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 126

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 126

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DR. WILLIAM ABRAM LOVE, one of the oldest and best-known physicians in the state of Georgia, has lived in Atlanta nearly a quarter of a century. With the spirit and the blood of the old English cavaliers coursing through his veins, he has ever been a man of action and decided character, keeping the same even to his old age. Dr. Love, the only child of William and Sarah (Childers) Love, was born May 16, 1824, in that historic place, Camden, Kershaw district, S. C. His grandparents and his father were residents of that vicinity in colonial days and suffered much at the hands of the British and the tories during the revolutionary war. Indeed, though a mere boy at that time Dr. Love's father, for the sake of freedom and his loyalty to the colonial cause for which his father fought, carried a withered arm all his after life. It was through the cruelty of the tories that he suffered most. The facts are: He was captured one day while riding a very fine horse, when, after being deprived of his mount, he was bound hand and foot to the back of an old, worn-out army mule. The mule was then

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turned loose to graze in a desolate wood, and here after three days of intense pain, the exhausted, but patriotic boy was found by his friends. Little wonder that to this day Dr. Love despises and scorns the name and memory of tory. Notwithstanding the suffering thus endured by the elder William Love, he grew to a noble manhood and because of his affliction was most carefully edu- cated, after which, for the greater part of a long life he held high positions of public trust in his native state. By the death of his father, Feb. 17, 1825, and the second marriage of his mother, William Abram Love became the special care of his grandmother Childers. This grandmother, previous to her marriage was Miss Sarah King, a daughter of that sturdy revolutionary soldier on whose property was fought and for whose honor was named that fateful and famous encounter known in history as the battle of King's mountain. The daughter of this soldier inherited the stern and sturdy characteristics of her revolutionary father, with all his vigilance and high sense of honor and justice. So the life of her young charge was closely guarded, but the thrilling accounts of his adventures in childhood, which he often relates to his children and grandchildren stamp him as a character of strong individuality, even in early youth. In his boyhood Dr. Love attended the schools of Camden and afterward Russell Place academy, but at a very early age he chose his life's work and when twelve years old, with a view to the study of medicine, he entered the drug store of Dr. George Reynolds, continuing his other studies under private tutors. Later, as a regular medical student, he was for four years under the preceptorship of Drs. E. H. Anderson, senior and junior, then of Camden, S. C., the latter now in Kirkwood, Miss. In 1844 Dr. Love, entered the medical department of the university of Pennsylvania, and as a private pupil in the office of Dr. Samuel George Morton of Philadelphia. With a view to ultimate special work he entered at the same time the Obstetrical institute, under the supervision of Dr. Joseph Warrington. He served his full time also under the direction of the lady managers of lying-in and charity and nurse societies and was graduated by this institution in 1845. Through the summer of that year he remained in Philadelphia, devoting his time to ward and clinical services in Blockley and Pennsylvania hospitals and attending lectures at the Locust street schools. April 3, 1846, he received his degree of doctor of medicine from the university of Pennsylvania. July, 1846, he came to Georgia and located at Locust Grove, Taliaferro Co., and there began his lifelong friendship with Alexander H. Stephens. Jan. II, 1849, he was married to Marion Louisa, daughter of Hon. Abner Darden, who then and for many years represented his people in the legis- lative halls of his state. During the following winter Dr. Love, with a colony of friends, passed through Atlanta, then a young city, and made a home in Cave Spring, Floyd Co., where in 1850, he was elected superintendent and physician of the Georgia asylum for the deaf and dumb. He accomplished much in the up- building of this institution; but preferring to give his entire time to his profession he remained with the school only a few years. In 1858, the winters of north Georgia having made a change of climate necessary for himself and his family, he removed to southwest Georgia and located at Albany. There he soon estab- lished himself as a physician, surgeon and gynecologist and was regarded as the leading practitioner of that section. From Albany Dr. Love went as a volunteer with the first troops enlisted for the defense of the Confederate states. Very early in the war he was discharged from the regular army on the score of ill health, but nothing deterred him from duty and he served till the latest hour of that eventful struggle on the medical staff of the Confederate states army on the field and in the hospitals. Doubtless many southern soldiers remember him most kindly, especially in connection with Ocmulgee hospital at Macon, Ga. The

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W. B. LOWE.

