THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
Containing
Short Biographies of State-house Officers, United States Senators, Members of the General Assembly, and of the Governors Military Staff.
Atlanta, Ga.t The Foote & Davlcs Co. Printers and Binders. W99-
P CLg O3
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
"PHIS volume was suggested by a desire that has often been ex pressed by public officials of the State for a permanent personal
souvenir of their associates, as well as to serve a useful purpose in affording a passing knowledge of the lives of the men who are from year to year making the States history. It is not intended to be historical, however, except in so far as the biography of any public man is a part of the history of the commonwealth.
Not a few biographical works have been published in Georgia during the past few years, but so far as the publishers of this vol ume are aware, it is the first that has been confined to the limits of contemporaneous public officials. It is the purpose to make the "Official Sketch-Book" a permanent institution, following some what the idea of the Congressional Directory, thus preserving un der the same covers the personal side of each successive State administration. The present volume is incomplete in some details, but in most instances the incompleteness is due to the unwilling ness of the subjects to give the information necessary to an intelli gent treatment in the compilation of the book.
1
GOV. ALLEN D. CANDLER.
STATE-HOUSE OFFICERS.
Alien D. Candler, Governor.
A\IOXG the picturesque and sturdy characters of Georgia, both in her past history and her present, Alien D. Candler, the pres ent Chief Executive of the State, must be given a high place. Likewise in the list of her statesmen and great men, he must be named among the first. It has truthfully been written of him that few men have enjoyed in a higher degree the confidence of the people of Georgia than the present Governor. This confidence has been inspired because of his faithful and zealous discharge of the duties of the various public offices which the people have en trusted him to fill. Not only have these services been faithful and zealous, but he has brought to the discharge of his every duty in public office an ability that has marked him as a public servant fit .for any position in the gift of State or country.
Governor Candler is a native Georgian. He was born in Lumpkin County on November 4, 1834. This was four years prior to the removal of the Cherokee Indians from North Georgia. In 1838, the family moved from Lumpkin County to Franklin County, where young Alien D. passed his boyhood. He remained in Franklin County until his twenty-second year, having acquired in the mean time the rudiments of a primary education from the common schools of the county. Leaving his home he matriculated as a student in Mercer University, then located at Penfield, Ga. He graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts from this institution in 1859, and directly after the war was honored by his alma mater with the degree of Master of Arts, one of the highest in the gift of the university. Immediately after receiving his diploma, the young graduate went to Jonesboro, Clayton County, and took charge of a school. He ta/ught in Jonesboro for two years, until the outbreak of the war, and then joined Company H, Thirty-fourth Georgia Regi ment, as a private, tie served as private, however, pnly one month, ^ecoming at the expiration of this time the first lieutenant of the company. In October, 1862, just one year from the time of his enlistment, he/received the commission of captain. His courage as a soldier and his love for military life, so plainly evinced by his conduct on the field,, clearly foreshadowed higher honors for the young soldier. In
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5
May, 1864, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Georgia Reserves, and in January, 1865, near the close of the war, he was made colonel of that regiment. In addition to a number of smaller skirmishes, Col. Candler participated in the following bat tles: Bridgeport, Tenn., Richmond, Ky., Bakers Creek, Miss.,seigeof Vicksburg, Miss., Missionary Ridge, Resacca, Cassville, Kennesaw Mountain, seige and battles around Atlanta and Jonesboro. He was slightly wounded at Kennesaw Mountain, and at the battle of Jones boro he lost one eye. He was carried off the battle-field there and cared for by his comrades. After the war he returned to Jonesboro, having, as he expressed it, "one wife, one baby, one dollar, and one eye." He resumed his occupation as a school teacher and taught until 1870. Immediately after returning from the war he was hon ored by his fellow citizens in recognition of his gallant services in defense of Jonesboro by receiving from them in 1866 the office of mayor for one term. In 1870 he moved to Gainesville and entered the lumber business, at which he continued until 1882, being at the same time a general contractor also. In i879-8o he built the Gainesviile, Jefferson & Southern Railroad, running from Gaipesville to Social Circle, a distance of sixty-five miles.
In addition to this road he also built as contractor in 1882 a por tion of the Gainesville & Dahlonega Railroad, and a street railway for Gainesville in 1874. It thus appears that Col Candler has been an important factor in the material development and upbuilding of Northeast Georgia. In 1872, Col. Candler was elected mayor of Gainesville, and was succeeded by his father, Daniel G. Candler. In the fall of the same year he was elected Representative from Hall County in the State Legislature, and was twice re-elected. In 1877 he became a member of the State Senate and served for two years in that body. In 1882 he was nominated as the Democratic candi date for Congress in the Ninth Congressional District, and was elected after one of the most notable and exciting political campaigns ever witnessed in Georgia, over Hon. Emory Speer, Republican, who had represented the district the two preceding terms. The previous majority of Mr. Speer was 4,000, but Col. Candler defeated him by 2,600 votes. His career in Congress was a faithful one, and his dis trict was well satisfied with his services. He was made chairman of the committee on education in the Fiftieth Congress and a member of the committees on banking and currency and mines and mining during his four terms. In 1891, Col. Candler, after having served the district for four terms in Congress, retired to private life and en^ered again the lumber and contracting business. He continued suc cessfully in this line of work until his appointment as Secretary of
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State by Governor Northen in 1894,10 fill theunexpiredtermof Gen. Philip Cook. In 1896 he was elected to this office for the regular term of two years. During his incumbency of this office he showed a marked familiarity with public affairs. In 1897 he was mentioned as a prospective candidate for Governor, and his friends all over the State immediately urged him to enter the race. He finally agreed, and in the primary was opposed by Hon. Spencer R. Atkinson and R. L. Berner, defeating both by an overwhelming majority.
Col. Candler is a loyal Mason. Before the close of the war, in January, 1864, Col. Candler married the daughter of the late Thomas J. Williams, a prominent planter of Jones County, Miss Eugenia T. Williams. Eleven children were the result of this union, ten of whom are still living, six boys and four girls. The children are Eugenia, the wife of D. L. Wardroper, of Lexington, Ky.; Florence, the wife of Wm. K. Ashford, of Gainesville, Ga ; Marcus A., Thomas C, Hortense, the wife of F. K. Bunkley, of Montgomery, Ala., William D., John C., Victor Eugene, Annie, and Benjamin Lee.
Major James W. Warren.
O NE of the best known men in public life in the State of Georgia is Major James W. War ren, secretary in the Ex ecutive Department a man who has spent over a quarter of a century in the service of the State.
Major Warren was born in Eatonton, Putnam County, September 24, 1826, and lived there until 1830, when he removed to Columbui, Ga., and made that city his home until the close of the Civil War. His youthful years were spent in that city, and at the age of sixteen he was sent to Prof. C. P. Beman, the famous educator of the olden days, at LaGrange, to prepare for college. Young Warren was a very apt pupil and
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7
entered the State University at Athens in January, 1844, graduating in August, 1846. He chose the profession of law and spent the year 1847 a* Harvard law school, and returning to Columbus was admitted to the bar early in 1848, entering into the active practice of his profession there.
In 1850 he married Mrs. Sarah Howard, the daughter of Major John H. Howard, of Columbus, with whom he lived very happily for a little more than a year. Unfortunately their wedded life was doomed to be of short duration, and early in 1852 her death de ranged all his plans, and abandoning his profession he sought needed diversion in business of greater activity. This he found in railroad operations, and in partnership with his brother-in-law, Mr. C. B. Howard, he assisted in constructing extensive sections of the South western and Opelika Railroads. At the same time he bought and for years operated a cotton plantation in Calhoun County. In 1858, in connection with Peyton H. Colquitt, he purchased the interest of Tennent Lomax in the Columbus Times, and together they con ducted the editorial management. He remained in journalism for a number of years.
In 1859 he married a second time, Miss Laura Wimberly, of Twiggs County, one of the most charming women of the State. After the Civil War, when the Democrats succeeded to power during the days of reconstruction, when Hon. James M. Smith was elected Governor of the State, he chose Major Warren as one of his secretaries. This was done by an executive order under date of January 12, 1872, and since that time, during all the succeeding ad ministrations and the multifarious changes in office, the veteran Secretary has been retained, and may be seen at his desk, day after day, as regular as clockwork, performing the routine duties of his position.
No man in the State is more familiar with executive affairs than Major Warren, and .the different governors continue to place in him the most implicit reliance in all the affairs of state that come under his official observation.
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
Hon. C. M. Hitch.
H ON. CALVIN MIL TON HITCH, Sec retary of the Ex
ecutive Department, has
passed through a career
that has been remarkable
for the distinction attained
in such a short period.
He was born at Morven,
Brooks County, July 28,
1869, and is still quite a
young man.
His father was a phy-
sician of ability, a busi
ness man of capacity, as
well as a successful plant
er. He accumulated hand
some fortune and gave his children all the benefits of education and
training, such as would fit them for the filling of social and business
or professional positions. Secretary Hitch graduated at Emory
College, Oxford, and afterwards took a course at the University of
Kentucky, Lexington, where he graduated in the excellent law de
partment of that noted institution of learning. Being a youth of
studious habits, with a marked capacity for theabsorption and reten
tion of knowledge, Mr. Hitch advanced very rapidly in his studies,
and when he left school he was far in advance of most young men
of his age. , In 1893 he was admitted to the bar at Quitman by Judge
A. H. Hansell, and heand his brother, Robert Hitch, now of Savan
nah, opened a law-office and began the practice of their profession
in Quitman. Mr. Hijfch remained there for two years, during which
period he rose rabidly in his profession and in public esteem. He
was appointed Solicitor of the County Court of Brooks County, but
resigned that position for another in connection with the Bank of
Quitman, with which hpremained three years.
<
.His career as a financier was no less marked for its success than as
a lawyer, but having a taste for politics and deeming it incumbent
on himself to assist in the direction of public affairs, he offered him
self as a candidate for the Legislature from Brooks County arnd was
elected; serving two years, 1896and 1897, during which time-he was
the author of several important bills which became laws. ,He was one
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9
of the strongest political adherents of Governor Candler during his race for gubernatorial preferment, and the friendship and admira tion which the latter felt for the young legislator, together with the recognition of his abilities, induced Governor Candler to appoint Mr. Hitch Secretary of the Executive Department, after his elecion,in 1898.
Major Mark A. Candler.
M ARK A. CANDLER, private secretary to Governor Alien D. Candler, is a son of the latter, and is truly a "chip of the old block." His genial temperament and affable disposition have already rendered him one of the most popular officials about the Capitol.
Mr. Candler was born in Jonesboro and is still quite ayoung man, although he has risen so rapidly in professional and offiqial life. From Jonesboro he was taken to Gainesville by his parents on their removal to that place, and there he received the rudiments of an English education and evinced remarkable aptitude in the acquire ment of knowledge. From the Gainesville schools he went to the Gordon Institute at Barnesville, and from there to Binghams Mili tary School at Asheville, North Carolina. He then attended Emory College, Oxford, from whence he went to Lebanon Law School, at Lebanon, Tenn., where he graduated with distinction.
Governor Candler resigning the position of Secretary of State, which he had filled so ably, offered himself as a candidate for gubernatorial honors, and the story of his phenomenal race is still familiar to the people of the State. On his election he appointed his brilliant son as his private secretary in October, 1898, which po sition he has filled with the utmost satisfaction. . Polite and courte ous to all comers, he is ever ready to aid any one in securing such information connected with his position as may be deemed correct and proper, and, at the same time, he fills his responsible position with dignity and fidelity. He is as truly and practically democratic as his distinguished father, and possessed of a charming urbanity and fund cf good nature that are inexhaustible.
Had he not been brought into politics Mr. Candler was in a fair way to make his mark in his profession. He has had all the ad. vantages of natural ability, the best of training and a most liberal Education at the best schools of the country, and he has taken every
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opportunity of advancing himself, socially and professionally, and there is no young man in the State with brighter prospects than he.
Whether he remains in public life, for which his talents and dispo sition admirably fit him, or returns to the pursuit of his profession, he has before him a brilliant and useful career.
Philip Cook.
T)HILIP COOK, Georgias Secretary of State, a "young man of 1^ forty years," is the only son of his illustrious father, General
Philip Cook. The old adage that the weight of a famous name handicaps a young man in the struggle of life failed of exemplifica tion in this instance, at least. Or, if it did not fail, proved such a small impediment that seemingly it has occasioned the son no in convenience. For the honors that he has won for himself would not have ill become the father, whose worthy successor he has . proved himself.
Secretary Cook was born on Christmas day, 1857, in Macon County, Georgia, upon General Philip Cooks, plantation. He was started to school at an early age, and, strangely enough, his first tutor was Professor Northen, afterwards the Governor of Georgia. Young Cook spent seven years under the tutelage of this famous pedagogue, and then entered the Univecsity of Georgia.
His class at that institution was one of rare ability. Many of itsmembers afterwards became prominent figures in the State. Among them were Hon. Wm.H. Howard, Hamilton McWhorter, Wm. H. Fleming, George F. Gober, and W. Y. Atkinson.
In 1876, Mr. Coot left the University of Georgia, and entered Georgia College!, Washington, D. C., where he graduated in the classical course in 1876. He returned to Georgia, and entering the office of Judge Samuel (.Lumpkin, at Livingston, Ga., read law for a year, and applied for admission to the bar. He passed his exami nation with great credit, and then regularly began the practice of bis profession. He soon made a brilliant name in the courts of his section, and won a reputation for logic and eloquence. In 1896, he made his first appearance in public life. In that year he was nomi oated and elected to the State Senate from the Tenth Senatorial District, and served in the General Assembly during; the session of g6-Q7. He distinguished himself during this termas chairman of
PHILIP COOK, SECRETARY OF STATE.
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the penitentiary committee, rendering valuable service to the State, and making a brilliant record for himself.
In 1898, Mr. Cook became a candidate for Secretary of State at the solicitation of personal and political friends. Hon. Alien D. Candler had resigned the place to conduct his canvass for the guber natorial chair to succeed Governor Atkinson, and Colonel M. A. Hardin, one of the most popular and prominent politicians of the State, was announced in opposition to Mr. Cook. The impression among the politicians was that Colonel Hardin would distance his young competitor without trouble. But the record Mr. Cook had already made for himself in the Senate had made a wider and more favorable impression than even Mr. Cook himself knew, and that, combined with the aggressive manner in which he conducted his campaign, resulted in a victory for him that was complete and to the "knowing ones" astonishing. The vote of the State was prac tically unanimous in his favor, carrying 112 out of the 137 counties.
Accomplished in intellect, polished in manners, the mirror of honor, always kind and gentle and considerate of the feelings of others, generous almost to prodigality, Mr. Cooks is a personality that charms, and the friendships he makes are only equaled by the admiration he commands.
Few of Georgias servants have ever come into wider and more genuine popularity with the people of the State, and political prophets are not wanting who prophesy still more and greater honors
for him.
J. fl. Terrell.
JOSEPH MERIWETHER TERRELL, the Attorney-General,
J was born in Meriwether County, Georgia, June 6, 1861, in Green ville, a littlevillage of some seven or eight hundred inhabitants. There he has resided all his life with the exception of five years,
from .1876 to 1881, when he lived on a farm in the same county. His father, Dr. Joel E. G. Terrell, was born in Wilkes County, Geor gia, pin 1834, and moved to Meriwether when a child. He studied medicine in Greenville under Dr. J. W. Anthony, and was the first graduate of the Atlanta Medical College, and was one of the most prominent physicians in that section of the State.
The Attorney-General attended schoolup to the age of fourteen in Greenville, Ga. He then took charge of his fathers farm, and
J. M. TERRELL. ATTORNEY-GENERAL.
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continued to manage it for five years, after which he studied law with
Major John W. Park for a year, and in February, 1882, was admitted
to the bar by Judge S. W. Harris of the Coweta circuit. He began
the practice of his profession in Greenville, meeting with great suc
cess from the first. In 1884, Mr. Terrell was elected to the State
Legislature from Meriwether County, being the youngest member of
the House. He was re-elected in 1886, defeated by the Alliance
wave in 1888, but in 1890 was elected to the State Senate, defeating
the Alliance candidate after one of the most hotly contested cam
paigns ever held in the county, having not only to defeat his op
ponent in the convention but also in the election following.
In 1892, Mr. Terrell was nominated and elected to the office of
Attorney-General to serve for two years. In 1894 he was re-elected.
He first received the nomination for Attorney-General by a two-
thirds vote of the convention against two prominent lawyers. In
1894 his indorsement was unanimous. At the present time Mr.
Terrell is one of the foremost political figures in the State. Besides
his long term as Attorney-General he has repeatedly loomed up as
a most likely gubernatorial candidate.
In 1884, while he was in the Legislature, he was a member of the
most important committees, despite his youthfulness judiciary,
local bills, and temperance. In 1886 he was chairman of the com
mittee on county affairs and a member of the committee on judi
ciary. In 1890, while in the State Senate, he was made chairman of
the finance committee, member of the committee on rules, of the
judiciary committee, of the committee on congressional districts, and
of the committee on public schools.
Mr. Terrell is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the
Baptist Church. He was married October 6, 1886, to Jessie Lee,
daughter of Thomas Spivey, a native Georgian now living in Texas.
Mr. Terrell is one of eight children, of whom two died.
The Terrell family is of English descent, and the name was orig
inally spelled "Tyrrell."
J. M. Terrill is a power in Georgia politics. He is a close per
sonal and political friend of Ex-Governor Atkinson, and to his aid
and assistance the ei-governors political triumphs were in no small
measure due.
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1$
W. J. Speer.
WILLIAM J. SPEER, Treasurer of the State of Georgia, was born in Troup County, Georgia, December 27, 1848. His father was Dr. William A. Speer, a prominent physician of Troup County, who had an extensive practice throughout that por tion of the State. Mr. Speers education was received at the Geor gia Military Institute, at Marietta, which institution has since been removed from there. Prior to and during the war this institution was among the most famous of Georgias schools, and many were the youthful scions of Georgia who received their education there. Mr. Speer was too young to enter the army, being less than twelve years old when the Confederacys forces were being mustered. During that trying period he was receiving his education,and at the close of the war he went to work on his fathers farm, near Hogansville. He afterwards moved to LaGrange, and continued farm ing until 1880, when his brother, Hon. D. N. Speer, was elected State Treasurer, and the subject of this sketch then entered the Treasury as Assistant Treasurer under his brother. He served in this capacity for four years, as long as his brother continued fn the office. Hon. R. U. Hardeman, who was given the title of "the watch-dog of the Treasury," was elected Treasurer in 1884, and consecutively re-elected for six terms, serving until 1896. Dur ing these twelve years, Mr. Speer continued to serve in the Treasurers office in the same capacity as under his brother. When "Uncle Bob" Hardeman retired from the office and was elected to represent Newton County in the Legislature, Mr. Speer was elected to the office of Treasurer. He had no opposition and was re-elected in 1898, and is now serving his second term. Mr. Speer and his brothers were in the banking business for a long time, and thus gained a wide knowledge of finances. This, coupled with Mr. Speers previous experience in the Treasury, fits him ad mirably for his present office. During his incumbency of the office there has never been the least mistake made in the great task of receiving and disbursing the State money. Mr. Speer has devoted his full time to the fulfillment of the tedious duties of this impor tant office, and has employed for his assistance the best of help. In all he has had twenty yearsexperience in the Treasury, and is famil iar with its every detail. During his administration he has inaugu rated several important .reforms in the methods employed in the States financial affairs, and the present high standard of the State banks is largely due to his untiring efforts to perfect the system.
.
W. J. SPEER. STATE TREASURER.
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\J
Legislation has been enacted into law at his recommendation that
has both simplified and strengthened the system. Mr. Speer is
energetic and untiring in his efforts to advance the interests of the
State through the medium of his important department, and his
fidelity and capacity have fully established him in the confidence of
the people.
*
W. A. Wright
W ILLIAM AMBROSE WRIGHT, Comptroller-General of Georgia, was born in Louisville, Jefferson County, Georgia, once the capital of the State, January 19, 1844. He was brought up and educated there, going to the noted school taught by the equally noted teacher, Prof. W. S. Lourey, who also educated Mr. Wrights father. In May, 1861, he left this school, and enlisted in the Third Georgia Regiment, organized and commanded by his father, Ambrose R. Wright. He was mustered in as a private, and sent to Norfolk, Va., where he remained a year, and then went to Richmond. In August, 1862, when on a march from Richmond to^ Manassas, Mr. Wright was promoted to first lieutenant of artillery and ordnance-officer of Wrights brigade his father having been made brigadier. Lieutenant Wright served as such officer until No vember I, 1864, when he was assigned to post-ordnance duty at Augusta, Ga., remaining there until the surrender. He was in the seven-days fight around Richmond, and Second Manassas, where he lost his right leg, August 30, 1862. He remained in a farm-house near by three weeks, and then went home, staying there from Oc tober I, 1862, till April i, 1863, when he rejoined his command at Fredericksburg, maimed as he was, and continued in active duty till June, 1863, taking part in the battle of Chancellorsville in May of that year. In June of this year, just after he had, in company with his father, General Wright, and staff, crossed the Potomac at Sharpsburg, he was captured by a band of New York scouts and carried to General Tylers headquarters just across the river from Harpers Ferry. He was first sent to Fort McHenry for two weeks, then to Fort Delaware, on the coast, just below Philadelphia, and was kept there three weeks. He was then transferred to Johnsons Island, where he remained about ten months, and was then again transferred in charge of a troop of permanently disabled Confed erate soldiers, some four or five hundred in number. On this journey
/ WM. A. WRIGHT. COMPTROLLER-GENERAL.
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IQ
Lieutenant Wright was the only one of the party that could walk. A month later he was regularly exchanged, and rejoined his com mand at Petersburg, where he was in several fights, the most notable one being the Crater. Subsequently he came home, and was de tailed on service, as before mentioned, at Augusta, having charge of ordnance supplies, equipments, etc., until the close of the war.
After the war Mr. Wright engaged in cotton-planting in Jeffer son, his native county, in which business he continued three years. His health failing, in 1868 he bought a farm in Columbia County, and lived there till 1877, when he came to Atlanta and entered the office of the then Comptroller-General, W. L. Goldsmith. Impeachment proceedings being instituted against General Gold smith, Captain Wright was appointed by Governor Colquitt to fill the vacancy. In October, 1880, he was elected to the office of Comptroller-General, and has been rechosen every succeeding elec tion without opposition in his own party.
Captain Wright is a director in the Southern Mutual Building and Loan Association of Atlanta. He was the first president of the Fulton County Confederate Veterans Association, serving one term and declining re-election. He is now one of the aides on the staff of the commander-in-chief of Confederate Veterans, John B. Gor- . don. He was married in October, 1871, to Nellie, daughter of J. B. Carter, of Augusta. They had three sons and two daughters. He was married again in November, 1880, to Mrs. Mary Sledge (nee Cox), daughter of Judge A. E. Cox, of LaGrange, Ga.
