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. II, Part 58

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1166

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. II > Part 58

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ALEXANDER HARRISON MACDONELL, judge of the city court of Savan- nah, Ga., was born in Lumpkin, Stewart Co., Ga., March 28, 1858. His father, Rev. George G. N. MacDonell, is a native of Savannah, Ga., and has been in the service of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, since 1855. He is now stationed at Columbus, Ga., as presiding elder of the Columbus district, South Georgia conference. On account of his father's connection with the Methodist itinerancy, the education of Alexander H. MacDonell was not received at any one town, he being prepared for college in the schools of Savannah and at Mercer university, preparatory department. In 1875 he entered Emory college, at Oxford, Ga., and was graduated from that institution four years later, with the degree of Master of Arts. Returning to Savannah, he began the study of law under Hon. J. R. Saussy, and was admitted to the bar at Savannah, in 1879. Until 1882 he

400

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

practiced his profession alone, that year forming a partnership with J. E. Wooten, which was continued until 1886. In January, 1892, Mr. MacDonell was appointed judge of the city court of Savannah, his term of service expiring in January, 1896. Judge MacDonell is a fourteenth degree Scottish rite, and a third degree York rite Mason. He is also a member of the I. O. O. F., and of the Sons of St. Andrew. He has held important positions in both the Masons and Odd Fellows. He is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, having been for several years past a steward in, and secretary of, the Wesley Monumental church, of Savannah. He was united in marriage, in 1886-Nov. 4-to Miss Lillian, daughter of Col. William Mercer, of Augusta, Ga.

PETER WILTBERGER MELDRIM, one of the leaders of the bar of Georgia, was born in Savannah, Ga., Dec. 4, 1848, and is a son of Ralph and Jane (Fawcett) Meldrim. His earlier education was acquired at Chatham academy, under a private tutor, and he was graduated with distinction from the academic department of the university of Georgia in 1868, being the anniversary orator of the Phi Kappa society; and from the law department in 1869. During the following winter, he began the practice of his profession at Savannah, and went steadily and rapidly to the front, winning a large and lucrative business. Two days before the state election of 1881, he was nominated for and elected state senator; but after serving two terms, he has since declined public life, and has devoted himself exclusively to the law. A writer, in summing up Mr. Meldrim's legislative service, says that it was active, high-toned and brilliant. He was ever ready to give his vote and his voice to those measures of policy, or to the statutes which seemed to him essential to individual and public welfare. In all his acts he reflected the liberality and intelligence of his constituents, and for this was beloved and admired by all who witnessed his course. His efforts in debate sustained his reputation as an orator. As chairman of the committee of military affairs, he was indefatigable in his labors in behalf of the perfect organization, equipment and discipline of the volunteer troops of the state. His speeches on this subject before the committees, and in the senate, were models of eloquence and logic. Then, when the bill to make tuition forever free at the state university was put upon its passage and the measure was violently opposed, he came to the rescue fearlessly and grandly, aiding materially in bringing about the happy result of its triumphant passage. His constituents and the people of Georgia have reason to be proud of his talents and character. For several years Mr. Meldrim has been associated with Col. William Garrard in the practice of law. These gentlemen have long had the reputation of enjoying one of the largest practices in the city of Savannah. Mr. Meldrim is the court-house lawyer of the firm, and is remarkably successful in both civil and criminal practice. In many of the Georgia decisions, where appear Mr. Meldrim's cases, there are high compliments from the supreme bench. In all things appertaining to Irish affairs, he takes a deep interest, and has been president of the Hibernian society for years. He is major of the Fifth regiment of Georgia cavalry, to which position he was promoted from a lieutenancy in the Georgia Hussars. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the university of Georgia, and president of the Alumni society of that institution. He has been an earnest worker and member of the Jasper Monument association, and aided very materially in the erection of the monument to Sergt. Jasper, in Madison square, Savannah. Maj. Meldrim is probably the warmest friend that the cause of the state aid to education has in the limits of Georgia, and he aided in securing free tuition at the university of Georgia. As a speaker, Maj. Meldrim is ornate, strong, and shows very wide reading. He has delivered the annual address before the Georgia Historical society, the university of Georgia,

40I

CHATHAM COUNTY SKETCHES.