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result of the civil war having changed very largely the environment of his ante- bellum field of practice, Dr. Love, in 1870, removed from Albany to Atlanta for the purpose of devoting himself more exclusively to the practice of gynecological medicine. In this he has been so eminently successful that he, by result of work, has established a reputation which extends his field of usefulness over Georgia and through all the adjoining states. In 1871 he was elected to the chair of physiology in the Atlanta Medical college and with scarcely a day's notice he entered upon his work in this- school, which is one of the best in the south. He is now (1894) senior professor and president of the faculty. He has always taken much interest in his State Medical association; he devoted much time and labor to its revival and up-building immediately after the close of the war and has occupied the position of vice-president in that body. He is a member, too, of the American Medical association, and in the International Medical congress held at Washington, D. C., he was vice-president of the physiological section. In con-

nection with his professional work he has made some valuable contributions to the medical literature of his age, and as a practitioner, writer, speaker and teacher he has ever been an earnest and strong advocate for principles in medicine and conservatism in practice. With all his labor for the benefit of humanity, Dr. Love has lived a quiet, retired life, devoted and indulgent to his family, caring little for wealth and avoiding at all times political preferment, desiring the rather to live for the good of mankind and bending his energies to the study and ad- vancement of his profession. This he has done indeed, directly through his own efforts, and indirectly through the result of work by hundreds of his students. For his students his interest never wanes. Even at the age of three score and ten, with pencil and brush, he has illustrated his lectures on physiology, making for. his classes almost hundreds of illuminated life-size and magnified microscopic draw- ings. In the order of Free Masonry Dr. Love has evinced a lifelong interest. From his earliest manhood he has been a past deputy grand master of his grand lodge and for more than a quarter of a century he has held in supervision the masonic jurisprudence of that body. In national and international masonic meetings he has been highly honored with official positions. In the world's masonic congress at Chicago, 1893, he was elected vice-president and there he carefully guarded "the old landmarks," casting Georgia's entire vote on all de- cisive questions. In fact, in his own state he has taken high rank in symbolic, capitular, cryptic and templar masonry and in the Scottish rite of the southern jurisdiction he has risen to the prince of the royal secret or thirty-second degree. By Georgia's sister jurisdictions he has been highly honored, being the grand rep- resentative in Georgia of the grand lodge of Alabama, the grand lodge of New York, the grand chapter of Alabama, the grand council of Ohio, the grand council of South Carolina and the grand council of Vermont. He has also con- tributed to the literature of the masonic order. Many of his masonic addresses have been published and as chairman of the committee on foreign correspond- ence for the grand chapter of Georgia he was most cordially and courteously wel- comed by the reportorial corps of the grand chapters of the world.

CAPT. WILLIAM B. LOWE, manufacturer, Atlanta, Fulton Co., was born at Greenville, Ga., in Meriwether county, on the 10th of July, 1839. His father, a gallant soldier of the war of 1812, having entered the struggle a beardless boy. came to Georgia when quite a young man. He was a native of Edgefield district, S. C. His parents were of English descent, and illustrated all those sturdy qualities which belong to the English character. He died in Georgia in 1882, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. The first twelve years of Capt. Lowe's boyhood