Mr. Wrights father was Ambrose Ransom Wright, born in Louis ville, Ga., in 1826, and married to Mary Hubbell Savage when he was about seventeen. He was a lawyer, and practiced in the Louis ville Circuit until i860, when he moved to Augusta, and there or ganized the Third Georgia Infantry. He was made its colonel, and in June, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, commanding a brigade until November, 1864, when he was still further advanced to a major-generalship, and assigned to duty on the coast of Georgia and the Carolinas, where he was at the time of the surrender.
General Wright was wounded at Sharpsburg, Va., in September, 1862. After the war he returned to his legal practice in Augusta, but soon afterwards purchased an interest in the Augusta Chronicle, and became editor-in-chief of that paper, and held that post at the time of his death in December, 1872, just after he had been elected to Congress.
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O. R. Glenrr.
GUSTAVUS RICHARD GLENN, State School Commissioner, is a native of Jackson County, Georgia, having been born there December 5, 1848. At the age of six years he removed
with his parents to Terrell County, and in a small schoolhouse lo
cated in the neighboring town of Chickasawhatchie first marshaled
his faculties in the training of the intellect, and to the subsequent
fullness of his education. He remained there duringthe four turbu
lent years of civil strife, and when this was concluded, he was placed
under the tutelage of Rev. Wm. Park, in Meriwether County, who
conducted the Mt. Carmel School. This was a preliminary institu
tion for entrance into the State University, and young Gtenn studied
with this purpose in view. Having completed his course, he be
came a student at Athens, graduating in 1871 with the degree of
A.B., and, after another year, devoting his time to post-graduate
work, with the degree of A.M. including the entire curriculum of
the college. In the fall of 1872, with his diploma in his possession,
he went to Columbus, Ga., and for the next three years taught
school, establishing two years afterwards the Columbus Female
College, which he managed with exceptional success until the build
ings were destroyed by fire in 1884. He was then tendered the
professorship of natural science in Wesleyan Female College, lo
cated at Macon, and filled this chair with conspicuous ability. In
1892 he resigned, and in 1893 assumed the management of the
Macon Telegraph. In 1894 he was appointed State School Com
missioner by Governor Atkinson. Since that time Mr. Glenn has
continued to serve the State in that capacity. His administration
of the affairs of the office has been marked by the most conspicuous
ability. He has brought the public-school system of Georgia up to
the highest standard it has ever known, and steadily maintains it
there. When the Legislature of the State, in a spirit of economy,
sought to decrease the school appropriation, Mr. Glenn bent his
whole energy and influence to prevent the consummation tif such a
step, and to him probably more than to any one else is due the
,.fact that the presentappropriation has been made.
On July 22, 1875, Mr. Glenn was united in marriage to Nellie,
daughter of Henry W. Verstille, of Columbus, Ga. She was a beau
tiful, talented lady, with those admirable characteristics that bless
the home life encouraging in the labors and 1 the responsibilities of
official life, and comforting when anxiety and vexations fret the
disposition. .
..
G. R. GLENN. STATE SCHOOL COMMISSIONER.
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W. J. Woodall.
rALTER JAMES WOODALL, As sistant Commis
sioner of Education, is ex emplification of the fact that youngmen are be coming more and more a factor in the public as well as the commercial life of the Stateand country. He is just turned twenty-nine years of age, and has held his present place for three years. Mr. Woodall, by inheritance as well as by training, is peculiarly fit ted for his*f)lace in the educational department of the State. His father was a teacher of great reputation, and he himself, in his profession of journalism, enjoyed all the opportuni ties for studying the educational needs of the people that newspa per life affords. Mr. Woodall was born in Talbotton, but removed to Barnesville, Pike County, with his father, when eight years of age, where his father had been tendered a chair in the Gordon Institute, one of Georgias most famous educational institutions. Young Woodall en tered that institution, and attended it until he was fourteen years of age, when his father was tendered the place of superintendent of the public schools of Columbus, and removed to that city, carrying his son with him. For several years thereafter, Mr. Woodall made Columbus his home. Selecting journalism as the calling in life that he deemed himself best fitted for, Mr. Woodall entered the office of the Columbus Evening; ledger, and served that paper for a number df years, during which time he rose to the highest place on it. Be ginning as a reporter, he ascended through all the grades, and during his last years connection with it, was editor-in-chief. At the same time, he was taking .a prominent part in public life, local and State, serving as a member of the State Democratic Executive Commit tee from Muscogee, and was one of the organizers and officials of the Young Mens Democratic Club of that city, one of the most in-
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fluential political factors of that section. In 1896, Mr. Woodall was offered his present place in the educational department, and has since filled it to the entire satisfaction of the State.
Personally, Mr. Woodall is a courteous, suave-mannered gentle man, with whom people find it a pleasure to deal. He is ever ready to oblige everybody with such services as he may be able to offer, and his accurate knowledge of the department of educations work in all its intricacies enables him to make this service of the most satisfactory nature. Mr. Woodalls old newspaper experience has given him the keenness of insight and the quickness of perception necessary for the satisfactory fulfillment of his duties, and is in large measure one of the reasons why he has been so well qualified for his present public work.
Hon. O. B. Stevens.
H ON. OBADIAH BENJAMIN STEVENS, the present capa ble Commissioner of Agriculture of Georgia, bears the distinc tion of having lived in two counties without having moved from his ancestral home. His parents moved from Jefferson County to Randolph in 1846, and on August I, 1847, Mr. Stevens was born in that county, in the present town of Dawson. In 1856, Terrell was formed of portions of Lee and Randolph, and Dawson became the county-seat of the new county.
Mr. Stevens was born and bred a planter, and after he reached ma ture age, he also engaged in the warehouse and commission business, at which he achieved a marked success, as well as in agricultural pursuits, through his sagacity, industry and perseverance.
A man of thought and earnestness of purpose, his ability was soon recognized by his fellow citizens, and in 1884 he was elected a mem ber of the Georgia "Legislature as a Representative from his county, and served with distinction during the years 1884 and 1885. He was re-elected and served through the years 1886 and 1887.
In 1896 he was elected State Senator from the Eleventh Sena torial District, and served through the years 1896 and 1897 in that capacity. At the expiration of his term as Senator, he decided to offer his services to the State at large as Commissioner of Agricul ture. He had as an opponent Hon. R. T. Nesbitt, one of the most popular men in the State, and a gentleman of fine official capacity, but when Mr. Stevens made up his mind to make the race he applied himself to the task with his accustomed vigor and energy, and be cause of his splendid reputation as a succesful planter and sagacious
O B. STEVENS. COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE.
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lawmaker, he was Nominated in the primary by a large and compli mentary majority of the Democratic voters of the State. In the general election which followed he was elected to the high and re sponsible office of Commissioner of Agriculture.
No sooner was he inducted into office than he went to work with all the zeal and energy of his nature to inaugurate such reforms and inprovements in the management of the department as should be most conducive to the welfare of the people of Georgia, and es pecially the farming population. Without disparagement of the management of his predecessors in office, it is but justice to Com missioner Stevens to say that he has succeeded admirably in carry ing out reforms that have proven of the largest benefit to the public. Heing a man well versed in the needs of the farmers, familiar with the cultivation and fertilization of crops, he is in a position to grasp the necessities of the planters of the State in many ways, and being a courageous and fearless administrator, he does not hesitate to put in force any plan or improvement which may suggest itself to him as a wise and patriotic measure. He has already reduced the ex penses of the department and increased its revenues to a marked degree.and hasatthesametimeincreaseditsefficiency in many respects.
Mr. Stevens is still in the prime of life, and has had sufficient ex perience in public matters to fit him most admirably for the position which he occupies. His worth and sterling integrity have been made manifest in every position which he has held. Highly re garded by his old friends and neighbors as a man of fine intelligence and discernment, he is no less respected by those who have come to know and to value his services as a high official of the State. He conducts the office pretty much on the same idea that he did his own private affairs when engaged in farming and warehouse busi ness. He devotes his entire time to the work of the office, and un less kept away by illness or some unavoidable detention, he may be found at his desk In the Department of Agriculture from early morn ing until late in the evening. While courteous and affable toward the employees of the office, he exacts from them the same strict at tention to the minutest Jetails of their duties as he himself devotes to the various branches of the departinent.
The press of the State has referred to him in the most compliment ary terms on many occasions, as a model official. He is possessed of a most attractive personality, and his evident earnestness of pur pose, coupled with his urbanity of demeanor, has won. him friends and admirers in every walk of life, and it is safe to say that there is no more popular public man in Georgia than Hon. O. B. Stevens,
Commissioner of Agriculture.
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R. F. Wright.
T)OBERT FRANKLIN ]\ WRIGHT, Assistant
Commissioner of Ag riculture, is a "farmer by
profession," and the scion
of a long line of farmer ancestry. He was born in Newton County on the
i?th of March, 1850, on the paternal farm, and lived there until he attained the age of fifteen. His father, Franklin Wright, then removed to Oxford,
Ga., to give his children, three sons and twodaughters, the advantage of the superior educational facilities afforded by that town. The boys were graduated at the famous old Methodist College of Emory. R. F. Wright, the second son, and subject of this sketch, was graduated in 1872. He then took charge of the high school at Lawrenceville, Ga., and was principal of several collegiate institutes for eight years. In 1880, he moved to the county of Elbert, and was for four years principal of the Elberton High School. He re signed the position to embark in commercial life, and was promi nently identified in #11 movements looking towards the upbuilding of the town of bis Adoption. It was in 18^0 that Mr. Wright first came prominently .into the public eye. During that year he was made a member of Governor Northens cabinet, as one of the officials of the State penitentiary department, and, during the four years that his administration con tinued, was instrumental in bringing about many reforms in Geor gias convict system, which, in the succeeding administration of Atkinson, he was urged to continue and complete. These reforms consisted chiefly in securing State supervision of the misdemeanor convicts. It was during Governor Atkinsons term that Mr. Wright, as a result of personal inspection of the convicts, submitted his famous report, which the Governor immediately transmitted to the Legisla-
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ture, urging the adoption of some such reforms as the putting of the misdemeanor convicts under the supervision of the State, which was done.
In 1898, when Col. O. B. Stevens announced as a candidate to succeed Col. R. T. Nesbitt as Commissioner of Agriculture, Mr. Wright threw to Mr. Stevens his support, and the two were gener ally considered as making the race together. So with Mr. Stevens election to the commissionership, Mr. Wright was immediately ap pointed to the assistants place. He now has the affairs of that im portant position under his personal supervision, and has, in the short while he has been in office, made an enviable record.
Although daily in charge of departmental work, Mr. Wright con tinues to run a farm and to take an active personal part in the farm ing interests of Georgia as is not unbecoming in the Assistant Secre tary of Agriculture.
J. H. flcCandless.
PROF. JOHN M. McCANDLESS, State Chemist, was appointed to his present position in the States service in 1898, by Com missioner of Agriculture Stevens. He is one of the few public
servants of the commonwealth who was not born within the limits
of the State. He is, however, a loyal Georgian, having lived in At
lanta since nearly boyhood, and has long been conspicuous in that
city in his capacity of chemist and man of science. Indeed, he has
enjoyed mAny civic distinctions before his appointment to the place
of State Chemist, having made a wide reputation in his work for the
city of Atlanta and various of its institutions.
*~~
Professor McCandless is a native of the Palmetto State, having been
born in the historic little town of Camden. His parents removed
with him to Atlanta when he was a child, and he has lived here
nearly all of his life since then, the only periods of absence being
while he was pursuing the study of his present profession.
Professor McCandless was entered as a pupil of the public schools
of the city at a comparatively early age, and went through all of the
grades, winning soon in his career a reputation for unusual mental
endowment. After his graduation in this city, he went to New
York, and entered the University of the City of New York to com
plete his education. He remained at that institution for fpur years,
and developed a great love of the profession that he was afterwards
to make his life-work. This he attributes, in no small degree, to
JOHN M. McCANDLESS. STATE CHEMIST.
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29
Prof. John W. Draper, one of the most distinguished authorities on the subject of chemistry in the world. Young McCandless enjoyed the advantage of listening to a series of lectures on the wonders of this science from that master of it, thereby imbibing at first an in terest, and afterwards a passion for it, which has grown stronger in the years that have since past, and caused him to attain the .high standing in the profession that he holds.
Mr. McCandless graduated from the University of New York with the degree of A.B., and qualified to follow the profession of chemistry, which he had already determined he would devote his life to. Before entering upon the practice of it, however, he came back to Georgia, and entered the laboratory at Athens of Prof. H. C. White, then State Chemist. There he acquired the real, practi cal experience that has since served him in such good stead. The ability evinced by him during this time of practical apprenticeship occasioned Professor White to declare him to be one of the bright est pupils with whom he ever came in contact and to predict a suc cessful future for him in his chosen profession.
In January, 1885, Professor McCandless returned to Atlanta, and opened a laboratory as analytical and consulting chemist, and he has since been identified with this city. Besides his commercial work, in which he shortly gained a wide reputation, he became, early in his career, the chemist of the Atlanta Board of Health, and in that capacity rendered certain public services that brought him promi nently to the front. The water supply of Atlanta was at that time the momentous problem with which the city government had to deal, and those distinguished physicians, Drs. Baird and Armstrong, who were then the active members of the Board of Health, sought his aid and advice on all questions looking to a solution of the mat ter. Professor McCandless gave especial care to the study of it, and his advice and suggestions were invariably characterized by such expert professional knowledge, and such sound common sense, that he attracted loud praise to himself, and came to be probably the most prominent figure among the many who were engaged with the problem.
Later on, he came still more prominently and popularly into the public eye through his opposition of Atlantas so-called arte sian-well system. For that alone he is well remembered through out the State and the South. The enormous amount of money spent by the municipal corporation in endeavoring to sink a satis factory well, and the utter failures which always followed every effort along that line, became a. matter of almost national interest, and the city itself was bitterly divided on the question. Professor
3O
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McCandless opposed and time has shown with what good sense further efforts in that direction, and was largely instrumental in bringing it to a stop. During the time the artesian well was the fad, he moved energetically to preserve the old water-works supply sys tem of Atlanta free of contamination, and that this was effectually done was due largely to him.
The honor of the present solution of the problem is almost en tirely his. Understanding thoroughly the question of sanitary water-supply, and how to obtain it, he advocated from the first the selection of the Chattahoochee river as the source, in connection with a chemical filter plant, and offered suggestions and plans for this that finally materialized in the present highly satisfactory sys tem. Indeed, Atlanta, thanks to Professor McCandless, is not be hind any city of the South, or the country, in the abundance and purity of its water.
In 1889 the faculty of the Southern Medical College, recognizing his high attainments as a chemist, offered him the professorship of chemistry in that institution, which he accepted. The duties of the position demanded more of his time, however, than he could spare from his professional work, and he was compelled to resign the place and devote himself entirely to his private work.
In 1898, Commissioner of Agriculture O. B. Stevens, recognizing the need for a man of the highest competence in his line to fill the place of State Chemist, selected Professor McCandless as the chemist whose public and private record made him most conspicu ous among the men of his profession in the State, and offered him the position.
Though his term of office has been short, Professor McCandless has already done more than enough to justify the wisdom of Com missioner Stevens selection, and has established a public service record that is fully in keeping with his record in private life.
PROF. W. M. SCOTT. M.S.. STATE ENTOMOLOGIST
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Prof. W. n. Scott, H. S.
PROF. VV. M. SCOTT was born at Sugar Grove, Virginia, May 3, 1873. He was reared on the farm, and his first school ing was given between the corn-rows and in the harvest-field by his father, L. M. Scott, a thrifty farmer of Smith County, Virginia. Thus in his early days he learned agriculture and horticulture, and became interested in the insect enemies that attack the products of the soil.
After completing the academic course at the Glade Spring Mili tary Academy at Glade Spring, Va., he entered the Virginia Poly technic Institute (Agricultural and Mechanical College) at Blacksburg, Va., in the Horticultural course. Took quite a prominent part in the literary societies and won three medals in declamation and debate. He graduated from that institution at the head of his class with the degree of Bachelor of Science, in 1896. Immediately after graduation he was elected Assistant Horticulturist and Entomolo gist of the Virginia Agricultural and Experiment Station, which . position he held until his appointment to the position he now holds. In the meantime he took a special course in Entomology at the Vir ginia Polytechnic Institute, graduating with the degree of Master of Science in Entomology in 1898.
He was appointed State Entomologist of Georgia by the Com missioner of Agriculture upon the recommendation of the Georgia State Horticultural Society, March I, 1898, and became the first Entomologist the State has ever had. This long-needed State offi cial began his work by making a thorough inspection of the fruit growing sections of the State in order to locate the various insect pests and diseases of the orchards and nurseries, especially investi gating the dreaded San Jose scale, an insect pest that threatens the fruit interests of the State. In most cases he has been able to ap ply remedies against these pests, while in other cases he has been compelled to condemn and destroy thousands of diseased trees in order to protect the State against the spread of such infection. In this work of destroying diseased and infested orchards, he has met with the hearty co-6peration of the fruit-growers and nurserymen, , and with but few exceptions the work has been done in an advisory way and it has not been necessary to resort to compulsory measures
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33
J. Hclntosh Kell.
J OHN McINTOSH KELL was born in 1823 at Laurel Grove, Mclntosh County, Ga., on the banks of the Altaniaha river, and with insound of the sea, upon whose waves so many years of his life were passed. His great-grandfather, John Mohr Mclntosh,oras the Scotch write it, Mclntosh Mohr, the word Mohr meaning chief of a clan, came over from Scotland to join General Oglethorpe in 1735, bringing with him one hundred Highlanders, and settling in the county which still bears his name.
The blood of heroic sires could scarcely fail to produce men of military genius, and among the family names are to be found some that will adorn American history so long as we continue to honor brave deeds and hold patriotism as a virtue.
The father of Captain Kell was a lawyer of distinction, and was the junior partner of Gen. Anthony Wayne. He died at the comparatively early age of forty, leaving a wife and five children. Taught at his noble mothers knee that life is earnest and duty holy, the subject of this sketch took up his part in life, and became the stay and pride of his mother, thus foreshadowing the part he was to take in later years.
Through the assistance of influential friends he was, at the age of sixteen, appointed midshipman in the navy. He then left the home of his childhood, and, as the years went on, took his share in the important events that illustrated his country at home and abroad. In the famous expedition of Commodore Perry which opened that unknown and wonderful country, Japan, to civilization, John Mclntosh Kell was an officer, and played an important part. In the zenith of his manhood he served his own State and the Con federacy with all the devotion of his heart through the perils and disasters of the war between the States, When the war began he was junior lieutenant at Pensacola. Upon the secession of Georgia he tendered his services to his State, and was placed in command of the steamer "Savannah," for coast defense, where he remained till May i, 1861.
When Raphael Semmestook command of the "Alabama," Captain Kell went with him as executive officer, for which position Admiral Semmes says he applied for Captain Kell, "because, having known him as a youth, he knew he had in him the making of a man, and would discharge his duties with fidelity and ability."
Captain Kells daring career from this time on is a part arid parcel of the history of the country.
I
GENERAL JOHN MclNTOSH KfcLL.
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35
After the loss of the "Alabama" he made his way back home and was appointed to command the ironclad "Richmond." At the close of the war, worn by service and saddened by defeat, he with drew to a country home with no legacy but the consciousness of duty well performed, and with no light save the star of love shin ing at his fireside, to begin life anew amid the desolation of his native State. The coast, then almost deserted by his kindred, had little charm for him, so amid the red clay hills of middle Georgia he found himself a home, and reared manly sons and winsome daughters, "the world forgetting, by the world forgot," till he was called by Governor Gordon to be his Chief of Staff and AdjutantGeneral of the State.
He has since found congenial work, and a reward for past service and disappointments in the love and respect of his fellow country men.
Colonel Phil G. Byrd.
C OL. PHIL GLENN BYRD, Acting Adjutant-General of the Georgia Volunteers and Chief of Staff for Governor Alien D Candler, was born at Walesca, Cherokee County, Ga., on February 3, 1861. His father was J. P M. Byrd, and he is a de scendant of the Byrds of "Westover," Virginia. He was reared at Rome, Ga., where he went in boyhood, and received his education in the Rome High School and at the Dahlonega Military College. He now treasures a prize won at the Dahlonega College at the fall term of 1879, over all other military prizes he ever won. He is passionately fon-d of all things military, and he has for a long time been conspicuously connected with the militia organization of Geor gia. In 1891 he was elected captain of the Hill City Cadets, Company B, Third Regiment of Georgia Volunteers, and was awarded The Atlanta JournaFs jeweled sword as the most popular captain in the State for that year. He remained a line captain until W. Y. Atkinson was elected Governor of Georgia. He was the first aid ap pointed by Governor Atkinson on his staff. He served for four years on Governor Atkinsons staff, and upon the inauguration of Governor Alien D. Candler he was made Assistant Adjutant-Gen eral, with the rank of Colonel and Chief of Staff. Colonel Byrds military record has been a brilliant one, and there is not to-day a man connected with the Georgia militia who is more popular than he.
COLONEL PHIL G. BYRD.
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37
By profession. Colonel Byrd has been a journalist for nine years, and as editor, manager and proprietor of the Daily Hustler of Rome, he has played a conspicuous part in the development of his section and the shaping of State politics. He is an untiring newspaper worker, and has those qualities which insure success in a newspaper undertaking even under adverse circumstances. During Governor Atkinsons last administration Colonel Byrd was appointed Special Commissioner to investigate and report on the condition of the mis demeanor convict camps of the State. After making a thorough investigation he submitted his report, which proved a sensation na tional in proportions, and ultimately produced good results in prison reform for Georgia. His work in this connection was faithful and commanded the praise of the whole people. Colonel Byrd married Miss Ella Leslie Rent, a fair Quakeress of Philadelphia, and they have two sons and two daughters. Descended from a courageous race, he himself is a man of pluck, untiring and energetic. He has ever been public-spirited and full of patriotism. Though he has never sought political office, he could have had honors of this kind conferred upon him but for the asking. The position he holds now as Assistant Adjutant-General was given him without solicitation. It has a great deal of responsibility and hard work attached to it.Colonel Byrd fills it with great credit to himself, and with satisfac tion to the Governor. Colonel Byrd enjoys the confidence of the public men of the State, and he has higher honors awaiting him.
James E. Brown.
J AMES EVANS BROWN, Librarian of the State, was born in Marion County, Georgia, February 6, 1854. During his early childhood he removed to Dawson with his parents, and made that city his home until he was seventeen years of age, when he re moved to Macon.and there entered the business of printing. From the case he climbed to the tripod; from printer became editor. Mr.