and numerous literary addresses. Every political canvass brings Mr. Meldrim to the front. Candidates need his aid and influence, which is far-reaching; and, being a good planner and organizer, his friends invariably get him interested. He is too busy with pressing professional business to aspire to office himself, but every two years he is urged to become a candidate for congress. Maj. Meldrim was happily married in 1891 to Miss Fannie P. Casey, daughter of that distinguished citizen of Savannah, Dr. H. R. Casey. The Meldrim residence in Savannah is one of the most stately and beautiful homes in the southern states. It is possessed of historic interest from the fact of its having been the headquarters of Gen. Sherman when the city of Savannah was captured, at the termination of his celebrated march to the sea.

MALCOLM MACLEAN, cotton factor, of Savannah, Ga., was born in North Uist, Inverness shire, Scotland, March 17, 1837, and resided there until eighteen years of age. In 1855 he came to the United States, landing at Newport, Fla., where he at once entered the employ of McNaught & Ormond, general mer- chandise and commission men, receiving for his services $12.50 per month for the first six months. When this firm established a branch house in Savannah in 1860, known as McNaught, Beard & Co., Mr. Maclean was made clerk and con- fidential man, and remained in that position until a few months before the outbreak of the war between the states. Leaving this firm, he engaged with Duncan & Johnston, cotton merchants in Savannah, Ga., for a few months, and then enlisted as a private in the Oglethorpe State artillery. A few months later, when the company disbanded, he enlisted in the Savannah Volunteer guards, and served with that command to the close of the war. He was wounded and captured at the battle of Sailor's Creek, Va., and was held at Fort McHenry until the war closed. On the reorganization of the Savannah Volunteer guards, in 1872, he was elected second lieutenant of Company B, of that battalion, but was, by exactions of business, compelled to resign this office, when he was elected an honorary exempt member of that command. He has always felt a lively interest in the volunteer soldiery of the state, and is always ready to aid and encourage them in their efforts to attain proficiency. After his release from Fort McHenry, he returned to Savannah, and three days later secured a position as purchasing agent and commissary for the Atlantic & Gulf railroad-now the Savannah, Florida & Western railway-which he held for three months. Re-entering the employ of Duncan & Johnston, in 1865, he was successively bookkeeper, cashier, and partner, but the yellow fever appear- ing in Savannah in 1876, he was forced to give up his business connection with this firm, and accepted a position as cashier for the receivers of the Atlantic & Gulf railroad, serving in that capacity for six months. Again entering the cotton business in Savannah on his individual account, he has continued in that line to this time, and has been very successful. Mr. Maclean, in addition to other extensive business interests, is a member of the board of directors of the Mer- chants' National bank, Ocean Steamship company, Planters' rice mill, of Savannah; the Kincaid Manufacturing company, of Griffin, Ga .; the New England & Savan- nah Steamship company, and one of the board of managers of the Savannah hospital. He is a Knight Templar Mason, and has served as president of the St. Andrew's society, of Savannah. He is a member of the Independent Presby- terian church, and has never sought or held public office. He was married on Dec. 2, 1875, to Mary McIntosh Mills, daughter of Capt. James G. Mills, deceased, of Savannah, and they have seven living children: Annie Macdonald, Edward Mills, Marion Morrison, Carnelia Sams, Malcolm Roderick, George Mills, and Charles Mills.