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were passed in Meriwether county. Like other boys, he was fond of outdoor life, and delighted in all the sports and pastimes which make up such a large part of a boy's happiness. From Meriwether county he moved to Baker county and remained there for two or three years. He then went to Coweta county, where he clerked for about four years, after which he went to New York. He became a clerk in the great metropolis in 1856, securing a position in a large clothing store. At the expiration of three years he bought an interest in the firm and continued in business until the breaking out of the war. He then came to Atlanta, and in July, 1861, entered Cobb's legion as first lieutenant. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of captain in Company F, and received a severe wound at South moun- tain, Md., in 1862. Here he was captured and held as a prisoner for two or three months. On being paroled at Baltimore he rejoined the Confederate army at Fredericksburg, Md. His health began to fail at this juncture, and on the recommendation of medical advisers he was transferred to the Georgia state service. He was stationed in Atlanta, where he supervised the transportation department of the Atlanta & West Point railroad, and served in this capacity until the war closed. Capt. Lowe demonstrated the qualities of a superb soldier during his campaign in Virginia, and his military record is one of the best to be found on the muster rolls of the Confederacy. He was in several of the hardest-fought battles of the war, and acquitted himself in each engagement with soldierly courage and behavior. After the war Capt. Lowe settled in Atlanta, and entered the clothing and dry goods business. He continued in this line for about ten years, and then, in connection with Gen. John B. Gordon and others, became the lessees of the state convicts for a term of twenty years. He commenced a general con- tracting business and devoted himself exclusively to the building of railroads and bridges. Capt. Lowe has since been occupied in this line, and his marvelous energies have chiefly been expended in the material upbuilding of the state. He has been a strong and influential factor in the development of Georgia's railroads. Capt. Lowe is the vice-president of the Enterprise Lumber company, president of the Columbus Southern Railroad company, vice-president of the Parrott Lumber company, director in the Chattahoochee Brick company, and president of Peniten- · tiary company No. 2. The political arena has never had any charms for Capt. Lowe, and his friends have never prevailed upon him to accept political office from their hands. He has always preferred the quiet life of a private citizen, believing it to be conducive to his best interests, as well as to his own happiness and that of his household. Capt. Lowe was married, in 1868, to Miss Douglass, daughter of the late John Douglass, of La Grange, Ga. They have two children, a son and a daughter: W. B., Jr., and Rebecca. Capt. Lowe has an elegant home on Peach- tree street, in Atlanta, and his domestic life is sweetened by all those social ties that make home bright and beautiful. While not a member of any church, he believes in the spiritual as well as the practical and business side of life. His reputation for integrity and honor has long been establislied among his friends and neighbors, and no one envies him the success in life which he has patiently achieved.

JUDGE J. H. LUMPKIN, a scion of one of the most illustrious families in the state, the subject of this sketch, has added new laurels to a name already richly blended with the associations of the bench and bar of Georgia. A grandson of the great and gifted Chicf Justice Joseph Henry Lumpkin, and bearing the name of his lamented forefather, it is not improper to observe that in the brilliancy of his judicial talents, as well as in the probity of his unsullied private life, the subject of this sketch is worthy of the honored name he bears. Judge Lumpkin was born at Athens, Ga., the seat of the state university, and a center of learning and culture,

J. H. LUMPKIN.

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receiving both his primary and collegiate education in that city. Athens has always been distinguished as the home of honored and illustrious families, among the number being the Cobbs, the Lumpkins, the Hills, the Lipscombs, the Hulls and the Gradys. As a student at the state university, young Lumpkin acquired the distinction of being the finest Greek and Latin scholar in the institution. Gradu- ating from the university with the highest honors of his class, he moved directly to Atlanta, in 1875, and applied himself with diligence to the study of the law, for which profession he was fitted by discipline, preference and heredity. After passing a rigid examination on all the fundamental principles of the law, he was admitted to the bar in 1876, and immediately formed a partnership with Capt. Harry Jackson, a kinsman, and one of the leading practitioners at the Georgia bar. He was subsequently appointed assistant supreme court reporter, in 1877, and after filling this important position to the satisfaction of the bench and bar he was promoted to the office of supreme court reporter, in 1882 .. He held this office until 1888, when he tendered his resignation and returned to the active practice of his profession. Chief Justice Logan E. Bleckley, who then presided over that tribunal, in accepting the resignation of Mr. Lumpkin, said: "In directing that this resignation be accepted and recorded on the minutes, I will observe, for the court, that it is with great regret that we part with an officer whose services have been so faithful and efficient. Every public servant who discharges his duty is worthy of high commendation, and this Mr. Lumpkin has done with remarkable fidelity and with great skill and ability. In some respects his faculty for reporting is remarkable. He can, with more facility and expedition than almost any other man I have ever known, arrive at the true contents of a record or opinion, and present them in a condensed form, making a sort of miniature of any case, however large its proportions, and yet a miniature that reflects its features accurately. I repeat, that we part with him with very great regret, and-as numerous as the bar of Georgia is-with scarcely a hope that we will find a successor equal in all respects to himself for the functions of this important office." This is high praise, coming from a man of such pronounced conservatism and established probity as the then chief justice, Logan E. Bleckley. Returning to the practice of his chosen profession, Judge Lumpkin found a large clientage awaiting him, and he stepped into a lucrative and growing practice in both the state and federal courts. The familiarity with the judicial rulings of the supreme court made him a favorite oracle with the members of the bar throughout the state, and he was frequently called into consultation where important and far-reaching issues were involved. Among the noted cases in which he figured after returning to the general practice was that of the Southern Mutual Insurance company, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars, and bringing in question the determination of important legal issues affecting the rights of policy holders and the distribution of accrued profits. He was also employed as counsel in the Cotton States life insurance case, one of the most intricate issues ever tried in Georgia. In numbers of criminal pro- ceedings he has represented the attorney-general of the state, and given aid to the solicitors in the prosecution of criminals. In one volume of the supreme court decisions alone twenty cases are reported in which he figured. On the resignation of Hon. Marshall J. Clarke, as judge of the superior court of the Atlanta circuit, Judge Lumpkin was appointed by Gov. Northen to succeed him. His term of office began on Sept. 16, 1893. He was subsequently elected to that office by the general assembly. In addition to his legal qualifications, Judge Lumpkin is a student of general literature, and is one of the best informed men in the state on all subjects pertaining to his favorite study. He has written several compositions of superior merit, and his talents, had he chosen literature as his