Brown xvent to Henry County, and there established the Henry County Weekly, which became a great factor in the politics of that section, guided, as it was, by his strong and decided hand. The ed itors personality was felt far and near through the circulation of the paper. . He was nominated and elected to the State Senate from the Thirty-fourth District. In 1886, Mr.Brown removed his home to Newnan, and there, in that progressive town, continued his journalistic
JAMES E. BROWN. STATE LIBRARIAN.
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career. He made the Herald and Advertiser, his paper, a great force in that section. Inthe discussion of all that concerned the welfare of the people, this paper boldly took sides, and maintained its convictions with a fervor and ability that could not but attract attention to the editor himself. In politics, particularly, this was true, and it was in this way that Mr. Brown and ex-Governor W. Y. Atkinson first formed that close personal and political friendship that has ever since existed between them.
The fight that Mr. Brown made for Democracy against opposing parties, and especially during the threatening days when Populism was luring so many from the ranks of Democracy, attracted such attention that President Cleveland, in 1893, made him postmaster at Newnan in recognition of his services.
In November, 1897, Mr. Brown was appointed State Librarian, to succeed Capt John Milledge, one of the most popular officers the State ever had. Captain Milledge, himself, was a candidate for the place, and so also were a number of other prominent men and women as well, who had back of them powerful support. Thus the appointment of Mr. Brown was a particular triumph, and the more so as only his self-made record and his reputation, and not claims made by friends, influenced Governor Atkinson to select him. Mr. Brown has proved a capable and courteous public servant, proving the wisdom of the selection.
Mr. Brown still makes his home in Newnan, and takes a great deal of interest in the politics of that district. His paper is perhaps the most potent political force of the kind in the district, and is still characterized by the vigor and fearlessness that Mr. Brown has always imparted to his papers, and by reason of which he has come to occupy a prominent place in Georgias affairs.
In the realm of politics, Mr. Browns services have not consisted solely in championing the rights of the people through the press, but, upon occasion, have been given a more tangible and effective form. This is notably true of the services rendered by him in the State campaign that ended with the election of W. Y. Atkinson to the Governorship. Being, as has been said, a close personal and political friend of that candidate, he was made one of the managers of the Atkinson forces, and played a conspicuous part in the wellremembered fight, and to his energy and enthusiasm for the cause the great victory was in no small part due. The careers of few men afford a more striking example of advancement under difficul ties than Mr. Browns. From being a printer to becoming an edi tor and proprietor, stamps "turn who does such a thing as the pos sessor of more than ordinary capacity and determination. And to
40
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then come forward as a figure of State-wide importance tells, in it self, a more eloquent story of the man than mere words could pos
sibly do. Mr. Brown, like most men who have risen to high places in
the State, is a native of Georgia, though he comes of distinguished North Carolina stock. In 1883 hewas married to Miss KateMilner,
of New nan.
Richard Johnson.
T)ICHARD JOHNSON JfK Commissionerof Pen
sions, was born in Clinch County, March 31, 1847, ano< he s s*" a ct~ zen of that county, having always lived there, and calling it his home. His father was F. S. Johnson, who removed to Georgia when a child, with his father, Capt. Richard John son, from Barnwell, S. C. He was himself raised in Clinch County, where he married Lucia Griswald, the mother of the subject of this sketch. At a suitable age, he was sent to school at Mt. Zion, Hancock County, Georgia, where his tutor was Hon. W. J. Northen,destined afterwards to becomeGovernor of Georgia. In August, 1864, how ever, young Johnson left Governor Northens school to entep an other and a harder one the army, where, as he jocularly says, he was given a blanket as a Sheepskin. Mr. Johnson joined the Fortyfifth Georgia, and served with that command in Virginia until the close of "the war. After Lees surrender, Mr. Johnson returned to Clinch County, Georgia, where, in 1868, he was married to Ann E. Griswald. In 1869 he was elected County Surveyor, and served four years in that capacity: Mr. Johnson then entered upon thestudy of law, and in 1874 was admitted to the bar. He rose rapidly in
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the legal profession, and in 1876, just two years later, he was made
County Judge. This County Judgeship was held for twelve years by
him, with credit to himself and satisfaction to the legal profession.
In 1888, at the solicitation of his friends, heresigned his Judgeship
to become a candidate for the Legislature, to which body he was
elected by a handsome vote. In 1890Judge Johnson was elected to
the Senate from the Twenty-first District, and occupied a conspicuous
place in the proceedings of the legislative body of that term as
chairman of the railroad committee. In 1894, Governor Atkin-
son sought out Judge Johnson and urged him to accept the Secre
taryship of the Executive Department an office to which there
were many aspiring candidates, though Judge Johnson was not one.
Two years later, on October 16, 1896, Governor Atkinson appointed
him as Commissioner of Pensions, to serve three years.
Judge Johnson has ever been a rock-ribbed Democrat, and has
been an important figure in the political history of his section and
State. At various times he has been called upon to serve as a mem
ber of the County Democratic Executive Committee, Senatorial,
Congressional, and State.
In 1892, he was elected to the Democratic National Convention
which nominated Grover Cleveland for the Presidency. Judge Johnson is a most efficient officer, and there is not a man through
out all Georgia who is more popular with all who know him.
Hon. W. S. Yeates.
AGENTLEMAN who has achieved great success in the service of the State, is Hon. William Smith Yeates, State Geologist of Georgia. Professor Yeates was born in Murfreesboro, Hert ford County, North Carolina, December 15, 1856. His father, Jesse J. Yeates, was a major in the Thirty-first North Carolina Regiment, Confederate States Army, a prominent attorney of Eastern North Carolina and a Democratic member of the Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth United States Congresses, from the First District of North Carolina.
His great-grandfather, Jesse Yeates, was a soldier of the Revolu tion and belonged to the regiment commanded by Col. Hardy Murfree and participated in the battles of Guilford Court-House and Kings Mountain, North Carolina; the Cowpens, South Carolina, ahd Stony Point, New York. This one of his ancestors was also a
/ W. S. YEATES, STATE GEOLOGIST
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43
captain in the war of 1812. His mother was Mrs. Virginia Scott Yeates, daughter of James A. Scott and Martha A. Rea, and grand daughter of Gen. John Scott, of Virginia.
1rofessor Yeates was educated at the primary and high schools of his native town, afterwards attending Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Va , for a year and a half, and Emory and Henry College, Emory, Va., for three and a half years, graduating there in June, 1878, with the degree of B.A., and receiving from it three years later the degree of M.A., in consideration of the further pursuit of literary and scientific studies.
In the spring of 1879, Professor Yeates was appointed and served as a messenger on the United States Fish Commission, andwas en gaged in the distribution of young fish from the Avoca, N. C., hatch ing-station. After that he turned his attention to educational work and was principal in two high schools for nearly a year and a half, resigning to accept a clerkship in the United States Fish Commis sion work of the Tenth Census, upon the duties of which he entered December 7, 1880.
In his college work he had evinced great aptitude in and fondness for the scientific branches, especially chemistry, mineralogy and geol ogy, and on the reorganization and enlargement of the National Mu seum in Washington City, when the new museum building was about ready for occupancy, he was tendered the position of Assistant to the Curator in the Department of Minerals and Economic Geology, with the museum grade of "Aid," on March 22, 1881.
He began at once opening, selecting and classifying the minerals, ores and rocks received by the National Museum from the different foreign governments exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. In two weeks time, the Curator of the department .placed him in charge of this work and the mineral collections of the museum, besides the duty of identifying and reporting on the minerals sent from all parts of the country to the Smithsonian In stitution for identification.
Soon after the death of the Curator, in 1882, Professor Baird, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, who was also the Director of the National Museum, divided the Department of Minerals and Economic Geology into three departments, over one o( which, the Department of Minerals, Professor Yeates was placed as Acting Cura tor, which position he held until December, 1883, when an Honorary Curator was named and Professor Yeates was advanced to the grade of "Assistant," in charge of the mineral collection. He WHS soon after ward promoted to be Assistant Curator, and with the same title he rfcceived -a still higher promotion, and occupied this position
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till he tendered liis resignation to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution to accept the position of State Geologist of Georgia, which he still retains.
Upon the organization of the Corcoran Scientific School of the Columbian University, he was appointed to the Chair of Mineralogy, and in February, he was appointed Professor of Geology in the same school, holding the two chairs and resigning them when he came to Georgia. As all the technical schools in Washington hold their sessions in the evening, the attention bestowed by Professor Veates in his school work conflicted in no way with his museum duties.
A superb collection of gems and ornamental stones, including rare specimens from all parts of the world, constituted a part of the collection of minerals during the last nine years of his service at the National Museum; and he exhibited these and a selection of the most attractive minerals in their natural state, at the Cincinnati and Xew Orleans expositions in 1884, a d at the Worlds Fair in Chicago, in 1893.
As a result of his work in Georgia six bulletins on the geological resources of the State have been issued from the press: "A Report on the Marbles of Georgia," "A Report on the Corundum Depos its of Georgia," "A Report on a Part of the Water Powers of Geor gia," "A Report on a Part of the Gold Deposits of Georgia," "A Report on a Part of the Phosphates and Marls of Georgia," and "A Report on the Artesian Well Systems of Georgia," and, besides these, there is in press, "A Report on a Part of the Clays of Geor gia," and in course of preparation, "A Report on the Roads and Road-Building Materials of Georgia," and "A Report on a Part of the Granites and Gneisses of Georgia." In addition to these, six administrational reports, for the years 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897 and 1898, have been issued.
A very important W9rk accomplished by him is the extensive col lection of the minerals, ores, building stones and woods of the State, and installing them so as to be at once attractive and educational. These collections have been displayed at the Atlanta, Nashville and Omaha expositions, and have, in every case, taken the highest awards for excellence of material and installation.
Professor Yeates is a Fellow of the Geological Society of Amer ica; member of the Philosophical Society of Washington, D. C.; member of the Geological Society of Washington, D. C.; of the American Chemical Society; the American Institute of Mining En gineers; the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the International Congress of Geologists of 1891.-
COLONEL L. N. TRAMMELL.
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L. N. Trammel!.
T EAXUER NEWTON TRAMMELL, Chairman of the Railroad Commission of Georgia, son of Jehu and Elizabeth (Fain) Trammell. was born in Habersham County. Georgia, June 5,
1830. He comes of Scotch-Irish and French parentage, and both his paternal and maternal ancestors distinguished themselves as officers of the Revolution.
Like so many other Georgians who have risen to high places. Colonel Trammell was reared and worked on a farm during his boy hood, alternating between the school and the field, as the necessities of the crops demanded. At the age of nineteen he entered a boarding-schoolat Baits Creek (now HiwasseeCollege), Tenn., where he remained fifteen months. After leaving there he taught school awhile, and then read law under Simpson Reid, at Blairsville, Ga., and in 1856 attended the law school at Lebanon, Tenn. Having been admitted to the bar, he located at Ringgold, Ga., and entered upon the practice of law as the junior member of the firm of McConnell & Trammell.
In 1861 he was elected to represent Catoosa County in the General Assembly, and in 1863 was re-elected without opposition. In March 1862, he entered the Confederate service as quartermaster, with the rank of captain. His energy and Ability elicited from theauditor of the Quartermaster-Generals Department an official letter compli menting him upon the vigilance and efficiency he had shown in the discharge of his duties, and saying it was the only letter of the kind he had ever had the pleasure of writing.
In 1866, Colonel Trammell resumed the practice of law at Calhoun (Gordon County), Georgia. He was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1867-68, in which he did most valuable work for the State. / He was the recognized leader of the little band of fourteen dauntless patriots known in that convention as the "Hancock Dembcracy," whose unflagging courage and unrelenting labor saved to Georgia the supremacy jf the white race, a service which endeared him td the people, and will never be forgotten. At the election next succeeding, he was unanimously tendered the domination to the State Senate, but declined the honor. In 1870, he was elected to represent his Senatorial district in the General Assembly, and was elected President of the Senate. Governor Bul lock having resigned, Mr. Trammell then became by right Gov ernor pro tern of the State, but the former President of the Senate, Benjamin Conley, claimed the right, and assumed the duties of the
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47
office, which came near causing serious consequences. Mr. Trammell was urged to assert his rights, but foreseeing that disorder and confusion would result therefrom, with probable injury to the best interests of Georgia, he declined to do so.
Colonel Trammell was a Tilden elector in 1876, a member of .the Constitutional Convention of 1877, President of the State Demo cratic Convention in 1881, and Chairman of the State Democratic Executive Committee during 1892 and 1893.
In October, 1881, Mr. Trammell was appointed Railroad Commis sioner by Governor Colquitt, reappointed in 1887 Dv Governor Gordon, in 1893 by Governor Northen, and again in 1898 by Gov ernor Candler. At the expiration of this term he will have served Georgia continuously for twenty-four years in this responsible posi tion. In 1893 he was made Chairman of the Commission. In this position he lias been of incalculable service to the State, and has won, on one hand, the unreserved confidence of the railroads, and, on the other, the fullest confidence of the people.
T. C. Crenshaw, Jr.
C. CRENSHAW, JR., member of the Railroad Com mission of Georgia, was born near Manningham, in Butler County, Ala., March 10, 1849. He is a grandson of the late Chancellor Anderson Crenshaw, a distinguished jurist of Alabama. Mr. Crenshaw entered Good Hope Academy at an early age, for a preparatory schooling. He remained in that academy until 1864, when, at the ageof fifteen, he volunteered to fight for the South, and joined, the Confederate army, serving with the Ala bama State troops until the close of the war. Immediately afteriward he entered the high school for boys at Greenville, Ala., where
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he remained until the fall of 1866, when he entered the University of Virginia. He remained in the University for two years, and then returned to Butler County, and engaged in farming, residing on the farm near where he was born until 18/0, when he removed to Greenville, Ala., and began the study of law under former Secretary of the Navy Hillary A. Herbert. After remaining in that office for about two months he was appointed Register in Chancery for the Fifth District, Southern Chancery Division, of Alabama. He was at the time of the appointment within a few days of his majority and therefore had to wait two weeks before qualifying for his ap pointment, which he did on March 10, 1870. Although this office was a lucrative one, paying some $3,000 a year, he resigned at the end of the year and moved to LaGrange, Ga., where he was in 1874 elected an alderman and was re-elected in 1876. In 1877 he was elected mayor, after an exciting contest, by a large majority over Dr. Thomas S- Bradfield. Mr. Crenshaw declined re-election as mayor, and in 1882 he was elected to represent Troup County in the Legislature, and re-elected the next term. He took an active part in the proceedings of both Legislatures of which he was a member, and was regarded as one of the strongest and most influential lead ers in the House.
After removing from Alabama to LaGrange, in 1871, Mr. Cren shaw engaged in the cotton business, with an office at LaGrange and one in Opelika, Ala., and built up an extensive cotton trade. In 1885 he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the District of Georgia by President Cleveland. He then gave up his cotton business and resigned from the Legislature. He entered upon the duties of Collector of Internal Revenue on May I, 1885, which position he filled with a marked degree of efficiency until President Cleveland was succeeded by President Harrison. During his incumbency- of the office it was administered after the highest standard, and to the entire satisfaction of the people.
Immediately after retiring from this office he was appointed by President E. P. Alexander, of the Central of Georgia Railroad.and Banking Company, as assistant claim adjuster of that road. He discharged the duties of .this office with the same efficiency as he had shown in the administration of his other offices, and on Novem ber 5, 1895, he was appointed by Governor W. Y. Atkinson to suc ceed Hon. G. Gunby Jordan as a member of the Railroad Commis sion for a full term of six years. His appointment was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, and he is at present serving the State as Railroad Commissioner.
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49
Judge Spencer R. Atkinson.
I F THERE is a man in Georgia public life to day of whom it may justly be said, "He is a self-made man," most as suredly does Judge Spen cer R. Atkinson bear off the palm of preferment.
His boyhood days were spent at Incadene, thirty miles from Brunswick, the plantation of his father, where he was born in 1852. In those days there were very few opportunities for securing even the rudi ments of an English edu cation, except where the parents were willing to send their boys to schools at a distance. His father was Alexander S. Atkinson, a prominent planter of Camden County, Georgia, and his mother, Miss Mary Anne Mc Donald, the beautiful daughter of Governor Charles J. McDonald. Of course the old planter was averse to sending his youthful son away, so he sent him to such "old-field" schools as were convenient to the homestead, but when Spencer was about fourteen years of age, the family refugeed to Marietta, and there he remained and worked on a farm in the country for several years. Of course the scene of desolation presented by that devoted section of country during the memorable years succeeding Shermans raid can scarcely be understood by the rising generation. But all the while young Spencer Atkinson was pursuing his studies in a desultory manner and taking every advantage of opportunities afforded him for the accumulation of useful learning and knowledge. At the age of eighteen, he went to work on the Brunswick & Western Railroad, where he remained for a year, and then took his departure for Texas, where he spent eighteen months. But the wild and roving life did not suit him. He came back to Marietta and studied law under Judge R. N. Lester, one of the most distinguished members of the G.eorgia bar, and was admitted to practice by Judge Noel B. Knight, in the spring of 1875. Not long after that he went back to his old
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love and located in Brunswick, after practicing for some time in the courts of North Georgia, and located in the far-famed "City-by-theSea" in 1878. He succeeded rapidly in his profession, his integrity of character and high ability carrying him forward with great rapid ity. As a result of his political sagacity, which was recognized by his political associates all over the State, he was selected as one of the candidates on the electoral ticket in the Democratic campaign of (884, which resulted in the triumphant election of Grover Cleve land, the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. During that campaign he served his party with great distinction and aided materially in the great victor)which wasaccomplished through the enthusiastic devotion of the members of the party all over the country, among whom Judge Atkinson occupied a conspicuous po sition and shared in the honor and glory of the great victory. In 1886 he was elected Judge of the Brunswick Circuit, a. position which he held with ability and distinction until 1892, when he re signed and went back to the practice of his profession, in which he had won high honors and signal success.
In the fall of 1894, he was elected Associate Justice of the Su preme Court of Georgia, and in the highest tribunal of his State he performed the duties of his exalted station with the same dignity, ability and impartiality which had marked every epoch in his event ful career. For three years he wore the ermine, and then in 1897 he was made a member of the Georgia Railroad Commission. That position he still retains, and has filled it with the utmost satisfaction.
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
J. D. Massey.
M 1R. J. D. MASSEY, Secretary of the Railroad Commis sion, though a young man of only twenty-five years of age, stands high among the public servants of Georgia by reason of the record for capacity and faithfulness that he has made for himself. Mr. Massey was born Decem ber II, 1873, in Oconee County, South Carolina. He was raised on his fath ers farm, and attended the rural schools of that district. At nineteen years of age he struck out into the world for himself, and fixing upon Atlanta as the place where a young man with no capital save energy and integrity and brains would most likely be able to make his way in the world, he came to Georgias capital city. With that act he became a Georgian, destined to rise to one of the most important places in the service of the State. It was in 1893 that he started in Atlanta to build his fortunes, a youth without family influences to push him along, and with no friends save those of his own making since arriving in the bustling Georgia city. But, as has ever been the case with the country boy, he proved amply able to take care of himself. Secur ing a place in the commercial life of the city, he went to work in earnest, and soon established a reputation for ability and trustworthi ness that proved good capital. Two years after he came to At lanta, he was tendered the Secretaryship of the Railroad Commission, than which there is no more important place among the minor offices of the State. For four years Mr. Massey has continued to perform the duties of this position, each year adding to the good record he is making for himself, and advancing higher and higher in the esteem of those who come in contact with him and with his work. Mr. Masseys friends and associates predict a brilliant future for him, and
\
,
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their prophesies are based, as are all prophesies that are of value, upon a knowledge of past reputation and achievements.
It is not only Mr. Masseys business capacity that has enabled him to so satisfactorily fill his position of Secretary, but the natural tact and courtesy \vith which he is endowed plays an almost equally indispensable part. Obliging and agreeable to all, his wide per sonal popularity with railroad officials and the people of the State, make him, in that respect alone, an invaluable public servant and one which Georgia would find it difficult to replace.
Joseph 5. Turner.
J OSEPH S. TURNER, Chairman of the Prison Commission of Geor gia, was born in Putnam County, Georgia, on his fathers farm, "Turnwold," on the igth day of Decem ber, 1859, and is now in his fortieth year. His father, Joseph A. Turner, was a prominent lawyer, farmer and editor in Put nam County. He was owner and publisher of /he Coun tryman, a newspaper pub lished on his farm, nine _______________________ miles from any post-office or railroad, but which, dur ing the four years of war between the States, was among the most unique and popular publications in the South. By the loss of his parents, who died a few years after the war, the subject of this sketch was thrown upon his iwn resources early in life. Even at this early age he showed the same remarkably fine judgment which in after years helped him to attain his prominence. Borrowing money with which to go to college, he spent a short while at the University of Georgia, leaving that institution after his junior year, in the seven teenth year of his age. He took up the study of law and after diligently applying himself was admitted to the bar in September
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1877. This was before he was eighteen years of age. In the mean time he had been elected assistant superintendent o.f the public schools of Eatonton. Since his admission to the bar he has devoted his whole time, when not engaged in the discharge of the duties of his public office, to the practice of law, and has been highly suc cessful in this profession. Several months before he became twentyone years of age he was appointed by Governor Colquitt Judge of the County Court of Putnam County, and qualified for this office im mediately upon reaching his majority. This office he filled with conspicuous ability for twelve years, resigning in 1892 to take a seat in the General Assembly as Representative from Putnam County in the House of Representatives. He was honored by the Speaker by being made chairman of the penitentiary committee during the sessions of 1892 and 1893. Having been given this important, chairmanship, he devoted much time and thought to the penal sys tem of the State, and suggested and helped to enact much legisla tion looking to an improvement in this part of the State govern ment. In the fall of 1894, without solicitation upon his part and without his knowledge, Governor W. V. Atkinson appointed him principal keeper of the penitentiary of the State, which office he accepted with hesitation, and which he filled with honor tn himself and to his State until December 21, 1897, when that office was abolished by the Legislature. A prison commission, to consist of three members, was substituted, and thereupon Governor Atkinson appointed him a member of the newly created commission, and at the commissions first meeting he was elected chairman. He still retains this position. Having been appointed for the short term, Judge Turners term of office expired in 1898, and he was opposed in the Democratic primary by John W. Renfroe, of Fulton County, and defeated his opponent by an overwhelming majority, having received not only the largest popular majority of any candidate in the field for State office, but carried more counties than any other. One hundred and seventeen out of the one hundred and thirtyseven counties of the State nominated Judge Turner. The General Assembly of 1897 adopted Judge Turners suggestion for a new prison system almost in toto, and whatever good there may be in the new system, which went into effect April i, 1899, maybe credited to his suggestion and influence. He is now earnestly endeavoring to build up for Georgia a system which will from every standpoint be a success and creditable to Georgia.