II-26

402

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

COL. GEORGE A. MERCER, the ranking line officer of the Georgia state troops, was born in Savannah, Ga., Feb. 9, 1835, and is a son of Gen. Hugh Weedon and Mary S. (Anderson) Mercer. His paternal grandmother was the daughter of Cyrus Griffin, of Virginia, the president of the continental congress. Gen. Hugh Weedon Mercer was a native of Fredericksburg, Va., and was born in 1808; he was graduated from the United States Military academy at West Point in 1828, in the class of Jefferson Davis, and one class behind that of Gen. Robert E. Lee. In 1833, he resigned from the army and settled in Savannah, became cashier of the Planters' bank, and filled that position until the breaking out of the civil war. He was the second colonel (and afterward brigadier-general) of the first volunteer regiment of Georgia. He served throughout the war, doing duty chiefly on the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, and in the western army, under Gens. Joseph E. Johnston and Hood. At the close of hostilities, he re- turned to Savannah, and then went to Europe, dying at Baden Baden, Germany, in 1877. He was a son of Col. Hugh Mercer, the president of the old Farmers' bank, of Fredericksburg, for many years. Gen. Hugh Mercer was an intimate friend of George Washington, and was killed at the battle of Princeton during the war of the revolution. Mrs. Mary S. (Anderson) Mercer was a native of Savannah, and a daughter of George Anderson, a prominent merchant of that city. Of the three children, now living, born to Hugh and Mary S. Mercer, the distinguished subject of this sketch is the eldest, the other two being Mrs. Mary S. Walker and Robert Lee Mercer. George Anderson Mercer received his preliminary educa- tion in Savannah, and at the age of thirteen was sent to the celebrated school of Prof. Russell, in New Haven, Conn. Returning to Savannah, he became a pupil of the well-known teacher, Prof. William T. Feay, who prepared him for college. He entered the sophomore class of Princeton college, and was graduated there- from with the degree of Master of Arts in 1856. He attended the law school of the university of Virginia in 1857, visited Europe the following year, and, upon his return to Savannah, he entered the law office of Lloyd & Owens, being admitted to the bar in Savannah in 1859. After admission, he was in the office of Ward, Jackson & Jones for one year, and was then taken into partnership with George A. Gordon, then counsel for the Central railroad of Georgia. At the breaking out of the civil war, Mr. Mercer entered the Confederate service as a corporal of the Republican Blues, of Savannah. In November, 1861, he was appointed assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of captain of infantry, and served along the coast of Georgia, and in 1864 he was transferred to the western army, where he was in service at the surrender. The following year, 1865, after having been captured by the Federal forces under Gen. Wilson, at Macon, Ga., he was paroled and returned to Savannah, where, as soon as the courts were open, he resumed the practice of his profession, which soon became large and lucrative. In 1872-74 he represented Chatham county in the Georgia legislature, accepting the place at the earnest solicitation of many friends, but has never held any other office, once refusing the Federal judgeship of Georgia. Upon the reorganization of the Savannah military he was chosen captain of the Republican Blues, organized in 1808, and held that rank fifteen years. He is now colonel of the First Volunteer regiment of Georgia, and is the ranking officer of the line in the state. Col. Mercer has always taken an active interest in the local affairs of his native city and in the development of her educational system. He was president of the board of . trustees of the Savannah Medical college, and is president of the educational board of the city of Savannah and the county of Chatham, a member of the trustees of the Chatham academy, the Georgia Historical society, and the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also an active member of the Georgia and the American Bar associations. He was chosen a delegate to the Chicago national

COL. GEORGE A. MERCER.

403

CHATHAM COUNTY SKETCHES.

democratic convention of 1892, and was a warm supporter of the claims of Grover Cleveland for the presidency. He was married in 1861, at Fredericksburg, Va., to Nannie Maury Herndon, daughter of Dr. B. S. IIerndon. Mrs. Mercer de- parted this life in June, 1885. Of the seven children born of that union, five survive, viz .: George A., Jr., Lewis Herndon, Robert Lee, Edward Clifford Anderson, and Nannie Maury, the wife of J. M. Lang, of Savannah, Ga.

GEORGE MEYER, general manager of the Georgia Brewing association, of Savannah, was born in the city of Savannah, Ga., June 19, 1860, and was reared and educated in that city, graduating from the grammar school in 1875. At the age of fifteen he apprenticed himself to a baker in Savannah, but was stricken the following year with the yellow fever, which incapacitated him for duty for a long time, and at the instance of his physician, he took a position with the Knickerbocker Ice company, of that city, requiring outdoor work, and drove one of their delivery wagons. Two years later he was promoted to the position of general superintendent of the delivery system of that company, and in 1884 he accepted the agency of the Anheuser-Busch Brewing association in Savannah, consolidating his business with that of the Wolters Brewing company, in 1892. On petition of the stockholders, the receivership of that company was placed in his hands during October, the following year. He served as receiver six months, during which time, by judicious management, he increased the value of the brewery plant many thousand dollars. In March, 1894, the Georgia Brewing association was formed by the creditors of the Wolters company, and Mr. Meyer was elected general manager of the plant, retaining that position at this time. The Georgia Brewing association has a capital stock of $48,000, Mr. Meyer being the largest individual stockholder. The annual output of this plant will reach this year 15,000 barrels. Mr. Meyer is a stockholder in the Savannah Savings bank, is a retired member of the local turnverein, the I. O. O. F., the Knights of Pythias, and the uniform rank. He is also prominently identified with the German volun- teers, in which military organization he saw active service for ten years. His home life is a very happy one. He was married in 1890 to Amelia W., daughter of the late August Walter, and that union has been blessed with the birth of two manly sons-Walter Rudolph and George Herman.