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profession, would no doubt have advanced him to the front rank in that field. Judge Lumpkin has traveled extensively, both in Europe and this country, and his powers of observation, brought to bear upon the opportunities for study afforded by his travels, have made his mind a treasury of information, all of which enrich his conversation and serve to increase his usefulness at the bar and on the bench.

JUDGE SAMUEL LUMPKIN, associate justice of the supreme court of Georgia, was born in Oglethorpe county, Ga., Dec. 12, 1848. His boyhood was spent in this locality, training his intellect in the schools close by for the great mental labors that awaited his coming manhood. His mother was Sarah E. Johnson. His father died at the early age of twenty-six, and yet before that time had established an enviable reputation as a lawyer of remarkable powers. Judge Lumpkin attended both Mercer university and the university of Georgia, graduating from the latter institution in July, 1866, with the highest honors of his class. In the following fall he taught school in one of the middle counties of Georgia, and through 1867 conducted a small school in Mississippi. Soon after graduation he undertook the study of law in connection with his other duties, and after a splendid examination was admitted to the bar at Lexington, Ga., in 1868. He began his first practice in Elberton, Ga., with Col. Robert Hester, and later removed to Americus, Ga., resuming practice during 1870-71 with Col. C. T. Goode After the expiration of that time he returned to his home in Lexington. In 1871 Mr. Lumpkin was appointed journalizing clerk of the house of representatives, and a year subsequently was appointed solicitor-general of the northern circuit of Georgia by Gov. Smith, being reappointed in 1873 for a term of four years. In 1877 he was made postmaster of Lexington and in the same year was elected state senator. As chairman of the committee on railroads he greatly aided in framing the excellent railroad commission law, which has been enforced since that day. In 1884 he was elected judge of the superior court of the northern circuit by the state legislature, and was unanimously re-elected for a second term. In 1890 he was chosen an associate judge on the supreme bench. In this tribunal he is distinguished as accurate, amiable and wise, and has given the highest satisfaction by his methods of honorable justice. It has been said of him: "Judge Lumpkin's manner on the bench will always afford that mitigation to counsel disappointed by a decision." Judge Lumpkin was honored in 1891 by having the degree of LL. D. conferred upon him by the South-western Baptist university at Jackson, Miss. He was married in 1888 to Kate, daughter of Walker Richardson, and granddaughter of Col. A. M. Stanford of Alabama. She is a lady of beauty and accomplishment, and has blessed his life and shared with hin the true reward of greatness. Justice Lumpkin is of noble lineage. His ancestors without exception have been the pride and flower of the state. He is a grand nephew of Chief Justice Lumpkin of the Georgia supreme bench, and of Wilson Lumpkin, one of Georgia's brainiest governors. He is respected and loved by every practitioner in the state.