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Clement A. Evans.
pLEMENT A. EVANS,
^, Prison Commissioner, cites with pride his
nativity as a Georgian,
and the occurrence of his infancy amid the terror of
the Creek Indian War in Southwestern Georgia in
1836. Coming from an
ancestry that participated in the Revolutionary strug
gle and the various wars of the Union, he entered life in Stewart County
when his people were in
battle with the Indians
and no family was safe
from savage hostility. After his graduation from the law school of Judge William Tracy Gould, in Augusta, which was at that time the resort for young stu dents ambitious to obtain education for the bar, he was admitted to practice law just before he had attained the age of nineteen years. Returning to his native county, he opened his office among those who had known him since boyhood, and with very little delay es tablished an excellent business. The confidence felt in his general ability by his county people is shown in the fact that soon after he was twenty-one years of age he was elected Judge of the County Court, which was a court of exten sive jurisdiction in civil suits, and involved the care of the county business in general. ^Vt the age of twenty-six he was elected to the Senate of Georgia, at that gravely important period when the ques tions which resulted in the war of secession agitated the (whole country. In those questions he took what was called the Southern Rights.side, and waspUced upon the Breckenridge electoral ticket asan alternate during the warm political canvass of 1860. He advocated secession, and when it became evident that war would ensue, offered to the South his services as a soldier. He was promoted to the rank of major, then to the colonelcy of the Thirtyfirst Georgia. Then he was commissioned brigadier-general, and was afterwards assigned to the command cJf a division. He fought
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55
through the entire war, was several times wounded, and when he surrendered with Lee at Appomattox, his guns were still hot from firing. Fully recognizing that the issue made had been- settled, he returned home and advocated the restoration of his State at once to all of its former position in the Union, and urged such progressive measures. Having been a member of the Methodist Church from his youth, he joined the Georgia Conference after the war, as a minister. General Evans was the first president of the Confederate Survivors Association of Augusta, and afterwards president of the Confederate Camp, in Atlanta. He is now Major-General Com manding, Georgia Division, United Confederate Veterans, and ac tively interested in Confederate history and assisting soldiers and soldiers widows in need.
He was appointed a member of the Prison Commission by Gov. W. Y. Atkinson without having asked for the position.
Hon. Thomas Eason.
H ON. THOMAS EASON, Prison Commissioner, is a self-made man. Starting out in life with no more extensiveequipment for lifes battle than a stock of energy, and such an education as was to be had from the rural schools of the county wherein he was reared, he has climbed steadily upward to his present high place. For years he has been a conspicuous figure, not only as a lawyer but in public capacities, in the State of Georgia. Mr. Eason was born in Tattnall County, March 26, 1851. His father removed to Bulloch County when young Eason was a child, and there the subject of this sketch was reared, living the life of the average farmers son, and enjoying no further advantages for education than those afforded by tire public schools of the district. When he was twenty-one years of age, he went to Reidsville, and there entered the office of an attorney by the name of Josiah Beaseley, under whom he read law. He was admitted to the bar in 1872, and after receiving his license to practice, removed to Montgomery County, and soon came into prominence by reason of his thorough knowledge and keen mentality. In 1876, shortly before he attained his twenty-fifth year, Mr. Eason had made such a reputation in his profession as a lawyer, that Gov. James M. Smith appointed him Solicitor-General of the Oconee Circuit. Mr. Eason continued in the capacity of public prosecutor until 1878, When the election of judges andsolici-
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THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
tors-genera! was inaugurated in this State, and he was chosen by the Legislature to succeed himself. In 1880, he removed to Mont gomery County, his present home, resigning the solicitorship. There, again, he rapidly came to the front, and in 1882, only two years after taking up his residence there, he was nominated and elected to the Legislature from that county. In 1884 he was reelected for another term.
In 1886 he became a candidate for the Solicitor-Generalship of the Oconee Circuit, and was elected to the place, being also reelected in 189x2 and 1895. He again resigned this office in 1898, having been selected by Governor Atkinson as one of the Prison Commissioners of the State, to succeed Jacob L. Beach, resigned.
Mr. Easons particularly successful career is due in nosmall meas ure to his courteous and engaging manners and the frank and gen erous disposition which has always characterized him in his dealing with both individuals and the public. There is not a more popular man personally in his section of the State.
UNITED STATES SENATORS.
Hon. Augustus O. Bacon.
/GEORGIAS SENIOR REPRESENTATIVE in the United States \J Senate,Augustus O.Bacon,was born in Bryan County, Georgia,
October 20, 1839, and is therefore just rounding the sixtieth mile-post of his life. He is still hale and vigorous, both mentally and physically, however, in fact, really in the prime of his manhood, as the unceasing labor he has performed during the incumbency of his high position at the national capital has demonstrated. Senator Bacon is a graduate of the University of Georgia, having received his preliminary education in the schools of Liberty and Troup coun ties. After graduating in the classical and literary departments of the University in 1859 he took a course in law at the same>institution and was given his diploma in that branch in 1860. Before he had an opportunity to begin the practice of his chosen profession, however, the war-cloud that had been hovering over the country during the last of his college days burst, and young Bacon was among the first to offer his services to his native State. He entered the Confederate army at the outset and served during the campaigns of 1861 and 1862 as adjutant of the Ninth Georgia Regiment in the Army of Northern Virginia. In that important position he dis played such fine executive ability that he was commissioned captain in the provisional army and assigned to important staff duty, remain ing actively on duty until the surrender of Lee sealed the doom of the Confederacy. After the war Major Bacon returned to the pur suit of his profession, which had been interrupted by that great struggle, opening up a law-office in Macon in 1866, in which city he has continued to reside and practice ever since. It was not long after "hanging out his shingle" that he was accorded a front rank at the local bar, and for years he has been .acknowledged one of the ablest lawyers in the State, or the South. Major Bacon always had a taste for public affairs, and taking a deep interest in the work of the Democratic party, to which he has always been loyal, he was frequently sent to represent his constituency in the State conven tions, in 1880 being chosen chairman of the State convention. Sev eral time.s he has been a delegate to the national conventions of the barty, the first time in 1884, and on the Seymour and Blair ticket in
/ U. S. SENATOR A. O. BACON
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59
1868 he was an elector. From 1871 down to the present time Major Bacon has continuously been a conspicuous figure in the politics of the State. He was elected to the House of Representatives in the first year mentioned, serving-, all told, fourteen years in that body, being two years Speaker pro tempore and eight years Speaker of the House, making a reputation in the latter position unparalleled in the history of the State.
Senator Bacon has passed through many exciting political cam paigns, and enjoys the unique distinction of having missed the nom ination for Governor by one vote only, after one of the most thrill ing contests that has ever taken place in Georgia, the party nomination, of course, being equivalent to an election. Undaunted by such a narrow and consequently heart-breaking defeat, he con tinued in the fight, and though again losing the prize in a subsequent contest with the gallant Gordon, he was still not crushed or soured, nor had the people lost their faith in him. Thus when the State needed a man to represent her in the seat at the national capital made illustrious by Hill and Brown, Gordon and Colquitt, Major Bacon was called to his reward. As a member of the Senate he has ranked with the foremost statesmen of that august body. Senator Bacons term of office expires March 3,. 1901, the duty of electing his successor falling upon the Legislature next to be chosen, in Octo ber, 1900. His services have been such that there is little doubt that he will be put forward to succeed himself.
Hon. Alexander Stevens Clay.
T HE JUNIOR MEMBER of the United States Senate from Geor gia is personally probably the most widely known and most popular man within the limits of the State. In party councils. Senator Clay has been one of the leading spirits for the past fifteen years, despite the fact that he is yet a young man. He was born a leader among his fellow men, possessing in the highest degree all the rare qualities that goto make such a character. Beginning life upon a Cobb County farm, literally between the plow-handles, his career is a brilliant example to the youth of the land, showing what can be accomplished in this land of the freeandhome of the brave by honest endeavor unaided by wealth or influential friends except those made in his own struggle for advancement. After attending the common
{ f. S. SENATOR A S CLAY.
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61
schools of the county, working his way as he went, the future states man and senator entered the high school of Palmetto, Campbell County, paying his own way there as he had done at the outset of his battle for an education. From that institution he took a higher course in the Hiawassee College, from which he graduated in 1875. Then it was, after having obtained the education that he thirsted for in his boyhood, that young Clay really started out on his wonderful career. Ambitious as. he was, he chose law as his profession. But with him the selection of law as a profession did not mean merely the possession of a code and a volume of Blackstone from which to gain a smattering that would entitle him to a license to practice at the bar. He set out to be a lawyer deserving the title of his high professional calling, and for two years he de voted himself to study under the tutelage of Judge David Irwin, one of the best legal minds of the State, burning the midnight oil in the pursuit of knowledge while spending his days in teaching school. He was admitted to the bar in 1877, and has since that time been actively engaged in practice, being the recognized head of the bar in his part of the State. Entering politics in 1880, when he was elected a member of the city council of Marietta, his home, he from that time forward became an active leader, first in the strictly local affairs of the Democratic party and then in the broader arena of State politics. After serving two terms in the council he was sent to represent Cobb County in the lower house of the Legislature in 1884, serving continuously in one branch or the other until 1894. He served two terms as Speaker pro tempore of the House and one term as Speaker, and upon retiring from the House to represent the Thirty-Fifth District in the State Senate, he was chosen to preside over that body as President in recognition of his masterful knowl edge of parliamentary law and the many services he had rendered to the State and party. Senator Clay was chosen chairman of the State Democratic executive committee in 1894, and in that position conducted to a brilliant success one of the most hotly contested campaigns against combined Populism and Republicanism that De mocracy has ever had to meet. After this conspicuous service he was re-elected to the chairmanship of the State committee, and con tinued to perform the arduous duties required of the official head of the party until the summer of 1898, when he resigned. The campaign in which he was elected to the Senate to succeed Gen. John B. Gordon was a memorable one. It was suddenly precipitated by the unexpected death of ex-Speaker Charles F. Crisp, who had been nominated for the place. Thus every man of the half dozen actively in the field, went into the fight strictly upon his
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THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
merits. The other candidates were among the most influential party leaders in the State, and the contest was so stubbornly waged that a deadlock which lasted over a week ensued. The final result was a magnificent tribute to the ability and popularity of Senator Clay, his majority being a decided one when the break-up took place. Senator Clays term expires March 3, 1903.
J
THE LEGISLATURE.
SENATORS.
W. A. Dodson, President.
W ILLIAM A. DODSON, Senator from the Thirteenth District, and President of the Senate, is one of the leading men in the public life of the State. Though still a young man, being only thirty-five years of age, he has attained a position of promi nence second only in importance to the Governorship itself. His election to the Presidency of the Senate was due to his eminent abilities as a legislator, the services he has rendered to the State being recognized and appreciated by his colleagues, who called him to the high position which he holds with an unanimous voice. Prior to entering the Senate, Mr. Dodson served two terms in the House of Representatives, the last term in the position of Speaker pro tern. He is a presiding officer of rare accomplishments, possessing a pro found knowledge of parliamentary law, a fine presence and a firm, dignified, though always courteous and considerate manner. With the public men of the State and the people generally, he is popular alike, and with the record he has already made to commend him to the confidence of his State, it is not fulsome or flattery to say that Mr. Dodson has a brilliant political future before him, a future that may place him at the head of the State government or in the halls of national legislation at no very distant day.
Mr. Dodson was born in Marion County on the 12th day of May, 1864. When he was three years of age his father moved to Smithville, Ga., and there young Dodson received his early education in the common school of the town, and determined upon the profession of law in which he has made a splendid reputation. After receiving the preparation at the Smithville school necessary to admission to the University of Georgia, Mr. Dodson entered that historic old institution which has given to our State so many of her distinguished men in all walks of life. His ambition and purpose asserted them selves strongly there, for he graduated with distinction in. 1882, be,ing the youngest member of an unusually large class. In the fall of the year in which Mr. Dodson received his diploma, he was elected
W,A. DODSON, PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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65
to take charge of a school at Montezuma, Ga., which position he filled acceptably for two years, when he resigned. During his serv ice as a school-teacher, Mr. Dodson had carefully prepared himself for the bar, and was admitted in October, 1884, when he moved to Americus. In a short time, in association with his father, under the firm name of James Dodson & Son, he built up the fine practice which he now enjoys.
Just ten years after his removal to Americus, in the year 1893, he was elected to represent Sumter County in the GeorgiaLegislature, and was re-elected in 1895, and was, on the assembling of the last House, unanimously chosen to fill the office of Speaker pro tern.
Mr. Dodsons service in the Legislature of the State has been marked by a thorough knowledge of the law, by painstaking, careful attention to duty, and ability as an orator, all of which have won him the honorable position he occupies in public affairs. The insurance law known in the statute books as "the Dodson law" is one of the lasting testimonials of Mr. Dodsons legislative career.
In October, 1889, Mr. Dodson led to the altar Miss Mattie Lewis, of Hawkinsville, the sister of Hon. E. B. Lewis, of Montezuma, who now represents the Third District in the Congress of the United States. Two beautiful little girls have blessed their union, and add their sweetness to the atmosphere of their distinguished fathers home.
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s. Hon. S. T. Blalock. T. BLALOCK, Sena tor from the Twentysixth District, was voted one of the most popular men in the Gen era! Assembly before the body was called to order. He has been prominent in the affairs of the Demo cratic party for a number of years past, although never seeking office at its hands on his own account until he became a candi date for the Senate in the last election. Senator Blalock is a resident of Fayetteville, where he wields a large influence in commercial affairs as well as in the man agement of the municipality. He is the proprietor of the Fayetteville News and one of the leading spirits of the State Press Association. As a legislator Mr. Blalock has discharged his duties with a con scientiousness that has won for him the highest esteem of his fellow-members. He is of a conservative disposition, and his work has been characterized, both in committee and on the floor, by a manifest desire to promote the general welfare of the whole State, though his own district lias never lacked a watchful guardian when local interests were at stake.
J. A. BRANNEN, of Bullock County, Senator from the Seven
teenth District, is a lawyer by professon and has been active in
politics for some yea"rs, having held various positions in the party
organizations andalso representing Bullock County in the House of
Representative prior to being elected to the Senate.
j
WILLIAM C. BUNN, Senator from the Thirty-eighth District, was born at Cave Springs, Floyd County, Georgia, .December 10, 1838. His home is in Cedartown, Polk County, Ge6rgia. By pro fession he is a lawyer and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. In the years 1891,1892 and 1897 he was mayor of Cedartown, and was chairman of the Cedartown. school board during 1895 an ^ 896. In his race for the Senate he was op posed by J. I. Fullwood, Populist. Mr. Bunns majority was 248.
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WILLIAM CLIFTON, Senator from the Second District, is one of the best known men in the State. He is a lawyer of ability and a natural-born politician. He took a leading part in local affairs while a resident of Savannah, representing Chatham County in the lower house several years ago. He has been a member of several State conventions and delegate to the National Democratic Convention. When Governor Candler resigned the orifice of Secretary of State to make his campaign, Senator Clifton was appointed to fill out his unexpired term. He did not offer as a candidate for the regular term, having been elected to the Senate. In the Legislature of l896-97 he was Secretary of the Senate, being elected after an ex citing contest.
GEORGE H. DANIELS, Senator from the Thirtieth District, was born October 18, 1839, n Madison County. His home is at Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia. He is a physician and a farmer. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He served for twenty-four years as ordinary of Madi son County. In his race for the Senate Dr. R. D. Sorrills Was his opponent. Mr. Daniels majority was 1,359.
WILLIAM J. DAVIS, JR., Senator from the Thirty-seventh District, was born July 26, 1855, in Randolph County, Alabama. His home is in Trolona, Heard County. He is a farmer by occu pation and in politics he is a Democrat. He has served two terms in the Legislature, having served in the House in i892-*93; has served as county registrar and as notary public and ex-officio justice of the peace. In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by W. J. Davis, Sr., Populist. The latter was defeated by a ma jority of 526.
ROBERT G. DICKERSON, Senator from the Fifth District, was born in Clinch County, Georgia, October 27, 1870. His home is in Homerville, Clinch County. By profession he is a lawyer and in politics he is a Democrat. He has served two terms in the Leg islature, having served in 1896 and 1897 in the House as Representa tive from Clinch County; has been county treasurer two terms, and is now chairman of the Democratic executive committee of his county. In the Democratic primary he was opposed by F. B. Simons and S. L. Crowdy, and won by 442 votes. In the general election his opponent was W, A. Ecord, Populist. Mr. Dickersons majority was 494.
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JAMES R. DOWLING, Senator from the Third District, lives in Btackshear, Pierce County. Was born in Pierce County, March 18, 1851. He is a farmer by occupation and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He has served as road commissioner in his county for ten years and as jury commissioner for six years. In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by Henry J. Strickiand, Populist-Fusion. Mr. Dowlings majority was 300.
ROBERT T. FOUCHE, Senator from the Forty-second Dis trict, resides in Rome, Floyd County; . was born in Hancock County, Georgia, October 29, 1835. ^ e s a lawyer by profession and :n politics he is a Democrat. He has served one term in the House as Representative from Floyd County and one term (the pres ent one) in the Senate. In the Democratic primary he was opposed for the nomination by W. H. Ennis. Mr. Fouches majority was 1,009. I" tne general election he had no opposition.
MATTHEW W. GROSS, Senator from the Twenty-ninth Dis trict, was born April 3, 1866, in Washington, Wilkes County, Geor gia. His home is in McDuffie County. He is a lawyer by pro fession, and in politics he is a Populist. This is his first term in the Legislature. He is at present a county school comissioner. He has served as chairman of the Populist executive committee of McDuffie County and of the Tenth Congressional District. In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by James E. Smith, Demo crat. Mr. Gross majority was 93.
A. N. GROVENSTEIN, Senator from the First District, was born October 2, 1852. His home is in Effingham County. He is a farmer by occupation, and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He served as county registrar from 1896 to 1898, ar/d has also served as clerk of commissioners of roads and revenues, and was a member of the Democratic execu tive committee for a number of years. In his race for the Senate he had no opposition. ,
..THOMAS R. JOHNSON, Senator from the Forty-first District, was born in Fannin County, Georgia, October 8, 1860, his home now being in Blue Ridge, Fannin County. He is a merchant and farmer. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Senate, and he has held no other public office, with the exception-of minor ones. He has served his party in various capacities. In his race for the Senate he was opposed by A. S. J. Hall, Republican.
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Hon. J. L. Hand.
J UDSON L, HAND, Senator from the Eighth District, plant er, merchant and manu facturer, of Pelham, Mitchell County, Georgia, is the son of Columbus W. and Columbia A. (Bower) Hand, natives respectively of Burke and Baldwin counties, Georgia. H e was born in Houston County, Georgia, in 1851. His father, early in life, settled on a plantation in Houston County and fol lowed farming. In 1856 he moved to Sumter Coun ty, where he died in 1880, aged 57 years. Mr. Hand was reared and educated and prepared for college in Sumter County, and graduated with honor in 1871 from the University of Georgia. At college he was a member of the K. A. fraternity and editor and business man ager of the college paper. Starting in life for himself, he invested largely in lands and located at Pelham, Mitchell County, where he engaged extensively in agriculture and the lumber business, in which he was very prosperous. He owns 20,000 acres of land, 13,000 of which is virgin forest, and 2,600 under cultivation. Of this he planted 600 acres in watermelons in 1894. Besides his extensive farming and lumber business at Pelham he is interested in a large ginnery and cottonseed-oil mill. In 1876 he commenced a general merchandise business on a small scale, and this has grown until now it is the largest business in plantation supplies in South Georgia. From 1878 to 1888 Senator Hand was exten sively engaged in the turpentine business, and in 1883 ne was the largest naval stores operator in the South. He is to-day the largest melon grower in the United States. Evidences of his sagacity and business enterprise are seen in the development and prosperity of the country around him everywhere. A few years ago he intro duced in his section the culture of sea island cotton by planting it pn his own farm, and now it is one of the most important crops in
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South Georgia. He takes an active interest in politics and has fre quently represented Mitchell County in political gatherings and conventions. His home is one of the most delightful and charming in all that section, his residence being almost palatial in its mag nificent proportions. Mr. Hand married Miss Enna Collinsworth, of Sumter County, a graduate of Furlow College, at Americus a union which has been blessed with three children.
COLUMBUS HEARD, Senator from the Nineteenth District, was born in Greene County, his present home. By profession he is a lawyer and in politics he is a Democrat; has served three terms in the Senate; was county judge of Greene County from 1866 to 1868, and a member of the constitutional convention in 1877; was a lieutenant of Company I, Eighth Regiment of Georgia Volunteers, in the Civil War. In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by Robert E. Davison, Populist.
M. T. HODGE, Senator from the Fourteenth District, was born April 24, 1849, in Pulaski County, Georgia. His home is at Hawkinsville. He is a lawyer by profession and a Democrat in politics. This is his third term in the Legislature, having first served two terms in the House. He was for one term mayor of Hawkinsville, and has served on the county school board. He was opposed in his race for the Legislature by W. J. Muller.
W. S. HUMPHRIES, Senator from the Seventh District, is a Democrat, and a lawyer by profession. He served several terms in the lower house from Brooks County, his home, prior to his election to the Senate. Senator Humphries is an active man in party affairs.
CHARLES N. KING, Senator from the Forty-third District, was
born in Jonesboro, Tenn., May 17, 1861. His home is in Spring
Place, Murray County. By profession he is a lawyer and in poli
tics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature.
He was clerk of the superior court of Murray County from 1881 to
1889, and was chairman" of the Democratic executive committee of
the county for six ^ears In the primary he was opposed by SL G.
Treadwell, Democrat, and won by 482 votes. In the general elec
tion his opponent was L. Quillian, Populist.
RUFL7S S. LANG, Senator from the Fourth Distr/ct, was born
in Camden County, April 30, 1858, his home being at Satilla Bluff,
Camden County. He is a merchant and farmer. ,In politics he is a
Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has, held
no other office, but he has served his party in various capacities. J n his
race for the Legislature he was opposed by W. P. Body, Republican.
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WILLIAM LITTLE, Senator from the Eighteenth District, was born in Jefferson County, May 19, 1851. He is a farmer by occupa tion, and in politics a Democrat. This is his first term in the Senate, but he served one term in the House in i8g2-93. He is chairman of the board of county commissioners and a member of the Demo cratic executive committee of Jefferson County. In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by A. R. Wright, A. S. Smith and James Stapleton.
LEONIDAS McLESTER, Senator from the Twenty-fourth Dis trict, was born at Bold Hill, Ga. Chatahoochee County is his home. By profession he is a lawyer, and in politics a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. He has served his party in various capacities in his county. In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by Dr. W. D. Sheridan, Populist.
Hon. J. H. McQehee.