HERMAN MYERS, mayor of Savannah, Ga., was born in Germany, Jan. 18, 1847, and is a son of Sigmund and Fannie Myers. The family emigrated to the United States in 1852 and settled in Bath county, W. Va., where Herman lived until 1862, when the family removed to Lynchburg, Va. From 1854 to 1862 Her- man attended the schools of Richmond, Va., and in 1867 came to Savannah, Ga., and in connection with his two brothers, Fred S. and Sigo, established a wholesale tobacco business on a rather extensive scale under the firm name of H. Myers & Bros., they being the pioneers of that line of business in the city of Savannah. In 1890, the tobacco business was discontinued by the brothers, and they and others organized the Savannah Grocery company. The controlling interest of the Savannah Grocery company is now owned by the Myers brothers, its capital stock being $200,000, and doing an annual business of $1,000,000. Herman Myers is also president of the El Modelo Cigar Manufacturing company, located at Jacksonville, Fla., which does an annual business of $500,000, and he is a large stockholder in the B. F. Gravely & Co., limited, tobacco manufactory, located at Martinsville, Va. In 1886, the National bank of Savannah was organized, with Mr. Myers as president, which position he has since retained. He is also vice- president of the Oglethorpe Savings and Trust company, of Savannah. He has served five terms as alderman of the city of Savannah, during the entire period of

404

MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

his incumbency being chairman of the finance committee. On Jan. 22, 1895, after one of the most exciting contests ever known in the history of the city, he was elected mayor of the municipality of Savannah, his opponent being Dr. Duncan, one of the city's most prominent residents, whom he defeated by a majority of 700 votes. In the exalted office of mayor Mr. Myers has proven himself one of the most progressive administrators of public affairs the city of Savannah has- ever known, and has demonstrated what is possible to the young men of the country who are the architects of their own fortunes, a striking object lesson of what is in reach of those who have a determination to succeed in life, against what- ever odds. Mr. Myers is a member of the Knights of Pythias, a master Mason, a member of the B'nai Brith and the Hebrew church. He is not married.

THOMAS MASON NORWOOD, lawyer and ex-United States senator, Savan- nah, Ga., was born in Talbot county, Ga., in 1830. He was graduated from Emory college, Georgia, in 1850, admitted to the bar in 1852, and began the practice of his profession in Savannah in 1857. In 1861-62 he was a member of the state legislature, and in 1868 was an alternate elector on the Seymour and Blair ticket. In 1870 he was chosen to fill an unexpired term in the United States senate, and was elected a year later for a full term, serving until 1877. His seat was unsuccessfully contested by Foster Blodgett. In his political canvass in 1870 he won celebrity by a series of newspaper articles written under the pseudonym of Nemesis, and his senatorial career was distinguished by two speeches he delivered, which were models of polished invective. Upon the expira- tion of his senatorial term he resumed his practice at Savannah, and is one of the foremost lawyers of the state.

PATRICK JOSEPH O'CONNOR, national president of the Ancient Order of

Hibernians, and a member of the well-known law firm of O'Connor & O'Byrne, of Savannah, Ga., was born in that city on Sept. 25, 1859. His father, Daniel, was a native of Ireland. He was a manufacturer in the city of Savannah for many years, served as alderman of that city for four years, and died there in 1887. Patrick J. O'Connor was reared and educated in the city of Savannah, in 1877 attending the Pio Nono college, Macon, Ga. He then entered the law depart- ment of that famous Catholic institution, Georgetown college, in the District of Columbia, and was graduated therefrom in June, 1880. Returning to Savannah, the following January he was admitted to the bar in that city, and practiced his profession alone until 1890, when he was admitted to partnership with M. A. O'Byrne. He has actively and successfully followed the practice since his admission to the bar. From 1883-87 Mr. O'Connor served on the aldermanic board of Savannah, and has ever evinced a very active interest in the politics of that municipality. He is a consistent member of the Catholic church, is a pay member of the Irish Jasper Greens, a prominent military organization of the city of Savannah, and also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. At the national convention of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, held at Omaha, Neb., he was elected the national president of that order, which has more than 1 50,000 members in the United States. The private life of Mr. O'Connor is ideal. He was very happily married in November, 1883, to Miss Winnifred, the daughter of Thomas Maher, a prominent citizen of Savannah. That union has been blessed by the birth of a son and three daughters.