EDGAR P. M'BURNEY, banker, Atlanta, Ga., son of J. C. McBurney, was born in Tompkins county, N. Y., Jan. 31, 1862. His father is of Scotch-Irish lineage, whose home is in Jersey City, N. J., but who has large financial interests in the south. Mr. McBurney was raised in Jersey City, spending his winters in Macon, Ga., attending school in both cities. After graduating from the Jersey City high school in 1878 he came south, and engaged as bookkeeper at the cotton factory of Hollingsworth & McBurney (his father), at Hawkinsville, Ga.

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A year later he went to Macon as clerk for W. A. Duty, dry goods merchant, with whom he remained a year. The year following, 1880, he came to Atlanta as bookkeeper for Hendrix & McBurney, real estate men, and was with them two years. He then went into the real estate business with his father under the firm name of McBurney & Co., and continued the business until 1887, when he com- menced organizing a series of development and investment enterprises, all of which have proven to be phenomenally successful. In 1886 he organized the People's Mutual Loan and Building association, of which he is now secretary and treasurer. This is the most successful local building and loan association in the United States, having paid as high as 19 per cent. per annum. In 1887 he organized the West View Cemetery association, of which he was made secre -. tary, and two years later general manager, a position he still retains. That same year he organized the Mechanics' Loan and Building association, of which he is secretary and treasurer. The next year, 1888, he organized the Mutual Loan and Banking company, of Atlanta, with a paid-up capital stock of $72,000, of which Mr. McBurney was made cashier. The bank is now operating on a capital of $200,000. In 1890 Mr. McBurney organized the West View Floral company, of which he is secretary and treasurer and general manager, and in which he owns a controlling interest. The company ships flowers to all parts of the southern states, from Richmond to Jacksonville, Mobile and New Orleans, and has built up a business of almost incredible extent and value. The organization of these various enterprises, and so successfully managing them, evidences remarkable versatility of business qualifications, untiring well-directed industry, and financial ability of a remarkably high order-especially in one so young, just on the threshold of life. Mr. McBurney was married in Atlanta Jan. 25, 1888, to Miss Maggie Berry, daughter of M. R. Berry, one of Atlanta's most highly esteemed, as well as one of her most solid, citizens-morally and financially. Mr. McBurney is a member of the Capital City club, of the masonic fraternity, and of the First Presbyterian church, Atlanta.

JOSEPH A. M'CORD, cashier, Atlanta, Ga., son of Stewart McCord, was born in Newton county, Ga., Oct. 6, 1857. His father, who was of Scotch descent, the family having come to this country before the revolutionary war, was born in Abbeville district, S. C., in 1794, and died Aug. 31, 1868. He was a farmer, was a soldier in the war of 1812, was sheriff of Abbeville district, S. C., and came to Georgia in 1824. Mr. McCord was reared on the farm, and was educated in the. country schools in Newton and Rockdale counties. When twelve years old he commenced clerking in a store at Conyers, Ga., and clerked a number of years. In 1874 he was appointed deputy clerk under T. J. Treadwell, clerk of the superior court of Rockdale county, retaining the position about four years. He then went to Carrollton, Ga., and engaged in a general merchandise business, conducting it with success and profit until 1890. In 1887 he was elected a member of the city council of Carrollton, was re-elected, and served three years. At the same time he was elected a school commissioner of Carrollton by the general assembly and served two years. In 1890 he came to Atlanta and entered the employ of the Western & Atlantic railway in the general freight office, having charge of the adjustment of all city claims for damages, etc. He remained in this office until November. 1892, when he was elected assistant cashier of the Atlanta Trust and Banking company, and on May II, 1893, was elected cashier, a position he now holds, discharging its responsible duties with conspicuous ability. Mr. McCord was married in Carrollton April 24, 1889, to Miss Lillie, daughter of Capt. David Croft. His wife died, leaving no issue, June 21, 1890. He is a member of the

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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 126

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