J. H.McGEHEE, Sena tor from the Twentyfifth District, was born in Greenville, Geor gia, September 21, 1863. Senator McGehee is a law yer by profession, and in politics he is a Democrat. Having given all his time to the law, he was never in politics before his candi dacy for the Senate. Mr. J. C. Green, Populist, op posed him in his race for the Legislature, Senator McGehees majority being about thirteen hundred. His home is in Talbotton, Talbot County, where he is universally popular.- Senator McGehee is one of the most forcible debaters in the upper house. His speeches on questions of the hour have already made him- a high reputation, and it is not trite to say that there is a bright future in store for him in State affairs.
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WILLIAM E. MANN, Senator from the Forty-fourth District, was born in Gordon County, Georgia, March 14, 1862. Ringgold, Catoosa County, is his home. By profession he is a lawyer, and in politics a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. Was mayor of Ringgold for two terms, from 1888 to 1892. In the primary he was opposed by W. Trox Bankston for the Democratic nomination. In the general election his opponent was John B. Dowling, Populist.
WILLIAM M. MORRISON, Senator from the Thirty-fourth District. lives in Decatur; was born November 19, 1877. By profes sion he is a lawyer, and in politics a Democrat. Served one term in the Senate and one in the House of Representatives. He re moved to DeKalb County in 1894 and was elected to the Legislature in 1896, and after serving two years in the House was elected to the Senate. In the Democratic primary his opponents were T. J. Ripley, Dr. J. M. Smith and Col. L. Fields. Mr. Morrison was chosen over them by a large majority. In the general election he was opposed by a nominee of the Populists, over whom Mr. Morrison was elected by 1,200.
R. J. MOVE is Senator from the Sixteenth District. Wrightsville, Johnson County, is his home. Was born in Washington County in 1847. By occupation he is a farmer, and in politics a Demo crat. Served two terms in the Legislature, and served as tax re ceiver during 1881 and 1882. In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by John A. Douglas, Populist.
HON. R. T. NESBITT, Senator from the Thirty-Fifth District, was born in Early County and raised on a plantation. He served through the war in the Confederate army, and has been a life-long Democrat, serving his party in many positions of trust. He repre sented Early County in the Legislature, and for eight years prior to his last election to the Senate (he is serving his second term in that body), he wasCommissioner of Agriculture of the State. He was nomi nated for the Senate without solicitation. Colonel Nesbitt is a resi dent of Cobb Courtly, where he owns and successfully operates a farm.
;
ROBERT BENTON 0DOM, Senator from the Ninth District, was,borrt. January 26, 1872, in Baker County, Georgia: His home is in Newton. In politics he is a Democrat, and by profession a law yer. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. He has served his party in various capacities in his county. In his race for the Senate he was opposed by Capt. W. D. Ivey, Independent.
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A. P. PASSMORE, Senator from the Twelfth District, resides in Weston, Webster County; was born in 1855 in Stewart County, Georgia. In politics he is a Democrat, and by occupation a farmer. This is his first term in the Legislature. He has served as tax-col lector of Webster County; also served on board of education for several years. Resigned from board of education when he was nominated by the Democrats to make the race for the Senate. -In his race for the Senate he was opposed by J. H. Cantrell, Populist.
MICAJAH TILLMAN PERKINS, Senator from the Thirtyfirst District, lives at Clarksville, Habersham County; was born in Banks County, Georgia, May 22, 1866. In politics he is a Democrat, and by profession a lawyer. He served two terms in the Legislature. He served as sheriff of Habersham County one term, viz., i88g-go, and also as mayor of Clarkesville. He was mayor and justice of the peace during the years of 1891 and 1892. In the Democratic primary he was opposed by John P. Fort, over whom he received the nomination by 600 majority. In the general election he was op posed by Dr. Jarrett, Populist.
WILLIAM RAWLINGS, Senator from the Twentieth District, resides at Sandersville, Washington County, where he was born. In politics he is a Democrat, and by profession a physician. He has served one term in the House of Representatives and this pres ent term in the Senate. He has held no other public office. In his race for the Senate he was opposed by William Kirkland, Populist.
J. F. REDDING, Senator from the Twenty-second District, is by profession a lawyer, and has held the position of judge of the city court of Barnesville. Prior to his election to the Senate he repre sented Pike County in the lower house two terms.
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Hon. W. E. Steed
W7 ALTER E. STEED, ^ Senator from the Twenty-third D i strict, is serving his first term in the Legislature. He was, however, active in party affairs before becom ing a candidate for the Senate, having served two years as a member of the State Democratic Execu tive Committee, from 1892 to 1894. At the age of twenty-two he was elected to the office of mayor of the thriving little city of Butler, T ay lor County, and his administration was so satisfactory that he was re-elected to the same place. He also served as county school commissioner of Taylor County in 1896, and in 1896 was appointed judge of the county court of Taylor County for the full term. Senator Steed is a graceful speaker, and in the debates upon the floor of the Senate has taken position among the most influential members.
THOMAS C. SUTTON, Senator from the Eleventh District, was born July 3, 1846. in Early County. Fort Gaines, Clay County, is his home. He is engaged in farming and in the mercantile busi ness. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He has served as a jury commissioner continuously since 1876, and was also d. member of the board of registrars of his county for six years. /
J. K. P. THOMPSON, Senator from the Thirty-third District, resides in Banks County; yi-as born June 5, 1844, in Hall County, Georgia. By occupation He is a farmer, and in politics a Demo crat. He has served three terms in the Legislature, two-of them be ing in the House of Representatives. He has held no other public office. In his race for the Senate he was opposed by J. D. Gunnells, Populist.
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SENATOR J. RENDER TERRELL, of the Thirty-Sixth Dis trict, President pro tem. of the Senate, is serving his first term in the Legislature. He has, however, demonstrated during his brief experience as a member of the upper house that he possesses in a large measure the qualities of a statesman, his unanimous election to the position he occupies being a well-merited tribute to his ability and popularity. Senator Terrell is a graduate of Mercer University and a lawyer by profession. His home is in Greenville, Meriwether County, and throughout the Coweta circuit, in which he has a large practice, he is highly regarded as a lawyer and man of affairs. Senator Terrell comes of a distinguished family. He is a brother to Hon. Joseph M. Terrell, the present Attorney-General of the State.
BARTOW E. THRASHER, Senator from the Twenty-seventh District, was born in Clarke County, Georgia. His home is in Watkinsville, Oconee County. He is a farmer and a lawyer, and in poli tics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He served as ordinary of Oconee County for twelve years, from 1885 to 1897." 1" h s race for the Legislature he was opposed by, Robert W. Haynie, Populist.
J. W. H. UNDERWOOD, Senator from the Thirty-second Dis trict, resides in Cleveland, White County; was born September 15, 1852, in Hall County, Georgia. By profession he is a lawyer, and in politics a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office with the exception of postmaster at Cleveland, from 1874 to 1879. He studied law under Judge J. J. Kimsey, and was admitted to the bar in 1878. In his race for the Senate he was opposed by W. H. Courtney, Populist.
WILLIAM J. WEBB is Senator from the Thirty-ninth District; Canton, Cherokee County, is his home; was born in Forsyth, now Millon, Ga., March 23, 1848. By occupation he is a farmer, and in politics he a Democrat. Served two terms in the Legislature, but has held no other public office. He has served his party in various capacities in his county. In his race for the Legislature he was op posed by J. W. Huckabee, Populist.
ELI K. WILCOX is Senator from the Fifteenth District. Lum ber City, Telfair County, is his home. He was born January 27, 1850, in Irwin County, Georgia. His occupation is that of a steamboat captain. In politics he is a Democrat. Served one term in the House of Representatives and the present term in the Senate.
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Hon. W. S. West.
H ON. w. s. WEST, Senator from the Sixth District, has for many years been one of the most prominent figures in the legislative history of the State, as well as an active factor in the politics of the Democratic party, of which he is a loyal mem ber. Mr. West began his career as a legislator in the House of Representa tives, where he served as the Representative of Lowndes County for sev eral successive terms He was a member of the last House, and would doubtless have been a familiar figure in this one but for the action of the people of the Sixth District in calling upon him to represent them in the Senate. Senator West, besides being an accomplished lawyer, is a business man of wide experience and very important interests. He is identified with some of the largest enterprises in South Georgia, and has made a fortune in the lumber and turpentine business His home is in Valdosta, where he has just completed a palatial residence, one of the handsomest and cost liest in the State, but in business circles he is as well known in Sa vannah as in his own neighborhood, being identified with various concerns these. In addition to his service in the Legislature Senator West has done duty to the Stale and the Democratic party in many other ways. He has frequently participated in State conventions apd in the work of the party in (the domain of national politics. Being a man of broad culture hirtaself, he has always taken a deep interest in the question of education. In the lower house he was the recog nized leader on educatioual questions, and in recognition of his great interest and high qualifications along this line, he was made a member of the State School Book Commission by Governor Atkinson, this commission "being the starting-point of many needed re forms in the school laws and school management. He was chair-
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77
man of the committee on education, and in that position^ being an eloquent and logical speaker, the cause never had a more effective champion on the floor of the House. Senator West was appointed by President Dodson a member of the joint committee to consider the interests of the State in the matter of a new union passenger station for Atlanta, and when that commission assembled for or ganization, he was selected as its chairman, this work being one of the most important to be done at the coming session.
Hon. E. L. Wight.
COL. EDWIN LEIGH WIGHT, of Albany, Dougherty County, is extensively and favorably known throughout Geor gia, especially in business and military circles.
Samuel B. Wight, the Senators father, was a merchant and leading citi zen of Atlanta for years prior to and succeeding the Civil War. He was the first mayor of West End, then a suburb of Atlanta, and during the war served as quartermaster of Howell Cobbs regiment with the rank of captain. Colonel Wight was born in Decatur County, Georgia, October 4, 1846, and was educated at the State University. While a student there he enlisted in the Sixteenth Georgia Battalion of Cal vary. After the war he, in company with his father, went into the wholesale dry goods business in Atlanta. Two years experience .moved him to try the general merchandise business in a smaller town, and he located at Newton, Baker County, where he continued it successfully until 1873. From 1873 to 1881 he was withthecotton firm of Welch & Bacon, Albany. For the six years following lie conducted a cotton warehouse of his own. In 1887 he associated himself with Mr. Morris Weslasky under the firm name of Wight & Weslasky, one of the most prominent wholesale grocery houses
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in Southern Georgia, doing a yearly business of a half million dollars. Colonel Wight is personally very popular in Albany, in the progress of which thriving city he has always displayed an active interest, having frequently served as councilman, and also as mayor. Colonel Wight is an honored member of a number of fraternal organiza tions a Knight Templar in Masonry, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias, in which latter organization he was for years captain of the uniformed rank. Colonel Wight has given much attention to the State militia. He was elected second lieutenant of the Albany Guards, then captain of the same company. In 1883 he was ap pointed aide-de-camp to Governor Stephens, was later made captain of Jackson Light Artillery, and again became captain of the Albany Guards in 1888. Two years later he was elected lieutenant-colonel of the Seventh Georgia Battalion, and in 1891 was elected colonel of the Fourth Georgia Regiment, which he held until 1893, when he was placed on the retired list at his own request. Colonel Wight has held a military commission under every Governor since the war ex cept Governor Bullock.
Senator Wight has long been active in politics. He was a dele gate to the Griffin Silver Convention, a delegate from the Second District to the Chicago Convention when Bryan was nominated, and served in the House of Representatives prior to his election to the Senate. He has made a splendid record in both places, in recognition of which service he was appointed chairman of the finance committee by President Dodson, and also a member of the tax commission, of which important body he was elected chairman.
J. S. WOOD, Senator from the Twenty-first District, was born
November 9, 1844, in Washington County, Georgia. By profession
he is a physician, and in politics a Democrat. This is his first term
in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. Served
as a private in Company A, Twenty-eighth Georgia Regiment,
through the war in the Army of Northern Virginia, under "Stonewall"
Jackson. In the Democratic primary he was opposed by W. A.
Jones, over whom he received the nomination by about twenty-seven
hundred majority. -
REPRESENTATIVES.
John D. Little, Speaker.
H ON. JOHN DOZIER LITTLE was born of distinguished parentage, his father being the present Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Hon. William Augustus Little, and his mother, Mrs. Jennie Dozier Little, a daughter of Mr. John B. Dozier of Muscogee County, one of the most successful planters and sterling business men of that section. Speaker Little had a laudable ambition in his political aspirations to succeed his distinguished father as presiding officer of the Georgia House of Representatives, which position his father filled for four out of the six years of his term of service in the lower house of the Legislature, extending over a period embracing many of the most important eras in the history of the State.
At the time of his birth, April 21, 1871, his parents were living in the fine old town of Talbotton, where his father had won distinction in law and politics. In the schools of his native town he was pre pared for college, and at the proper age he was sent to the Univer sity of Georgia, where he soon proved himself a student of fine aptitude, and ranked high among his college mates. He was at the head of the Senior class when he graduated in 1887.
Mr. Little then went back to Columbus, whither his parents had removed, and where he had received the latter part of his common school and preparatory education, and entered the office of his father, Judge W. A. Little, but subsequently returned to the Univer sity of Georgia and took a law course, graduating in 1890. During his college course he showed a marked aptitude for the acquisition of legal knowledge, and after his graduation it was but a short time before he began to practice at the bar. As the junior member of the law firm of Little & Son of Columbus, he rose rapidly in his profession and soon became recognized as one of the brightest of the younger members of the profession. For five years he practiced his profession at the Columbus bar, and on the death of Hon. Mor gan McMichael, then a member of the House, he was elected to fill the unexpired term. Such was his brilliancy and ability that he was soon recognized as one of the leaders of the young Democracy of the State. He advocated many measures that were of obvious benefit to his constituents and to the State at large, and in recogni-
, JOHN D. LITTLE, SPEAKER.
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tton of his wisdom and fine legislative acumen, he was returned to the House of Representatives for the full term of 1896 and 1897. He fulfilled the duties of a legislator and made friends of all with whom he came in contact, and the result was that in the general election of 1898 he was again unanimously re-elected to the posi tion of Representative in the General Assembly of the State. In acknowledgment of his high abilities he was made chairman of the finance committee of that Legislature, one of the most important places to be filled by the legislator, and he discharged the duties with great.wisdom and forethought.
Being of the most genial and courteous nature and disposition, he literally took the House by storm when he announced as a candidate for Speaker, a position which he was eminently fitted to occupy be cause of his learning and experience in the rules of parliamentary procedure. He was elected without opposition, so great was his popularity, and thus this young scion of noble ancestors took his place at the forefront of the column and assumed the third highest position in the Empire State of the South.
Mr. Littles distinguished father has figured very prominently in affairs of state, covering a long period of years. He was first So licitor-General of his judicial circuit; then a member of the cele-. brated Constitutional Convention; then a member of the Legislature for six years, being Speaker of the House for four out of the six; then Attorney-General of the State, and afterwards Assistant Attor ney-General of the United States; and finally Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Speaker Little is entitled to all honor and distinction foi his own natural abilities, though he has, by inheritance, a large share of those superb qualities that fit a man for the most exalted and responsible positions among his fellow citizens.
He is a young man of charming personality, and in his social and professional relations his character is irreproachable. His friends predict for him a brilliant future, politically as well as profession ally. Possessing all of the energy and decisiveness, as well as the discretion and legislative ability which fit him for leadership, he has inherited that incomparablespirit of chivalrous devotion to home and country which has distinguished the people of his race during the trying years of the States history.
In addition to his onerous duties as Speaker, Mr. Little prepared an elaborated bill reforming the tax laws of the State, and during the legislative vacation served as a member of the Tax Commission, his services then being of the highest practical value to the State, because of the deep study which he had given to the question.
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George W. Adams.
r\ EORGE W. ADAMS, I T Representative from
Putnam County, was born and reared in Eatonton. His father was the late David Rosser Adams, banker and planter and a member of the secession convention of Georgia.
For fifteen years Mr. Adams has owned and edited his home paper, The Ealonton Messenger, and his ability as an edi torial writer is recognized generally in newspaper and political circles. Some years ago he accepted the assistant editorship of the Savannah Morning News, where he re mained for three years. On account of the illness and subsequent death of his wife, who was Annie Reid McNeel, Mr. Adams decided to return to Eatonton. He was twice elected mayor of that town, served four years as chairman of the Democratic executive com mittee of Putnam County, and in 1882 was alternate presidential elector for the Eighth Congressional District on the Cleveland and Stevenson ticket. While a close student of politics, he has not cared much for political office, but in 1898 he decided to become a candidate for Representative, and as a member of the House he has taken position as one faithful to duty, capable, safe and useful. All of his votes, where they could be so cast without detriment to the State, have been ca/t with a view to a lower tax rate. He intro duced at the session just closed, and secured its passage, a bill to better protect planters from damage by the setting on fire of Woods and lands. He took an effective part in the passage of a bill to better .protect fruit-glowers from the introduction of diseased trees, rie introduced a bill, which was favorably reported by the commit tee on education, and will be placed on its passage at the next session, to give the selection of text-books for the public schools to public-school teachers in each county, its objects being to< secure better text-books for the public schools, to prevent frequent changes
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83
of books, and thereby save expense to patrons, and to prevent im proper influence of book concerns in the selection of books. When the public-school appropriation was being considered by the House, with the House appropriations committee insisting on a reduction from $1,000,000 to $600,000, and the State School Commissioner in sisting on no reduction at all, he offered an amendment to make the appropriation $800,000. It was the first amendment offered, and although a. half dozen others were rejected by decisive votes, his was adopted, and gave such general satisfaction that it was accepted by the Senate. At the close of the first session Mr. Adams was placed by the Speaker on a special committee to investigate the geological bureau, and as chairman of the sub-committee that ex amined the records in the Stewards department of the State Sani tarium, through which department nearly $300,000 of the States money is disbursed annually, he did the State valuable service.
JOHN ALLEN, Representative from Baldwin County, was born at Mt. Zion, Hancock County, Georgia, in the year 1861. By pro fession he is a lawyer, and a Democrat in politics. Was Judge of the County Court of Baldwin County from 1889 to 1897, having first been appointed by Governor John B. Gordon, and successively reappointed for several terms following. In 1898 he was elected to. the House of Representatives from Baldwin County over E. N. Ennis, Populist, by a majority of 400. This is his first term in the Legislature.
KIRBY S. ANDERSON, Representative from Bartow County, was born at Kingston, Ga., on December 29, 1861. His home is in Cartersville, where he practices law. In politics he is a Democrat, but has never held any public office besides that of Representative, and the present term is his first. In the primary he was opposed by Capt. Thomas J. Lyon, over whom he received the nomination by a majority of 366. In the general election he had no op position.
NATHANIEL D. ARNOLD, Representative from Oglethorpe County, was born March 9, 1859, in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, where he has lived ever since. He is an extensive farmer and also runs a large mercantile business in connection with his farm. In politics he is a Democrat and he has served two terms in the General Assembly. He has been honored with various offices of trust in his . county since 1888. He has been actively in politics for twenty years, and has been an earnest Democratic worker. In his last race for the Legislature he was ^ejected by a good majority over C. A. Stevens,.who received the support of the Fusionists.
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AUGUSTUS PITT ADAMSON, Representative from Clayton County, was born March 20, 1844, at Rex, in what was then Henry, no\v Clayton County. By occupation he is a farmer and in politics a Democrat. Served as justice of the peace and notary public for nearly thirty years, and for the past few years has held the position of registrar and jury commissioner. He is a member of the Demo cratic executive committee of Clayton County, and was for three years chairman of that committee. This is his first term in the Leg islature. He was elected over F. Candy Belts by a majority of 127 votes, his opponent having been supported by the Independents, Populists and Republicans. Mr. Adamson served four years in the Confederate army, Thirtieth Georgia Regiment, and was severely wounded at Chickamauga, and was later a prisoner of war at Rock Island, III.
J. C. BARROX, Representative from Jones County, was born at Clinton, Jones County, Georgia, March 26, 1862, at which place he still lives. By profession he is a lawyer, and in politics a Demo crat. Mr. Barren was appointed Judge of the County Court of Jones County in 1888, and was reappointed for three consecutive terms of two years each, making his length of service as judge eight years. In 1896 he was a candidate for the nomination for Representative on a gold-standard platform, and was defeated in a close race by T. W. Duffy, a free-silver advocate. In 1898 he again ran against Mr. Duffy in the Democratic primary and defeated him by 170 majority.
GEORGE I. BARWICK, Representative from Emanuel County,
resides at Summit, was born in Emanuel County ; is a farmer by
occupation and in politics a Democrat; has served one term in
the House of Representatives. He was a member of the school
board of Emanuel County for eight years and was for four years
a county commissioner. From 1892 to 1896 he was a member
also of the roads and revenues board. He enlisted in the Confed
erate Army at the beginning of the war and was serving in Gen.
Wade Hamptons division of cavalry at Greenville, N. C., at the
surrender, and was wounded during a battle in Northern Virginia.
His opponent in the race for the Legislature was Neal Gillis,
Populist.
,
/
CHARLES L. BASS, Representative from Habersham County,
wasborn April 30, 1869, in Baldwin County. His home is now in
Clarkesville. By profession he is a lawyer, and in politics a Demo
crat. He is serving his first term as a public official. He isa prom
inent Democrat and was chairman of the Democratic executive com-
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mittee of Habersham County for six years, and also a member of the Congressional Democratic committee for the same length of time He was alternate Democratic presidential elector from the Ninth Congressional District in 1896. In his race for the Legisla ture he was opposed by Tillman Perkins, Populist.
H( Hon. J. C. Beauchatnp. "ON. J. C. BEAUCHAMP, Represent ative from Pike County, is the best known physician and surgeon in his section. His home is at Williamson, but like the country doctor of the old school, he is at home in the house of almost every man in his county. Dr. Beauchamp is a native of. Troup County, having been born there October 2 3, 1851. He has been a Democrat all his life, and whenever the party has needed his services he has always been ready and willing to render them. He has occupied the important position of chairman of the county executive commit tee and also president of the county board of education. Education has been a matter of serious and self-sacrificing interest to him, be ing convinced that the future well-being of the State is dependent upon the proper education of the youth of the land. In recog nition of his deep interest in this subject, he was appointed by Governor Atkinson as a member of the State School-Book Commis sion which was provided for by act of the Legislature of i895-g6. This commission devoted much valuable time to the discussion of plans for the improvement of the text-books used in the common schools, and its work has had a salutary effect in that direction. Dr. Beauchamp is now serving his second term as a member of the House of Representatives. His first term was twelve years ago. Since that time he has kept a steady eye upon State affairs, and is therefore one of the best equipped legislators in the body.
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Hon. Hiram P. Bell.