CAPT. DANIEL G. PURSE. No one has stamped his impress upon the development of his section to a greater degree than Capt. Daniel G. Purse, president of the Savannah, Ga., board of trade. A man gifted with so keen a

P. J. O'CONNOR.

405

CHATHAM COUNTY SKETCHES.

foresight, of such broad intellectuality, masterful and prolific in originating, and absolutely tireless in advancing enterprises calculated to benefit his city and sec- tion, exhaustive in expedients to foster them, magnetic, persuasive and logical in presenting his views, and with an executive ability that is rarely possessed by those of such fertile genius, it is no wonder that by common consent his people seek to enlist his directive energy in all great enterprises affecting the future prosperity of the principal city and seaport of the South Atlantic states. Capt. Purse inherits much of his father's enterprising spirit and exhaustive ability. The elder Purse was one of the principal projectors of the Central railroad of Georgia, to whose indomitable spirit it may be safely said the success of the enterprise was made possible. When an effort was being made to secure a stock subscription of $500,000 in the enterprise from the city of Savannah, one of the speakers at a public meeting said Savannah could not subscribe $5,000. Thos. Purse took the stand and said Savannah could not only, but would, subscribe $500,000 (a vast sum in the forties for Savannah) and he pledged himself to see that it would be done. It was raised in stock and he himself negotiated the loan for nearly half a million dollars, which resulted in the building of the first great system of southern railways, and not one dollar of the subscription was lost to the city. As its first superintendent, as alderman, mayor of his city and as state senator, the elder Purse manifested a fidelity to every public trust, second only to the zeal and ability which were traits of character that he transmitted to the son. Capt. Purse is a native of Savannah in his fifty-sixth year, but with the energy, vigor and spirit of a man of thirty. Educated for the law, circumstances beyond his control forced him into commercial pursuits. The war between the sections led him to give up his business to enlist in the army of the Confederacy and he was serving in the supply department with the title of captain when peace was restored. Like many others, he returned depleted in purse to resume his commercial life, which he conducted with a success characteristic of the man. Among some of the enterprises with which he has been connected (for in the narrow limit of a sketch like this all of them cannot be embraced) the principal ones are the Tybee railroad, built from Savannah through twenty miles of salt marsh, an enterprise that was held by many to be impracticable, if not impossible, yet he projected and completed it, and it has made Tybee island famous as one of the most inviting resorts in the south. The plan of veneering the banks of the rail- road through the marsh with the marsh sod was an experiment unheard of in railroad construction and it was not thought possible to secure by an embankment, except at great cost for piling, protection that would not be influenced by the winds and washing tides. The success of the marsh sod, Capt. Purse's conception, was beyond expectation, and attracted the widest attention in this country and Europe. Russian engineers were quick to adopt it in railway construction through the steppes. As the father was the originator of the time-table for railways, so the son was the inventor of this economical protection for railway tracks through semiaqueous marshes by a method as simple as it is practical, as the great storm of August, 1893, has abundantly shown, although so severe a test was never contemplated. For years the cities and towns of the South Atlantic and gulf states drew their water supply either from muddy and contaminated streams or surface wells. The water was not conducive of health, and in fact much of the sickness among the people of the semi-tropics was due to the insanitry water they were compelled to drink. The first artesian well was sunk by him in Sa- vannah, under the most adverse circumstances and discouraging criticism of the people and of the press, but a strata of pure water was reached at a distance of less than 500 feet, which caused a revolution in the water supply. Savannah now

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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. II, Part 58

Author: Publication date: 1859 Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association Number of Pages: 1166

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1166