brother, Gen. R. W. Johnson, belongs to the United States regular army. Dr. Johnson was taught by his father until prepared to enter college, then received a diploma from the Kentucky School of Medicine. He first located in Ramsey, Mecklenburg Co., during 1833 and there began active practice. In 1844 he removed to Fredonia, Ky. Remaining four years, he went to Marion, Ky., and in 1853 became a resi- dent of southern Kentucky. From here, after three years' stay, he moved to Paducah, a small town in the same state, and came to Atlanta in 1862. His career as a practitioner and a learned student in the profession is far above the average and has been justly applauded. He was a member of the Georgia Medical asso- ciation and the Atlanta Academy of Medicine, acting as president of the latter in 1875. From 1868 to 1872 he held the chair of physiology and pathological anatomy in the Atlanta Medical college. During the civil war he served three years in the Confederate army, having charge of the hospital at Nashville, Tenn., and filled the position of surgeon to Gen. A. S. Johnson. After the fall of Fort Donelson he was field surgeon with Gen. Buckner's division and accompanied Patrick Cleburne in the campaign of Murfreesboro, Tenn. Later as medical director of Hardee's command he achieved new honors and commendation. Dr. Johnson did not confine his labors to the medical profession alone, but gave val- uable service to the state of Kentucky as a pure-minded, conscientious and capable legislator. He represented his county in both houses of the state's general assembly, filling a seat in the senate chamber for four years consecutively. Dr. Johnson was twice married, first in 1830, to Elizabeth Eaver of South Carolina, a lady of charming personality, who died in 1862. Subsequently, in 1864, he inarried Mrs. Mary Willis (nee Cobb) Erwin, sister of Howell Cobb, of Georgia, who possesses the same mental qualities as her honored brother. Dr. Johnson died in 1887. He was a pioneer in Atlanta's medical circles. His Christian char- acter was much admired, and his history is preserved as a precious legacy for future generations.

COL. GEORGE HOYLE JONES, ex-principal keeper of the Georgia peni- tentiary, was born on a farm in Gwinnett county, Ga., Oct. 23, 1833, and remained there until twenty-one years of age, attending the "old field" schools. He adopted farming as a profession and is still engaged in that occupation, though the farm has not his personal supervision. In March, 1862, he enlisted in Com- pany A, Forty-second Georgia regiment, but was soon transferred to the scouts, and in this capacity served under Gen. Braxton Bragg, Gen. Joc Johnston and Gen. Hood. Under Gen. Johnston he was made captain, and held that rank until the surrender. Capt. Jones figured conspicuously in the following battles: Walden's Ridge, Tenn .; Baton Rouge, La .; second battle of Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, Bethel church, Kennesaw mountain, Atlanta, Frankfort and Nashville, Tenn., and Bentonville, N. C. He was cap- tured on several occasions, but each time effected an escape. On July 19, 1864, he suffered a severe, painful accident that caused the loss of an eye. It was the result of the explosion of a bomb-shell and occurred near Atlanta. He returned to his farm in April, 1865, and there resided until 1870, when he was nominated

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and elected to the state legislature, serving two years. After the expiration of this term he again took up the labors of a planter, and was sent to the state senate during 1888, and while a member of the upper house served on several com- mittees, among them the penitentiary and agricultural. In 1891 he was appointed principal keeper of the penitentiary. Col. Jones was married in 1857 to Anna E. Martin. By this wife he had four children: Willie Graham, R. H., F. T. and Clara, wife of Frank S. Howell, of Nebraska. Mrs. Jones died and for his second wife he married, in 1868, Miss Lollie L., sister of his first wife. To this marriage two children survive: G. L. and Mamie, wife of R. E. Skinner, of Milledgeville, Ga. Having the misfortune to lose his second wife he was married a third time, in 1877, to Miss Lula Trammell. Col. Jones is a member of the Norcross lodge of Gwinnett county, Ga., F. & A. M. and the I. O. O. F. He has always taken an active part in temperance work and organization, as did his father before him. Since 1869 he has been a steward in the Mt. Carmel Methodist church in Gwinnett county. Col. Jones' father was Thomas H. Jones, a native of Virginia, who came to Georgia during early manhood and died in 1876 at the advanced age of seventy- seven years. He had five sons in the late war: George H .; Thomas Allen, a pri- vate in the Forty-second Georgia regiment, who died from exposure in 1866; Benjamin F., major in the last war and a member of the Third Georgia battalion, who served as division quartermaster in Bragg's division and now resides in Kansas City, president of the water works company located there; R. M., also of the Third Georgia battalion and sergeant of artillery, and Peter F., a member of the old Gate City guards, in which company he enlisted for one year of the war. Col. Jones' grandfather was Wylie Jones, born in Wales, who emigrated to America with his father, Allen Jones, in 1790, and settled in Virginia.

CAPT. W. R. JOYNER, chief of the Atlanta fire department, was born in Cobb county, Ga., June 30, 1854, the son of R. W. and L. C. Joyner, his mother's maiden name being Robertson. At the age of seven years he came to Atlanta in company with his parents and has since resided in that city. During the succeed- ing five years he was a pupil in the public schools, but discontinued his studies in 1868 to take a position with W. F. Peck & Company, as retail clerk, and remained in their employ for eight years. Leaving this firm he traveled for W. H. Patterson & Company, a wholesale millinery establishment, for eighteen months, and on resigning this position entered the tailor shop of Jerry Lynch as salesman, and remained there two years. For a few months of 1878-79 he worked with C. W. Brunner & Company, a gents' furnishing goods house of Atlanta. In July, 1879, Capt. Joyner withdrew permanently from commercial life, and has held office in the city government continuously since. He was elected city marshal, and re- elected for two terms, serving in all six years. In 1885 he was chosen chief of the fire department by the municipal council, and holds that position to-day. Two years before he had been honored with this office, together with that of city inarshal, but declined the former. In November, 1878, Capt. Joyner was mar- ried to Clio B., daughter of Dr. E. J. Setze, of Marietta, Ga. They have four children, as follows: Richard W., Walthall R., Jr., Harry S. and Ralph. Capt. Joyner is a member of the Mystic Shrine, a Knight Templar Mason and is past sachem of the Tallulah Tribe No. 29, I. O. R. M. He also belongs to the Com- mercial and Atlanta Driving clubs, and in both takes a zealous interest. Capt. Joyner has cordially co-operated with the military since physically able to carry a gun, and from 1875 to 1878 acted as sergeant of the Atlanta cadets. Capt. Joyner has made the Atlanta fire department what it is to-day; from a small vol- unteer company he has gradually added mechanical apparatus, increased the

CHIEF AFD

W. R. JOYNER.

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number of stations and multiplied the first nucleus of members until it now ranks first among the similar organizations of the south. It is handsomely equipped with all the latest modern improvements, attached to harness, horses and engines. Capt. Joyner is regarded second to none in his efficient management and superior tactics of subduing and contending with the flames. His bravery is almost daily demonstrated. He is the idol of every member of the department, for his deeds of kindness and liberality toward them warrant their devotion. Under his regime the number of large and destructive fires has diminished and the insurance com- panies, as well as the general public, feel a satisfaction and security that proclaim the truest attestation to his competency as a public official. With his little red wagon, drawn by a blooded steed, he is known to every man, woman and child of Atlanta.

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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 123

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