I N ALL the elements of private character and public service that go to make the distinguished citizen, the Legislature of of iSgS-gg has no more conspicuous figure in it than Hiram P. Bell, of Forsyth County. For thirty years and more, Colonel Bell has helped to make the history of his native State. He was a heroic figure in the times that tried mens souls. He was a dashing leader among his people in the days of secession and civil strife. The nineteenth century was little more than out of its "teens" when he opened his eyes upon the world, the son of a pio neer of Jackson County. Now, at the dawn of the twentieth century, after he has passed the allotted threescore and ten years, he is still breasting the tide of public life with a stout heart and a steady brain veritably "the grand old man" of his day. It is not the pur pose of this volume to go into elaborate detail in the treatment of its subjects. If it were, nothing that could be said could add to the luster of the record of the venerable member from Forsyth. He has already left an indelible impress in the annals of Georgia, giving him place beside Toombs, Stephens, Hill, and the other dauntless spirits whose achievements fill the brightest pages of our history. As he was beloved by the gallant men who followed him through
the battles of the Cj ivil War when he led the old Forty-third GT eor-
gia Regiment as its colonel, he is still beloved and esteemed by his colleagues in the present Legislature. The same qualities that made him a leader then make him a leader now, and wfll always en dear him to the hearts of his associates.
Hiram P. Bell was born in Jackson County, January 19; 1827. He began life as a lawyer, and except for the period -when serving the State in Congress or in the army, he has steadily practiced hib pro fession. He early had a taste for public affairs, was an orator of
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87
eloquence and power, and these qualities added to his scholarship in the law soon made him a leader among his people. After taking an active part in the exciting events that preceded the disruption of the Union, he was chosen a member of the secession con vention of 1861. Then he was sent to the State Senate of 1861-62, and was made commissioner to Tennessee to present the ordinance of secession in 1861, when Georgia determined to go out of the Union with her sister States He became a member of the second Confederate Congress, serving there in l853-64, taking a prominent part in the great questions that filled that body with historic interest. After the close of the war, during which when not in Congress he fought bravely as lieutenat-colonel.then colonel of the Forty-third Georgia Volunteers, he was elected to the Con gress of the United States. He served in that body during the Forty-third and Forty-fifth Congresses, retiring, after having made a conscientious and able representative, in 1878. Colonel Bell served his party as a delegate to the national Democratic convention in St. Louis in 1876, and also in many other minor capacities. For some years previous to the present session of the Legislature he held no public position. Then it became necessary for the Demo crats to put out a man for the Legislature who could overcome a Populist majority in the former election of over five hundred. None of the younger party leaders were anxious to undertake the fight. So the veteran Colonel Bell was called upon, and after an unprece dented struggle he defeated his opponent, Capt. Albert Pilgrim, by forty-two votes.
SAMUEL S. BENNETT, Representative from Mitchell County, was born in Quilman, Ga., November 5, 1873. He is a lawyer by profession and a Democrat in politics. This is his first term in the Legislature. He was city attorney of Camilla from 1893 to l $9$ and was solicitor of the city court of Mitchell County for two years, from 1896 to 1898. His contest for the Legislature was his first race for public office, and he defeated his opponent, A. G. Stewart, Populist, by over five hundred.
J. B. BENNETT, Representative from Pierce County, was born September 4, 1856, in Wayne County. His present home is at Cof fee. He is a farmer by occupation and a Democrat in politics. This is his first term in the Legislature, and besides this he has held no public office. His opponent for the Legislature was L. C. Wiley, Populist.
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JOSEPH BROWN BELL, Representative from Spalding County, was born in Pike County, in 1859. He now lives at Hickory Farm, Spalding County. By occupation he is a farmer, and in politics a Democrat. Mr. Bell has held no public office outside of Represent ative, but has been a delegate from his county to several important Democratic conventions. He was in the convention which nominated General Gordon for Governor, and also was in the Sixth Congres sional District Convention which nominated Judge Charles L. Bartlett for Congress the first term. He is a Mason and was for six years Worshipful Master of Patillo Lodge, No. 360. In the primary J. P. Hammonds was his opponent for the. Democratic nomination for Representative, and Mr. Bells majority was 149.
N. D. BLACK, Representative from Dawson County, was born at Dawson, Georgia, where he still lives He is engaged in farming, mercantile business and in milling. He is a Democrat in politics. He has held no public office besides his present one, and this is his first term as Representative. His opponent in the race for the Leg islature was Amos Ropes, Populist.
WILLIAM ALEXANDER BLACK, Representative from Whit field County, was born in Dalton, where he still lives, May 23, 1874. He is a merchant in Dalton and a prominent Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He was coroner of Whitfield County for two years, 1896 and 1897. He is the youngest man that ever represented Whitfield County in the Legislature. In the general election he was opposed in a heated race by W. H. Freeman, Popu list, and was elected by a majority of ten votes. The county was thus redeemed from the Populists to the Democrats.
J. F. L. BOND, Representative from Madison County, was born January 23, 1862, in Madison County, Georgia. His present home is at Danielsville. / He is a lawyer by profession and a Democrat in politics. After the present term he will have served two terms in the Legislature from Madison County. He was mayor of Daniels ville in 1893. Mr. Bond was born and reared on the farm, and after passing through the common schools entered the la\fr class of the Stale University and graduated in 1890,after which he located at Danielsville, where he has since practiced law. He was opposed in both of the Democratic primaries which nominated him by promi nent Democrats, and by a Populist in both of the general elections.
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So.
BYRON BEAUFORT BOWER, JR., Representative from Decatur County, was born in Bainbridge, Decatur County, Ga., June 27, 1874, and still lives there. He is a lawyer and a farmer. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legisla ture. He has the distinction of being the youngest member of that body. This is his first public office. He is a member of Governor Candlers military staff, with rank of lieutenant-colonel. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia. His opponent in the race for the Legislature was R. D. Carr, Populist.
ROBERT V. BOWER, Representative from Wilcox County, was born August 4, 1837. ^ IS home is in Lulaville, Wilcox County, Ga., where he is engaged in the mercantile business. He is also a farmer and a dealer in naval stores. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and his first public office. He owns and operates a line of steamboats on the Ocmulgee river, which he uses in his timber and naval stores busi ness. In the general election he was opposed by a Democrat, who ran as an Independent.
Hon. Morris Brandon.
M ORRIS BRANDON is one of the leading lawyers of the At lanta bar, though one of the younger members. He was born in 1863 in Stewart County, Tennessee, where his people before him had lived for one hundred years or more. He spent his boy hood on his fathers plantation, and by a judicious admixture of outdoor work and recreation he laid the foundation for a strong constitution, which was essential to the studious life that was to follow.
The Brandon family is of English extraction. The name is a familiar one in Revolutionary annals. The father of the subject of this sketch was Col. Nathan Brandon, a prominent lawyer and busi ness man of Stewart County, Tennessee, who served in the Confed erate army as lieutenant-colonel of the Fourteenth Tennessee infantry and was severely wound at the battle of Fort Donelson.
After having received his preliminary education from the schools of Stewart County, Mr. Brandon entered a private institution at Elkton, Ky., for the purpose of preparing himself for- college. He also carried on his studies for a while at Clarksville, Tenn^, and m the fall of 1880 entered Variderbilt University. After complet-
QO
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ing his academic course at that institution he entered the law school at Yale, and graduated in 1884 with the degree of LL. B. Return ing to his home in Stewart County, he remained there until the winter of 1886. when he came to Atlanta and opened a law-office, believing that he could make no better selection for the practice of his profession. He subsequently formed a partnership with Judge Henry B. Tompkins, the firm being Tompkins & Brandon. This firm engaged a fine practice, but the partnership was dissolved in 1889, and in 1893 tne present firm of Brandon & Arkwright was formed.
Mr. Brandon, since locating in Atlanta, has made a splendid suc cess in the practice of his profession. He is known as a hard worker, and the method, skill, and patience with which he conducts his business won for him early in his professional and business career an enviable reputation in the courts and business world.
Socially, Mr. Brandon has always occupied a leading position due to his elegant manners, and his ripe intellect and scholarly attain ments. Genial and obliging, yet dignified and reserved, Mr. Bran don inspires respect, and makes permanent friends of all who come in contact with him. He is a memberof quite a number of secret or ganizations, among them the F. & A- M., the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Red Men. In each of these organizations he holds an influential position, and is univer sally esteemed for his sterling character and pre-eminent ability.
In June, 1892, Mr. Brandon was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Inman, daughter of Mr. Walker P. Inman, of Atlanta. In his homelife his disposition is portrayed in the genial light of those domes tic qualities that indicate a thoroughly noble character.
Mr. Brandon was elected to the Legislature by a handsome ma jority, this being the only office he has ever offered for. During the session he has made a high reputation as a legislator, his endeavors to secure the enactment of reforms in the pension laws having at tracted favorable attention throughout the State.
/ W. C. BRYAN, Representative from Floyd County, was tiorn August 4, 1848, in Barbour County, Alabama; later removed to Floyd County, Georgia, where he engaged in farming. He has served three terms in the Legislature from Floyd County, but not consecutively. He served as justice of the peace for seven years, and from 1888 to 1890 was commissioner of roads and revenues of Floyd County. He is a Primitive Baptist and has served as clerk of the Kuharlee Association ot that church for many years.
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QJ
JAMES A. BUSH, Representative from Miller County, was born February, 1855. His home is in Colquitt, Ga. He is a mer chant and farmer and in politics is a Democrat. This is his second term in the Legislature. He was tax-receiver for Miller County for six years, from 1879 to 1885. After then he was clerk of the Superior Court for four years. He was opposed both times he ran for the Legislature by J. W. Cowart, an Independent. In 1898 his opponent ran on a platform advocating a State dispensary system, and Mr. Bush defeated him by a majority of 168 votes.
ALLEN J. BROWN7 , Representative from Bryan County, was born in Emanuel County, in 1845. His present hoir.e is at Maiden Branch His occupation is that of a farmer and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He was justice of the peace in his county for two years, from 1892 to 1894. He was elected over his Populist opponent by a majority of two votes, after a heated contest.
MARTIN V. CALVIN, Representative from Richmond County, was born in Augusta, Ga., where he still resides. He is a farmer, also a journalist, and a Democrat in politics. At the end of the present term of the Legislature he will have served eight terms in that body, six of them consecutively. In the Legislature Mr. Calvin has been the advocate of progress along agricultural and industrial lines, and was among the first in advocacy of the Georgia Technological School and the Girls Normal and Industrial College. He was a candidate at one time for Commissioner of Agriculture. He was one of the original movants in the establishment of Rich mond countys public-school system, having been for nine years a member of the board of education of that county. The date of his service as a member of the school board was from 1873 * 882. It is an elective office, and Mr. Calvin was elected to succeed him self for several terms. In 1882 he was elected to the House of Representatives, and quit the school board.
DANIEL F. CROSLAND, Representative from Dougherty Couhty, was born in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia, December 10, 1869. Later removed to Albany, Dougherty County. He is a law yer by profession, and a Democrat in politics. This is his first term in the Legislature. Before his election to the House of Represent atives he was city attorney of Albany. Mr. Crosland was educated at Mercer University, the University of Virginia and the University of Georgia.
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Thos. J. Chappell.
mHOMAS J. CHAPJ^ PELL, Representa
tive from Muscogee County, is one of four brothers, all of whom have wooed and won success in their chosen fields. His father, Hon. Absalom H. Chappell, was in his day one of the foremost law yers of the State. It was in his office and under his able tutorage that the pres ent Representative began his professional career, having been admitted to the bar in 18/5. From the first Mr. Chappell took front rank as a lawyer and man of affairs, and has continuously been a leading figure in the development of his section and the growth of the State. He is now, and has been since 1882, a member of the law firm of Goetchius & Chappell, his partner being Hon. Henry R. Goetchius. As attorney for the thriving city of Columbus counsel for the great Eagle and Phenix Mills, the Golden Foundry and Machine Works, and other important institutions, he has achieved a professional success that would be an honor and a credit to any lawyer in the country. It is hardly necessary to say that Mr. Chappell is a Democrat. He comes from good old Democratic stock, and has never lagged when the partys interests were to be served. Though essentially a busy man, he has found time to serve his party and his people in many important positions. Since the commencement of his (pro fessional career he has figured prominently in the politics of his city, county and congressional district, as well as in the broader field of State affairs. He has served as chairman of the cit^ and county executive committees of Columbus and Muscogee County, and in each (4f these places his wise and conservative advice was a source of great strength to the organization. He has also served as a mem ber of the city council of Columbus several times, and has been a delegate to almost every State convention for the past twenty years.
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93
He was conspicuous in the Stephens convention, helped to nomi nate McDaniel, and took a leading part in the Gordon-Bacon con vention. In the Evans-Atkinson contest he was in the forefront and came to Atlanta at the head of the Muscogee delegation. He was also a member of the first convention to nominate candidates for the Supreme Court.
Mr. Chappell is now serving his third term in the Legislature. He was first elected to the House in 1884, serving two years and being re-elected to the Legislature of i8S6-8/. In both these houses he was an invaluable worker, serving on several of the most impor tant committees and always taking an active part upon the floor. After the session of 1887, Mr. Chappell was not again a candidate for legislative honors until last fall, when he was chosen along with Speaker Little to represent his county. His record in the present House has been a highly creditable one. As chairman of the appro priations committee he has labored incessantly to solve the difficult problems that fell to the lot of that committee. He has been a consist ent advocate of economy in the appropriations the kind of economy that fits expenses to income and it is no disparagement to the good work of any other member of this important committee to say that the happy solution of the fiscal troubles that confronted . the State at the beginning of the present administration, is in a large measure due to the constant and intelligent devotion with which he applied himself to that task.
L. J. DARN ELL, Representative from Pickens County, was born June 7, 1855, in Pickens County, Georgia. Resides at Jasper where he conducts a mercantile business. He is also a farmer. In politics he is a Republican. This is his first term in the Legisla ture. He was deputy collector of internal revenue from 1888 to 1892. His opponent in the race for the Legislature was J. M. Nomric. Democrat.
EDWARD C. CARTER, Representative from Burke County, was born November 14, 1841. Now lives at Waynesboro, in Burke County. He is a farmer by occupation and a Democrat in politics. This is his first term in the Legislature. He entered the Confederate army April 19, 1861, as a private, and after a year rose to be ord nance-officer of Jones" division, and shortly afterwards was assigned to duty on the staff of General Carter. He was a member of the Second Georgia Regiment. The greater part of his life since the war has been spent on his farm. He is a standing delegate to the State agricultural conventions. He was opposed in the primary election .by J. W. Sanford, William Chandler, J. B. Heath and Thomas J. Brinson.
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Hon. Francis Wall Copeland.
H ON. FRANCIS W. COPELAND. Rep resentative from
Walker Crunty, is now
serving his second term in
the Georgia Legislature,
having been first elected
to the House in 1896. The
record he made during his
first term was such that,
although opposed in both
the primary and general
election by able and en
ergetic men, he received
an indorsement that was
equivalent to the unani
mous expression of his
people. Mr. Copeland,
though now a lawyer of acknowledged prestige not only at the
local bar of his circuit, but outside, in a wider sphere, began life on
a Walker County farm. He early felt inspired to reach out for an
education^ and after working through the common schools of his
county, saving money as he could earn it during the spare hours of
this period, he entered the State University, where he graduated
after having sustained himself by his own efforts throughout the
entire course. From college he went back to his native county and
entered upon the practice of law in the town of Lafayette, where
he continues to have his residence and his office. He is easily the
leading attorney of his/section of the State, and enjoys a large and
lucrative practice n/ot only there but in Tennessee and distant parts
of the State of Georgia. Mr. Copeland has served his town as
mayor andalsoasamemberof the board of education, in which latter
work he takes a deep interest, excited, no doubt, in large degree by
his own early struggles to gain an entrance to the temple of
knowledge. His legislative career has been characterized by a
broad comprehension of public affairs and an unswerving devotion
to the whole people of" his State.
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95
Hon. Richard A. Denny.
RICHARD A. DENNY, Represent ative from Floyd County, won his spurs-as a legislator before he became a member 3f the present House. Although actively inter ested in all branches of legislative work, being a broad-minded man of af fairs, he has always taken a particular interest along educational lines. His devotion to and knowledge of this work caused his appointment as chairman of the committee on edu cation, and in that position he found ample opportunity for the dis play of his energy and ability, as it was the cause of education that attracted the storm-clouds of the session of 1898. Besides taking a leading part in all matters pertaining to the educational interests of the State, Mr. Denny was also conspicuous in the debates over rail road legislation, his speeches on this subject winning for him the reputation of one of the most forcible and fearless debaters on the floor of the House. Mr. Denny was born inTalbot County, Maryland, January 15,1856. He was principally educated at York, Pa., where, at the age of seventeen, he began the study of law. In 1874 he removed to Rome and completed his law studies under Alexander & Wright. The following year Mr. Denny was admitted to the bar and immediately engaged in the practice of his chosen profession. Nine years later he formed a partnership with Hon. John H. Reece under the firm name of Reece & Denny, which partnership still continues. Mr. Denny was elected to the General Assembly from this county in 1886 and as a member of that body took a leading part in many of the noted events of that day, among which was the "Denny Bill," one of the most important laws passed during the term, and which is now a part of the common-school law known as the Denny law, a law under which the schools of the State are now conducted, and under which many sweeping changes were made. i
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THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
He has also served in the capacity of alderman and city attorney of Rome, and at present is a member of the city council, and chair man of the street committee and a member of a number of impor tant committees of that body.
GEORGE HAYS DAVID, Representative from Lincoln County, was born in Abbeville, S. C., May 3, 1852. Now lives at Goshen, Ga. He is a farmer by occupation and a Democrat in politics. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. Though a Democrat he was elected to the House of Representatives as an Independent, against VV. C. Ward, Populist.
\V. \V. DEWS, Representative from Randolph County, was born in Savannah. Chatham County, Ga., April 28, 1835. He is a farmer and cotton-buyer, and in politics a Democrat. His home is in Cuthbert. This is his fourth term in the Legislature. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1868, and has been inspector of fertilizers of the State for the past eight years. He was a member of the State Democratic executive committee for six years, and is now the chairman of the Democratic executive com mittee of Randolph County. Served four years in the Confederate army as a captain. His opponent in his race for the Legislature was Mr. Newton, Populist.
ALLEN B. DICKEY, Representative from Fannin County, was born in Fannin County, Georgia, August 23, 1844. His home is at Mineral Bluff. He is a farmer by occupation and a Republican in politics. This is his first term in the Legislature. Mr. Dickey served for six years as a member of the board of education of Fannin County and has held several other minor offices. His op ponent in his race for the Legislature was D. W. Garrett, Democrat.
JOEL JACKSON EASTERLIN, Representative from Macon County, was born in Sumter County, Georgia, June 10, 1836 His home now is at Montezuma. By occupation he is a farmer and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature, and he has held no other public office save minor ones in his county. Mr. Easterlin served through the Civil War in the Confederate army as second lieutenant of Company C, Third Georgia Regiment. In the Democratic primary he was opposed by W. L. English, Frank C. Keene and T. F. Rape.
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97
Roland Ellis.
wrHEN the State Democratic con vention met in Macon in 1896, Hon. Roland Ellis, one of the Repre sentatives from Bibb County, made his first ap pearance as a factor in State and party affairs. He was assigned to deliver the address of welcome to the convention on behalf of the bar and the city of Macon. It was a trying ordeal for so young a man making his initial bow to the party hosts, surrounded as he was by the veter ans of many a political campaign, but he acquitted himself in such a brilliant manner that he at once established himself in a place at the council table. He had already won his spurs as an orator dur ing his school-days at Mercer University, whence he graduated at the age of seventeen, with a speakers place. His Macon conven tion speech gave him a wider reputation, and when he was sent to represent his county in the lower House of iSgS-go., his first effort upon the floor placed him in the front rank of speakers and debaters. But his legislative work has not been confined to the fascinating part of the debater. As chairman of the special judiciary committee, and a member of the special judiciary and other important committees, he had borne a lot of heavy routine work. In the solution of the tax-re form problem, which will stand out as the most important accomplish ment of this General Assembly, Mr. Ellis gave the keynote. With a full realization of the magnitude of this work, and convinced that a hasty, slip-shod revision of existing fragments would be a waste of time, he proposed the creation of a tax commission to go to the root of the subject and formulate a complete new code of tax laws. This proposition provoked loud protests from certain quarters atfirst, but the reason of it finally became apparent and it prevailed. For one time at least the way of caution and conservatism was pointed out by youth, while the older heads were clamoring for
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haste that all now agree would have been worse than folly. Mr. Ellis was appointed to a place on this commission, created under the terms of his resolution, and it will go down in the annals of legislation as the Ellis tax commission.
Mr. Ellis is a lawyer, junior in the firm of which Congressman Charles Bartlett is a member. His law studies covered a period of four years constant study before applying for admission to the bar. He entered the office of Dessau & Bartlett at the age of seventeen, immediately upon leaving college, under agreement to pursue his studies four years before seeking admission to the bar, a course which few young men now take to qualify themselves for a profes sional career. After regularly beginning practice he was made so licitor of the city court of Macon under Judge John P. Ross, which position he resigned when his present partnership with Messrs. Dessau & Bartlett was formed. Since first being chosen a delegate to the State convention at Macon, Mr. Ellis has taken an active part in politics, local and State. He was made elector for the Sixth District in the last national campaign, and in that capacity did most effective work for Bryan and the Democratic cause.
NATHAN EMANUEL, Representative from Glynn County, was born December 28, 1856, at Georgetown, South Carolina. He is a dealer in lumber and naval stores at Brunswick, where he lives. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his. first term in the Legisla ture and he has held no other public office. In the Democratic pri mary he was opposed by Harry F. Dunwoody, but had no opposi tion in the general election.
ALEXANDER S. ERWIN, JR., Representative from Clarke County, was born in Athens, Georgia, January 5, 1875. He IS an attorney at law in Athens. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature, and besides this office he has held no other. In the Democratic primary his opponent was Judge George C. Clarke, wlio was the member from Clarke in the last House. Mr. Ertvins majority in the primary was 242. In the general election he was opposed by J. W. Brightwell, Populist
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99
Hon. M. L. Everett.
H 1[ON. MARQUIS L. EVERETT, Repre sentative from Stew-
art County, was born near the town of Lumpkin, Stewart County, Georgia, October 12, 1845. He has been a farmer all his life and expects to be as long as he lives, just as he has been a Democrat, and will leave a proud Democratic heritage to his family. He and ex-Congressman R W. Everett, now serving as the Representative from Polk County, are brothers, both being able and con servative law-makers. Mr. Everett is what might be termed a pastmaster in the art of law-making, as he has served in both branches of the General Assembly and studies conditions and remedies as a professional man studies his books. As a farmer and a successful one his first impulses are naturally in line with the improvement of the condition of the agricultural classes, though he takes a com prehensive view of all public questions. He is a man of great en ergy and close application, which qualities make him invaluable in the development of legislation. Mr. Everett began his legislative career as a member of the House of Representatives of iSgo-gi. After several years absence he returned as a member of the Senate, serving in that body in iSgo-g/. In the upper house he was re garded as one of the most influential members from the outset, and at the close of his service there the people of his county insisted upon sending him back to the lower house as their representative. His record in this House has been a notable one. He has exerted a strong influence upon all the leading subjects of legislation, and has made some of the strongest speeches heard upon the floor in the debates over the question of taxation.
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H( Hon. Robert W. Everett. ON. ROBERT W. EVERETT, Repre
sentative from Polk
County, has served his State in several high and
important offices, ranging from local county offices
to the Congress of the United States. He is a
type of the progressive, successful farmer, practi
cal, intelligently apprecia
tive of the possibilities of
agriculture, and broad-
minded enough to keep abreast of the times in all
things. Mr. Everett was born in Houston County, March 3, 1839, receiving his preliminary education in the village schools of Hayneville. He entered Mercer University in 1856 and after three years in that famous institution graduated in 1859. It was at this time that he removed to North Georgia, locating in Polk County, where he taught school until the outbreak of the war, when he entered the Confederate army as a sergeant in Forrests cavalry. Throughout the struggle he served with that command, the achieve ments of which fills one of the brightest pages in the Souths mem orable battle for independence. After the war he returned to Polk County and began life anew as a farmer. In his own words, he made farming pay from the very start, which is of itself a proof of the inborn worth of the man. Mr. Everett now has a beautiful country home, ten miles from Cedartown at the foot of a spur of the Blue Ridge mountains. He started out with a determination to make his farm produce everything that it is possible to reap from land, and he never bought anything that could be raised or made at home, from flour, meat, horses, syrup, to cotton and farming tools. In ascribing the cause of his success as a farmer Mr. Everett once said that it was, first, because he had never bought a dollars worth on credit, having in early life learned that the greatest misfortune that could happen to-a young man was to have unlimited credit. Being a man of broad culture it was natural that Mr. Everett should take a leading part in the public affairs of his county. He
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IOI
was first chosen to a place on the board of county commissioners, and then to the county board of education, where he has served twelve years, the last four as president of the board. In 1882 he was elected to the Legislature as a Representative, and was chair man of the important committee on agriculture in the House of i884-8s, having been re-elected after serving his first term. The greatest political event of Mr. Everetts career to the present time was his election to the Fifty-second Congress, when he had as his op ponents the redoubtable Dr. William H. Felton, Independent, and Capt. Z. B. Hargrove, a Republican. In a hard-fought campaign he was successful, receiving a majority of over twenty-five hundred votes. This is his third term in the Legislature. He is a hard working, painstaking member, especially vigilant in committee work, which is an exceedingly onerous part of the legislators duty.
T. W. FAIN, Representative from White County, was born in White County, Georgia, in the year 1822. His home is now in Cleveland. By occupation he is a farmer and in politics he is a Democrat. He has served three terms in the Legislature; he has served as justice of the peace in his county, and in 1861 was cap tain of militia. He was opposed in the Democratic primary by William Camel and James Glenn. His majority over the highest of these was 250. In the general election he was opposed by Cicero Bell, Populist.
ROBERT L. FARMER, Representative from Jefferson County, was born in Jefferson County, Georgia, October 28, 1846. His home is at Louisville. He is engaged in farming and also in the mercan tile business. He is a Democrat in politics. This is his first term in the Legislature. From 1884 to 1896 he served as a member of the board of roads and revenues of Jefferson County. He was never a candidate for office until he entered the race for the House of Representatives. He received the Democratic nomination and redeemed Jefferson County from the Populists. Dr. C. W. Satter, Populist, was his opponent.
G. G. FORD, Representative from Worth County, was born in Dooly County in 1843, where he is engaged in farming and stockraising. He is a Democrat in politics. He has served three terms in the Legislature, and has been tax-collector of his county for a number of years, from 1878 to 1882; has also served on the Demo cratic executive committee qf his county. He defeated J." B. Harmon, Populist, in the last race, by a majority of 756, and two "years before he defeated J. L. Summers, Populist, by zoo majority.
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JOSEPH HARBEN FELKER, Representative from Walton County, was born at Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, February 7, 1860, where he still lives. By profession he is a lawyer and in poli tics he is a Democrat. This is his second term in the Legislature. Mr. Felker has held the position of mayor of Monroe and solicitor of Walton County Court. He was first appointed solicitor by Gov ernor Colquitt in 1881, and also held the office under Governors Northen and Gordon. His opponent in the first race was J. M. Brooley, Populist, over whom Mr. Felker received 930 majority. J. L. Mobley, Populist, opposed him in the last race.
D. C. FENDER, Representative from Clinch County, was born in Lowndes County in 1850. His home is at Stockton. By oc cupation he is a farmer, and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. Mr. Fender was for four years honored with the presidency of the board of education of Clinch County. He had no opposition in his race for the Legislature.
ROBERT E. FORT. Representative from Harris County, was born in Talbotton, Ga., in the year 1840. By occupation he is a farmer and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He was for six years tax-receiver of Harris County, the dates of such service covering the years from 1876 to 1891. He served three years in the Confederate arrny, in Company I, Fortysixth Georgia Regiment. He was opposed in his race for the Leg islature by M. A. Graham, Populist.
HIRAM FRANKLIN, Representative from Bulloch County, was born April 2, 1839, in Bulloch County. By occupation he is a farmer, and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other civil office. He was lieu tenant in the Sixty-first Georgia Regiment and served throughout the war in the Confederate army. He was wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg, Va., in 1862. His opponent in his race for the Legislature was J. J. Williams, Populist.
JAMES R. GEORGE, Representative from DeKalb Courlty, was born at Lithonia, DeKalb County, Ga., May g, 1845. He now resides at Decatur. In politics he is a Democrat, and has served 6n the Democratic executive committee of his county. He is a farmer, and was justice of the peace of the Decatur district for fourteen years, from 1882 to 1897. He is serving his first term in the Legislature. In the primary W. B. Henderson, a former Rep resentative of the county in the General Assembly, and Frank Gor don opposed him for the Democratic nomination.
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103
Hon. R. W. Freeman.
H l[ON. ROBERT W. FREEMAN, of Cow-
eta, as chairman of the
ways and means commit
tee of the House, has done
work that is of lasting
value to the State. The
great problem that con
fronted the present Legis
lature was tax reform
the equalization of receipts
and expenditures. With
this difficult task in pros-
pect, the party having been
pledged to reform in the
campaign, Speaker Little
determined to depart from
the custom of his prede cessors by dividing the work of raising and disbursing the States revenues, which was formerly in the hands of one committee. In dividing this work he called to the head of the revenue-raising branch the gentleman from Coweta, with whom he had served in the preceding House and with whose eminent ability he was there fore familiar. The results thus far have fully demonstrated the wisdom of the Speakers selection. Mr. Freeman took up the task before him with a vigorous hand. Not satisfied with the mechanical or routine methods employed in the construction of past tax acts, he did not cease in his endeavors until he had perfected and re ported a bill that was essentially original in many of its most im portant features. The preparation of this bill, which became a law, was but a portion of Mr. Freemans work toward tax reform, how ever. He has taken a deep interest in all branches of that impor tant subject. In consequence of his thorough knowledge of the subject he was appointed a member of the Tax Commission which was created for the purpose of making a new Tax Code for the State. In this position, as in all others that he has been called upon to fill, he has rendered service of the highest order.
Mr. Freeman was born in Coweta County, June i, 1858. His father was a farmer, and he began life between the plow-handles. His education he got first in the common schools of the county, then
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at Vanderbilt University, where he graduated in the literary and scien tific course in 1879. After leaving college he took up his residence in Newnan, reading law in the office of the late Judge John S. Bigby, and was admitted to the bar in 1879. Since that time he has devoted himself steadily to his profession, and now enjoys one of the finest practices in his part of the State. Though always taking an active interest in politics and public affairs, he was never a candidate for any office except that of legislator. After his service in the House of i896-97, he was renominated and re-elected to the present House practically without opposition. He has been attorney both for the county of Coweta and the city of Newnan. For six years he was chairman of the county Democratic executive committee, and a member of the State executive committee of iSo/j-ox), during the chairmanship of Hon. Robert L. Berner. There has hardly been a Congressional convention in the Fourth District for the past fifteen years that Mr Freeman did not take part in as a delegate, and he is to-day one of the strongest factors in the politics of his district. He has been a regular attendant upon State conventions as a repre sentative of his county, and in all he has wielded a decided influ ence. He took part in the Boynton, Bacon and McDaniel conven tion, and came up to Atlanta to help nominate Governor Atkinson, his fellow townsman, the second time.
WILLIAM T. GREENE, Representative from Greene County, was born in Clay County, Georgia, November I, 1851. He resides in Bluffton, where he has a mercantile business. He is also engaged in farming. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office, though he has served his party in high official capacities several times. He was opposed in his race for the Legislature by A. L. Foster, Popu list.
/ EMMETT B, GRESHAM, Representative from Burke County, was born in Burke County, Georgia, March 7, 1875. Mr. Qresham is a teacher at Walter Post-office. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. He was graduated in the Hephzibah High School in 1893, taught in the public schools for five years and was elected to the House. In the Democratic primary he was opposed by J. W. Sandeford, William Chandler, J. B. Heath, and T. J. Brinson. His majority averaged about 125. In the general election he had no opposition.
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105
W. J. GREEN, Representative from Rabun County, was born near Clayton in Rabun County, Georgia, October 30, 1863. He is a practicing physician at Clayton. He is a Democrat in politics. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other office. Capt. S. M. Beck was his opponent in his race for the Legislature.
HENRY FAULK GRIFFIN, Representative from Twiggs County, was born January 6, 1859, at Big Sandy, Twiggs County, Ga., and now resides at Jeffersonville. He is a farmer by oc cupation, and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He has served his party in his county in various capacities and was sheriff of the county for one term, having been elected to that office in 1895. After defeating Dr. A. E. Wood, Democrat, in the Democratic primary for the nomination, he was opposed by Linton Sketo, Populist.
JAMES M. GRIFFIN, Representative from Greene County, was born in Abbeville District, South Carolina, in 1836. He is a prac ticing physician at Woodville, Ga., and is also engaged in farming. This is his first term in the Legislature. He was county school commissioner in his county for eight years, from 1888 to 1896. He was county commissioner for four years and is a notary public and ex-officio justice of the peace. He served in the Confederate army; was captain of Company B, Fifty-fifth Georgia Regiment. He was unanimously selected for another term as county school commissioner, but declined. His opponent in his race for the Leg islature was W. H. Freeman, Populist.
Hon. Joseph H. Hall.
JOSEPH H. HALL, the senior member of the Bibb County dele gation, the son of one of the most distinguished jurists that ever sat upon the supreme bench of the State, had won a foremost posi tion in the ranks of the legal profession before his people selected him to represent them in the General Assembly of iSgB-gg. At the very outset he was regarded by his colleagues as being entitled to leadership. His high professional accomplishments combined with a picturesque ruggedness of character, always inclining him toward the side of the constitutional and natural rights of the people, made him one of the marked men of the lower house, whose impress will be left upon the records of this administration. Personally Mr. Hall is one of those characters who win and hold the esteem and
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affection of even their sturdiest opponents. He is a logical speaker, and has a personal magnetism about him that never fails to draw sympathetic attention. He has much of the orator in his manner, and in likeness has often been declared a counterpart to the great Spurgeon.
Mr. Hall was born at Knoxville, Crawford County, Ga., March. 31, 1852. During the greater part of his professional career he has been a citizen of Macon, where he now lives. The law firm of Gustin, Guerry& Hall, of which he was the junior member until the death of Judge Gustin, was regarded as one of the foremost in the State. Mr. Hall has never held any political office or position of any kind save that of legislator, although he has been a life-long Democrat and always active in party interests. He loves law for the sake of the law, and this devotion to his profession always kept him out of the way of the office-holding side of politics until con ditions so conspired as to bring him into the present House of Rep resentatives. Being appointed to a place on the general judiciary committee, he is recognized as one of the most valuable workers in that important detail of legislative service. Mr. Hall has been especially energetic in his ettorts to pertect laws governing cor porate authority. He has stood boldly out as the champion of the people as against corporate encroachment upon public rights, and in this position he has attracted the combined fire of the corporations. His long experience in railroad litigation gave him a superior knowledge of the weak points in the railroad laws, and with the commencement of his duties he set about to cure these defects, in troducing a. series of bills amending the railroad laws that will form a permanent part of the history of this Legislature. Mr. Hall holds the constitution of the State as a sacred instrument, not to be deviated from or violated under any excuse, and his legislative career is conspicuous for the energy and ability he has displayed in contending for the preservation of the integrity of this bulwark of the peoples liberties.
R. E. A. HAMBY, Representative from Rabun County, was
born near Pine Mountain, Rabun County, Ga. By profession
he is a lawyer, and in politics a Democrat. Clayton is his home.
This is his second terni as a member of the Legislature, and he has
held no other public office. For the past six years he has been
chairman of the Democratic executive committee of Rabun County,
and he has served his party in various capacities. In the Demo
cratic primary his Opponent was A. F. Harden. Mr. Hambys ma
jority was 414. In the general election.he was opposed by A. M.
Keener, Independent Democrat.
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Hon. Henry C. Hammond.
H ON. HENRY C. HAMMOND, of Richmond County, though one of the young est members of the pres ent Assembly, is serving his second term as a Rep resentative. He is one of the most brilliant mem bers of the Augusta bar, having achieved a reputa tion for argument and e^oquence before the jury in the famous Jabez Wiggins case. After his speech in that case, which was during the first days of his career as a lawyer, Mr. Ham mond literally awoke to find himself famous. From that time on Mr. Hammond was accorded first rank among the great pleaders of the Augusta bar, and his professional success was assured. Now his practice is phenomenal for so young a man. Mr. Hammond comes of distinguished old Revolutionary stock, members of his family having been prominently connected with the development of the State since colonial days. His father was an extensive planter before the war, and the family still lives at "Red Cliff" on Beech Island, just above the famous dueling grounds of "Sand Bar Ferry" and overlooking the city of Augusta. From the verandas of "Red Cliff" one can look across the Savannah river and straight down Broad street, Augusta. It is one of the most pictur esque old homes in the South Since leaving school to study and practice the profession of law, Mr. Hammond has always taken a lively interest in the affairs of his city and his party, and his selec tion to represent Richmond County in the House was therefore but the natural consequence of his public tastes and services. As a legislator he has been characterized by modesty and wisdom, being a close student of affairs and a man not accustomed to wasting words on a subject. Mr. Hammond is a fine debater, his manner of speak ing being polished and convincing, and whenever he rises he is always given the closest attention.
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J. D. HAMMETT, Representative from Troup County, was born at Stone Mountain, DeKalb County, Ga., February 27, 1827; his home is at LaGrange. By occupation he is a farmer, and in politics a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He was justice of the peace from 1867 to 1870. Served four years in the Confederate army. Messrs. Banks, Covan and Carter were his opponents in the Democratic primary.
P. D. HARDIN, Representative from Wilkes County, was born April ii, 1856, in Wilkes County, Georgia. His present home is at Washington, the county seat of Wilkes County. He is a farmer by occupation and a Democrat in politics. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. He was a member of the county Democratic executive committee from 1890 to 1808. J. Bellows and Dr. H. C. Walton, Populists, were his op ponents in his race for the Legislature.
J. F. HARRIS, Representative from Thomas County, was born October 13, 1856, in Gwinnett County, Georgia. His present home is at Pavo. He is a physician by profession, and in politics he is a Democrat. Lunsford and White, Populists, were his opponents in his lace for the Legislature. His majority was 600. He was a member of the State Board of Medical Examiners from 1895 to 1898.
MIDDLETON LAFAYETTE HATCHCOCK, Representative from Douglas County, was born in Campbell County, June 26, 1862. He is a farmer and stock-raiser by occupation and a Demo crat in politics. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. He has served his party in various capacities in his county. In the general election he was opposed in his race for the Legislature by Ross Mullin, Populist.
W. R. HENDERSON, Representative from Tatnall County, was born January 29, 1860. His home is at Clayton. He is a farmer by occupation, and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. He has served as a member of the Democratic executive committee of his county. His opponents in his race for the Legislature iwere C. S. T. Strickland, Populist, and Isaiah Beasley, Republican.
W. J. HENDERSON, Representative from Washington County,
Was born in Jefferson County, Georgia, September 29, 1843. He is
a farmer by occupation, and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his
second term as a -member of the Legislature. He has held no
other public office,- but is an ex-member of the Democratic execu
tive committee of Washington County. His opponents were Messrs.
Kelly and Wright, Populists.
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10$
Hon. W. P. Harrell.
H W. F. HAR RELL Representative from Dodge County, was born at Eastman, No vember 20, 1861, and that progressive little city is still his home. He is one of the foremost citizens, identified with all move ments that have for their purpose the advancement of his community and the general welfare of the State. He does a large business in thfe handling of cotton and fertilizers, and is accounted one of the most influential commer cial figures in his part of the State. Personally, Mr. Harrell is of a genial disposition, making friends of all whom he meets. In his friendships he is loyal and ever ready to put his shoulder to the wheel for the benefit of others. It was this whole-souled quality that brought him into politics. Being a man of large business interests, he preferred to devote himself to these affairs, taking part in poli tics only when he could aid his friends in the attainment of their ambitious hopes. Having thus endeared himself to his people, it was only natural that they should desire to honor him in return, and although never posing as a politician or cherishing political ambi tions, he has been four times sent to represent Dodge County in the House of Representatives. He has made a careful, level-headed legislator, going about his duties modestly, as he does with his pri vate business affairs, and watching the interests of his constituents with the same wisdom and foresight. Mr. Harrell has also been honored by his fellow citizens with the highest place in their midst, that of mayor of the city, and it is attested by many material things that he was one of the best mayors that Eastman ever had. Among his home people Mr. Harrell has the name of being "the poor mans friend." He is liberal in all his ideas and dealings, and those who are most closely acquainted with his character are his
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most devoted admirers. He is one of the most popular men in the present House, holding the esteem and warm friendship of all, from the Speaker on down to the little pages, whose friendship it is some times more difficult for a legislator to win than that of his col leagues.
WILLIAM HENDERSON, Representative from Irwin County, was born in Irwin County, May 13, 1846. His present home is Ocilla. He is a farmer by occupation and in politics he is a Demo crat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He served his county as sheriff for two terms, from 1870 to 1875. He is at present one of the board of directors of the State experiment farm from the Eleventh Congressional District. He was opposed in the Demo cratic primary for the nomination by M. W. Hovvell, Democrat.
T. W. Hardwick.
H ON. THOMAS W. HARDWICK, of Washington County, chairman of the military committee of the House, is one of the youngest mem bers of the General Assem bly, but at the same time one of the ablest and most aggressive, as the written records of the proceedings would show. He was born at Thomasville, December 9, 1872, read law after re ceiving his literary educa tion and was admitted to the bar. At the very out set of his .career he took a leading part in the affairs of the Democratic party in his county and district, having had some official connection with it almost continu ously since passing his twenty-first birthday. He has been chair man of the Washington County campaign committee, a niember of the Congressional executive committee, and delegate tothe State gubernatorial convention. He also filled the position of solicitor
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Ill
of the county court of Washington County, resigning in 1896, and has also been called upon to act in other positions of trust in his county. In the late election of Representatives he had no opposi tion for the party nomination, but had to overcome an exceedingly strong Populist ticket. Besides running his own campaign, Mr. Hardwick managed the regular State campaign in Washington County of his law partner, Solicitor-General B.T. Rawlings, who was chairman of the county committee, being unable to conduct the fight on account of illness. In his absence Mr. Hardwick was acting chairman and bore the brunt of the contest, which resulted in a great victory for the Democratic ticket, the Populists being de feated by over four hundred majority, and Mr. Hardwick leading the legislative ticket, though his colleague, Hon. William Henderson, is one of the strongest men in the county.
D. W. HARVARD, Representative from Dooly County, was born in Dooly County, Georgia, January 6, 1847. His home is in Unadilla. He is a farmer by profession, and a Democrat in politics. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office with the exception of justice of the peace. He held this office from 1873 to 1877. Has always been an advocate of higher education and economical administration of government. In the primary he was opposed for the Democratic nomination to the House of Representatives by Colonel Strosiar, Dr. Beacham and Colonel Bushby. In the general election Mr. Williams, Popu list, was his opponent.
P. H. HERRING, Representative from Decatur County, was born in Decatur County, Georgia, in the year 1845. His home is at Calvary. He is a farmer by occupation, and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He was tax-collector of- his county from 1883 to 1885, and county commis sioner from 1885 to 1898. He was opposed in his race for the Leg islature by N. C. Bell, Populist. Mr. Herrings majority was 900.
D. C. HILL, Representative from Wilkes County, was born May 8, 1837, in Wilkes County, Georgia, and his present home is in Washington, the county-seat of that county. He is a farmer by occupation, and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature, and he has held no other public office. He has served his party on the county executive committee for several years. He was opposed in his race for the Legislature "by Messrs. Walton and Bellows, Populists. Mr. Hills majority was about 600.
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JOHN N. HOLDER, Representative from Jackson County, was born July 22, 1868, in Jackson County, Georgia. His home is at Jefferson, where he edits a county paper. In politics he is a Demo crat, and his paper has always fought the battles of Democracy. This is his first term in the Legislature. He has held no other pub lic office, with the exception of the presidency of the board of edu cation of Jackson County. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia, class 90. He is a member of the State executive com mittee of the Ninth Congressional District. His opponents in the race for the House of Representatives were C. F. RoIIiday and E. A. McDonald, Populists. Mr. Holders majority was 413.
Hon. J. M. Hopkins.
H<[ON. JOHN M. HOPKINS, of Mclntosh County, is the young est member of this Legis lature. He was born at Thomasville, Ga., April 20, 1876, and is therefore in his twenty-third year. Mr. Hopkins comes of one of the oldest families of the State, and one that has been prominent in public affairs ever since the time of Oglethorpe. He is a descendant of Stephen Hopkins, one of the signers of the Declara tion of Independence, and by reason of family service might almost be said to have had a pre scriptive right to represent his county in legislative halls, as for four /generations back his family has never failed to Have a member in either branch of the State Legislature, this long line of public officials emanating from the same old Mclntosh County homestead where the present. Representative lives. But this heritage of public trust is not by any means the only interesting thing about the young representative from Mclntosh. He claims the distinction of having
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U3
defeated "Uncle Joe Mansfield," one of the strongest and most unique characters that has had a seat in the Georgia Legislature for years. Mr. Mansfield, until young Hopkins entered the lists against him, was popularly regarded as the political owner of Mclntosh County. For term after term, at least, his will was law there, and he became marked as a political factor in State affairs. Therefore, when the election returns after a hard-fought battle showed that "Uncle Joe" was defeated, there was at once widespread interest aroused in the personality of the boyish figure who had supplanted him in the leadership of Mclntosh County politics. Mr. Hopkins is a modest-appearing young man. Though a lawyer of recognized ability and a good speaker, he has made no effort in the spectacular part of legislative work by appearing in debate upon the floor, but has left this to the older heads, while contenting himself with the inconspicuous role of a silent worker. Mr. Hopkins is secretary of the Democratic caucus of the Legislature, which is an important post during the determination of party questions and the nomina tion of party candidates for officers of the General Assembly.
JOHN R. HOSCH, Representative from Jackson County, was born October 9, 1851, in Jackson County, Georgia, and his present home is at Hoschton in that county. He is a merchant and farmer by occupation, and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. E. A. McDonald and C. F. Holliday, Populists, opposed him in his race for the Legislature. Mr. Hoschs majority was 377.
CHARLES NELSON HOWARD, JR., Representative from Chattahooch.ee County, was born December 2, 1868, at Cusseta, Chattahoochee County, Ga. He is a physician by profes sion, and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. He has for some time taken an active interest in politics, though he had never sought office prior to his candidacy for Representative. In 1896, he served as the chairman of the campaign committee of Chattahoochee County. He was opposed in his race for the House of Representa tives by Robert Christian, Populist. Mr.Howards majority was 144.
N. L. HUTCHINS, JR., Representative from Gwinnett County, was born in Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Ga., where he still lives. He is an attorney at law by profession, and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature, and he has held no other office. He has served the county and State Democracy in various capacities. His opponents in his race for the House of Representa tives were A. M. Baxter and S. Craig. Mr. Hutchins majority was 565.
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J. C. JARXIGIX, Representative from Warren County, was born September 18, 1854, at Wood Station, Warren County, Ga. His present home is at Warrenton, where he is engaged in the drug business, and is also a planter. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other office. His opponent in his race for the House of Repre sentatives was E. L. Johnson. Mr. Jarnigins majority was63O.
Hon. M. L. Johnson.
H (TON. McCONNELL
L. JOHNSON, Rep
resentative from Bar-
tow County, was born and
has lived all his life in the
county which he now rep
resents in the Legislature
of 1898 and 1899. He was
born at Pine Log, October
22, i860, and was but an
infant when Sherman and
his army began its devas
tating career along the line
of the Western & Atlan
tic Railroad, laying waste
the plantations of Bartow,
where every foot of ground
was made sacred by Gen
eral Johnson and his brave army.. Having been born on his fathers
plantation, Mr. Johnson has continued to be a planter ever since.
He has not confined himself strictly to the farm, however, but is in
terested largely in the business life of his county. His stuccess in
business as in farming has been of a high order. He believes in ap
plying business methods to planting, and has carried out his ideas on
V these lines with results that might serve as a profitable object-lesson
to the farmers of the State.
.
Mr. Johnson is a Democrat to the manner born. The Demo
cratic faith was his heritage, and he has stood as steadfastly by it as
to the plantation life into which he was born. He has always taken
a lively interest in public affairs. In 1884 the good people of Car-
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tersville elected him mayor of that city. His administration was an able and beneficent one. In 1888 he was chosen Cleveland elector for the Seventh Congressional District and rendered valiant services to the party in that capacity. He was also a member of the State Dem ocratic Committee from the State at large from 1896 to 1898, and inspector of fertilizers under the administration of ex-Commissioner Nesbit, from 1892 until 1898, when he resigned upon becoming a candidate for the Legislature. For this position he was opposed in the Democratic primary by Capt. Thomas J. Lyon, one of the most widely known men in North Georgia, and a man who had long been a power in politics. Mr. Johnsons victory was thus a notable one, his opponent being defeated by 546 votes.
Hon. J. Lindsay Johnson.
H([ON. J. LINDSAY JOHNSON, of Floyd County) is numbered among the most widely known and deservedly popular members of this Legislature. Though a North Georgian, born upon one of the famous ante-bellum plantations of the Etowah Valley, his genial nature and broad culture have made him al most as well known in the wiregrass and sea-islands as he is on his native heath. In his own county, there is hardly a man, woman or child who does not know and prize the friendship of their Representative, as is shown by the fact that in an exciting cam paign for the Democratic nomination he ran five hundred and more votes ahead of the highest of the defeated candidates. But Mr. John son is not a politician as the term is generally understood in these fin de siede days. He is a man of affairs, an able lawyer, though retired from active practice, and a business man with large property interests which require his constant attention. He has never been identified with any of the political factions that flourish in his native
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county, though this is the third time he has been chosen to repre sent his people in legislative halls. His candidacy has always been unsought by himself, the result of a public demand for his services. Like his colleague, Mr. Denny, he takes a deep interest in educa tional matters, and as chairman of the University visiting committee he has done much to advance the cause. Mr. Johnson is himself a man of brilliant educational attainments. He first attended the ex cellent schools of Floyd county, and from there entered the Schools of Brooklyn, after which he took a full literary course at Washington and Lee University, being graduated with distinction. His law edu cation was received at the University of Georgia. The close of his school-days did not mean the end of his studies with the gentleman from Floyd, however. In the midst of his busy life he has continued to be a student. He is a master of both the French and Spanish languages as well as English, and in literature and history he is an accomplished scholar.
Mr. Johnson has several times been a delegate to State conven tions, and also served as alternate elector from his district to the Democratic National Convention. He takes a lively interest in all matters pertaining to the advancement of his party, and his voice is an influential one in the party councils, both State and national.
LAFAYETTE F. JOHNSON, Representative from Appling County, was born in Appling County, Georgia, March 17, 1839. His home is at Graham, Ga. He is a farmer by occupation and in politics he is a. Populist. This is his first term in the Legislature. He has held several offices, among them notary public and ex-officio justice of the peace, from 1867 to 1879, and County Treasurer from 1894 to 1896. He served throughout the Civil War as a soldier in the Confederate army. In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by Alien Johnson, Democrat. The latter was defeated by a majority of forty-four.
A. S. JOHNSON, Representative from Baker County, was born May 20, 1867, in Early County, Georgia. He is a lawyer by profession and in politics he is a Democrat. He has served two terms in the Legislature. In 1896, when he was first elected to the .House of Representatives, he was opposed by E. L. Hudson, whom he defeated by a majority of fifty-three. Mr. Hudson was an/Independent, and Mr. Johnson the regular Democratic nominee. In 1898 Mr. Johnson had no opposition. Besides serving in the Legislature for these two terms, Mr. Johnson has held,no public office. He was graduated in the law department of the University of Georgia in 1888, and has since resided in Arlington, Ga., for two years, and in Newton, his present home, for seven years.
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117
J. F. JOHNSON, Representative from Lee County, was born at Philadelphia, Tenn., October 20, 1851. His present home is at Smithville, where he is engaged in the mercantile business. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legisla ture. He was for thirteen years chairman of the board of county commissioners of Lee County. In the Democratic primary he was opposed by A. B. Ducan, but in the general election he had no oppo sition.
H Seaborn H. Jones. ON. SEABORN H. JONES, Represent ative from Burke County, is a scion of one of the most influential families in fhe State, and he most worthily perpetu ates the family prestige. He is the son of the Hon. John J. Jones, the noted jurist and member of Con gress when Georgia passed the ordinance of secession. His mother is a niece of General Robert Toombs. Mr. Jones was born at Waynesboro, Burke County, December 20, 1863, and following the traditions of his family, who were among the pioneers when Georgia was a colony, he has continued to reside there. He was educated at Emory College, from which institution he graduated in 1883. Having decided to adopt the law, the pro fession of his father, for a career, he entered upon the study of that profession, and was admitted to the bar in his native county. Un der the firm name of John J. Jones & Son he practiced at Waynes boro up to the time of his fathers death, since which time he has conducted the large business of the firm alone. Mr. Jones was solicitor of the county court of Burke County for six years, from 1890 to 1896. Aside from this and his position as a Representative hehas never held any other office, though always active in the
u8
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affairs of the party, being a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat. He has fre quently been a delegate to State conventions, both political and judicial, serving in that capacity in the first convention for the nom ination of judges of the Supreme Court and in both the Supreme Court and gubernatorial conventions of last year. He is a mem ber of the Democratic executive committee of the First Congres sional District and also of the executive committee of his Senatorial District. Of the Burke County delegation in the House, Mr. Jones is by common consent the spokesman and leader. As a speaker he has an incisive style that never fails to command attention, with the result that he wields a decided influence in every debate in which he takes part.
Hon. C. H. Jordan.
T HE SUBJECT of this sketch was born on January I, 1861, in Jasper County, Georgia, just three months prior to the commencement of the great struggle for States rights between the North and South. His grand father, Reuben Jordan, set tled on this spot in 1820, and the father of this sub ject, Col. William F. Jor dan, was also born there in 1832, where the family have continuously.resided for a period of seventyeight years. The life of the present owner has been principally spent in active agriculture and general superintendence of the tenints engaged on the plantation. On January 18, 1893, he married Miss Ella R. Gerdine, of Macon, Ga., daughter of Judge J. H. L. Gerdine, and has at this time two children, Emma, aged four, and Clarence Lumpkin, aged two years. It was not until the spring of 1898 that he began taking any active part in State politics, at which time, in response to an invitation from many of the citizens of his
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IIQ
county, he announced his candidacy for election to membership in the lower branch of the General Assembly. He. was actively op posed in the Democratic primary by Major John C. Key, an exConfederate veteran and shrewd politician, who had up to this time wielded an immense influence over the voters of the county. Major Key was, however, badly defeated on the 6th day of June by nearly two hundred majority, and Mr. Jordan was duly elected October 8th without further opposition and took his seat October 26th in the House of Representatives, where his abilities were at once recog nized by the Hon. John D. Little, Speaker, appointing him chairman of the general agricultural committee, one of the largest and most important committees of the House. Mr. Jordan took an active part in legislation, and was the first man to take a positive stand be fore the appropriations committee for retrenchments and reform in expenditures for all branches of the States institutions, that the de pressed financial condition of his people which at that time existed might be relieved as far as possible from the burden of taxation. His position was on the line of consistency and the most rigid economy without going to the extent of injuring theefficiency of any department. Apart from his duties as chairman of general agriculture, he is a member of the appropriations, corporations, banks and banking and enrollment committees.
WILLIAM S. KING, Representative from Houston County, was born in that county. His present home is in Bonaire, where he is a merchant. He is also engaged in farming. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He has been a justice of the peace from 1881 to the present time and has never had a verdict reversed by the Superior Court. Served six years as postmaster in his home town. In the Democratic primary he was opposed by C. Pearce, S. F. Nevil, V. E. Fagin and J. P. Duncan. Mr. King led by seventy-two votes. There was no oppo sition to him in the general election.
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THF. OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
Clarence Knowles.
0 NE of the strongest members of the House is Clarence Knowles, of Fulton, who is now serving his second term in that body. Mr. Knowles brings to the discharge of his legislative duties the highest order of practical business experience and ability, and is consequently a most excellent judge of the feasibility of measures affecting the commercial and financial interests of the State. He is one of the leading insurance men of the country and is widely known in business circles. In addition to serving the State two terms in the lower branch of the General Assembly, Mr. Knowles has been identified with many enterprises looking toward the upbuilding of the State and of the section, including the Cotton States and International Exposition and the Georgia School of Technology. His work for this latter institution resulted in the building of the handsome dormitory, known as the "Knowles Dormi tory," which now adorns the campus, and not satisfied with securing this improvement for the school, in the face of the retrenchment wave that seemed to be sweeping everything before it, Mr. Knowles went to work to secure money for the textile department, and the opening of that branch of the schools work during the present year attests his success. By his sagacious management he secured this appropriation when it seemed hopeless to ask for it. If he had done nothing else as a legislator, Mr. Knowles name would deserve to go down in the history of the State as one of the great public benefac tors. Mr. Knowles was born in Pensacola, Fla. Immediately upon completing his education he took up the business of insurance, be coming a. clerk in the office of Mr. Alexander Stoddard, of New York. His peculiar aptitude was such that he lost no time in com ing to the front. Early in his career he was sent to Chicago to ad just matters growing out of the great conflagration in that city, and
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121
he ably met the responsibilities of that important commission. Mr. Knowles was the first president of the Southeastern Tariff Associa tion, and much of the success which has attended the work of that organization is dueto his wide-awake enterprise and shrewd business sagacity. He is at present the manager of the Southern depart ment of the Delaware and Pennsylvania insurance companies, with headquarters in Atlanta. Genial, cultured and popular, Mr. Knowles is universally esteemed by his fellow citizens, and in the capacity of their legislative representative he is winning fresh
laurels.
Hon. A. W. Lane.
ANDREW W. LANE, of Bibb County, en joys the unusual distinctionof having been sent to the Legislature upon a personal vote, in a cam paign against men backed by aggressive organiza tions and combinations. With already a large field of candidates out, he en tered the contest singlehanded, and, as the poli ticians say, he "bioke the slate" by his personal pop ularity, coupled with a pro fessional reputation guar anteeing his fitness for any place within the gift of his people. His election to the Legislature from such an important constituency as Bibb County was, however, only another step in what has been a remarkable career. Beginning life as a country lad in Jasper County, with no advantages but good blood, he fitted himself for college in the common schools of Jack son. Entering Mercer University, he immediately went to the head of his classes, making a high record for scholarship and gaining the prized medals for oratory. In 1890 he graduated from Mercer with first honor, being chosen anniversarian of the Ciceronian Society by
122
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acclamation. After graduation Mr. Lane went to Blakely, Ga., and taught school there for two years as principal of the Blakely Insti tute. During this time he studied law and put by enough money to take a course at the University of Virginia. At the conclusion of these studies he was admitted to the bar in his native county and formed a partnership with Hon. C. V. McKibben, whose accom plished daughter he married October 27, 1892. About a year later he removed to Macon in order to have a. wider field for the practice of his profession. There he formed a partnership with Hon. W. B. Willingham, which continued until he was appointed solicitor-gen eral of the Macon circuit by Governor Atkinson, to succeed Hon W. H. Felton, now judge of that circuit. This position is one of the most attractive in the judicial department of the State govern ment, and Mr. Lane was strongly opposed for it by some of the leading members of the Macon bar. In the election before the Legislature at the expiration of his term he did not offer again for the place but resumed the regular practice of his profession, actively participating in all party affairs but not seeking any position for himself until he became a candidate for the lower house. In that campaign he forcibly demonstrated the fact that he is a potent factor in the politics of his community.
JOSEPH P. LANE, Representative from Early County, was born in Early County, Georgia, September 21, 1849. His home is at Blakely. He is engaged in farming and stock-raising as an oc cupation, and in politics he is a Democrat. He has served three terms in the Legislature, and has held other public offices. He was tax-receiver for his county for one term and has been a member of the board of education and county commissioner. Mr. Hightower, Independent Democrat, opposed him for the Democratic nomination in the primary. Mr. Lanes majority was 149. In the general election Mr. Harvey, Populist, opposed him, and was de feated by 240 votes.
THOMAS^J. LEE, Representative from Pulaski County, was born in November in the year 1845. His home is at Caryl He is a farmer by occupation and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. He has served as a member of the Democratic executive committee for two terms. In the Democratic primary, Mr. Hendley was his opponent. He was elected by 39 majority. In the general election J. O. Baskin and F. D. Wimberly, Populists, were the opponents of Mr. Lee and the other Democratic nominee for the House. Mr. Lees majority was something over nine hundred.
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I2 3
Hon. W. T. Lane.
I T DOES not often hap pen that brothers who
have set out upon di vergent pathways in life meet in legislative halls as
the chosen representatives
of the different communi
ties in which they have
cast their lots. Still more noteworthy is an incident of this kind when the men
are still in their young manhood and the constitu encies they each represent
are among the most pro
gressive and influential of
the State. This, however,
is the uncommon expe rience of the Lane brothers, the one representing the county of Sumter and the other the county of Bibb.
Hon. William T. Lane, "the gentleman from Sumter," is the older of the two; in point of fact, the eldest child of his fathers family, and upon whom the burden of guiding and providing for that family fell when his fathers death removed him from their midst. He was born on the old family plantation in Jasper County, July n, 1864, in the closing days of the war that had spread devastation throughout the State. At the age of seventeen he found himself in the place at the head of the household made sadly vacant by the fathers death. The young man assumed the responsibility, how ever, with a gritand determination that have enabled him to sur mount the many obstacles with which the path of ambition is beset. After acquiring his preliminary education through his own efforts, Mr. Lane taught school at Jackson, Ga., studied law in the office of Wright & Beck of Jackson, and then attended the State University, where he graduated in the law class of 1888. From the classroom he went to Monticello, but after two years practice there, during which time he was chosen mayor of the town, he removed to Americus to enter a wider field of professional work. There he readily applied himself to that work, standing solely upon merit, without political alliances or "pulls" of any sort, never having been a can-
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didate for any place in the gift of the people until he entered the lists for the present House. There were six candidates in the field, and it was a high compliment to the young man who was compara tively a newcomer in Sumter County that he received considerably more votes than any other man in the race. When became to take his seat he found his brother, A. W. Lane, chosen from Bibb County, after a campaign experience closely resembling his own. Mr. Lane is an energetic worker and a ready debater. He was put upon both the general and special judiciar} committees and given a sub-chair manship on the former, in which capacity he was entrusted with much important legislation. He is also a member of the privileges and elections committee.
Hon. J. A. Laing.
H;ON. J. A. LAING, ot Terrell County,would if for no other cause, be entitled to a conspicu ous place in the annals of the present Legislature on account of the arduous work he has performed in connection with the Haves and Scott bond claims. As a member of the House appropriations committee he was made chairman of a sub-committee to make a thorough investigation of these claims, which have been before Legisla tures for twenty-five years past. Repeated investigations of these claims have resulted in favorable reports^being made, but for various reasons the Legisla ture has never received these reports with sufficient confidence to pay the bonds. After weeks of hard work, during which he and his colleagues went into the records as they had never been gone into before, Mr. Laing made a report unfavorable to the payment of the bonds. This report is elaborate in detail, and will be pre served as an important state document.
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125
Mr. Laing was born in Terrell County in December, 1858. He was educated in the common schools and then went to the State University. Leaving that institution in 1876, he went to Columbia County, Florida, and taught school there for awhile, when he re turned to Dawson and engaged in the mercantile business. While thus engaged he began the study of law, which was subsequently pursued in the office of Judge Guerry and Congressman Griggs. He was admitted to the bar by Judge John T. Clark, in Clay County, in 1889 He has served as solicitor of the county court of Terrell County, and also as judge of the same court, resigning the latter office when he became a candidate for the present House of Repre sentatives. Mr. Laing has been a member of the board of educa tion since its organization, and in the Legislature has been a stead fast friend of the educational interests of the State. He takes a strong interest in the military branch of the State service, having been a first lieutenant and then captain of the Dawson Horse Guards, resigning the latter commission, however, several years ago on account of his business interests.
Hon. Walter P. LaRoche.
H[ON. WALTER P. LAROC HE, Represent
ative from Chatham County, the junior mem ber of the delegation, was
born in Savannah, Novem ber 9, 1865. A native ol the commercial metropolis
of the State, he is a type of the careful, conserva tive citizen characteristic
of such communities. Mr. LaRoche is a lawyer, the
only professional member
of the present delegation, and enjoys a large clien
tele both as attorney for
-
"local and foreign interests.
He began his professional career ambitiously, having a firm deter
mination to reach the top of the ladder, and in the twelve years that have passed since he "hung out his shingle" inviting the public to
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THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
confide their affairs to his hands he has been remarkably successful, losing fewer cases, according to the records of the bar, than any other practicing attorney on the rolls. Commercial law is his specialty, though he has appeared in several great criminal cases and won a high reputation as a jury pleader. His accomplishments as a speaker made him the spokesman of the Chatham delegation in the House, and whenever occasion has demanded it he has always taken a ready hand in debate upon the floor and in the committee room. Mr. LaRoche read law in Savannah and was admitted to the bar there, but after this event, not being satisfied with the knowledge of the science of the law gained in this manner, he went to the University of Virginia, where he completed the law course, then settled down to the active daily practice of his chosen profession. In politics he has always been a stalwart Democrat. For three terms he served on the county executive committee, and was one of the organizers of the "Citizens Club," which marked a new era in Savannah politics. The success of the Citizens Club caused the organization of another faction under the name of the "Liberal Club." Mr. LaRoche was among a number of the original Citizens Club leaders who dissented. He joined the Liberal Club side at its organization and was made secretary of that body, which has been the dominant factor in Savannah affairs for some years past. He was never a candidate for any office except Representative, being put upon the Liberal Club ticket for that place, like the other mem bers of the delegation, without having sought the honor.
JAMES H. LONGING, Representative from Campbell County, was born May 28, 1853, in Campbell County, Georgia. His home is in Fairburn. By profession he is a lawyer and in politics a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He has held county and municipal offices In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by R. W. Mason, Populist. Mr. Longinos majority was about five hundred.
JOHN R. /McCRANIE, Representative from Berrien County, was born in Berrien County, Georgia, October 8, 1847; hik home is at Sparks. By occupation he is a farmer, and in politics a Demo crat. He has served two terms in the Legislature, and has served as sheriff, surveyor and receiver of tax returns of his county. Fol lowing are the dates of this service : Surveyor from 1879 to 1883 ; sheriff from 188510 1887; tax-receiver from 189310 1896. In his first race for the Legislature he was opposed by J. M. Baskins, Populist, and defeated him by a good majority. His opponent in the last race was James B. Baskins, Populist. . .
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J. J. McCANTS, Representative from Taylor County, was born in Taylor County, Georgia, October 5, 1843! his home is at Butler. By occupation he is a farmer and lumber-dealer,and in politics a Democrat. He has served eight terms in the Legislature, and has held no other public offi:e. He was opposed in his race for the Legislature by J. H. Hollis, Populist.
JESSE R. McDONALD, Representative from Ware County, was born January 22, 1861, near Waresboro, Ware County, Ga. His home is in Waresboro. He is engaged in manufacturing and farming. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He has held no other public office. J. Walter Bennett opposed him in the Democratic primary for the nomination to the House. In the general election he was opposed by George Washington, colored. Mr. McDonalds majority was 694.
Hon. John J. McDonough.
HOONN. JOHN J. McDl-ONOUGH, the senior member of the Chatham delegation in the House, is a veteran in the public service, although he lays no claim to the title of a poli tician. He is essentially a business man and finan cier, and it was due to his success in these lines that he has been so often called upon to render service in public office. In his case it can be fairly said that the office has always sought the man, and his acceptance of public duty has always been dictated "by motives of patriotism rather than private ambition. Mr. McDonough was born in the city of Augusta in 1849, an ^ did not decide to cast his future lot with the city of Savannah until after the war, in 1866. During the
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THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
years of the war, from 1861 to 1864, he was going to school in Atlanta, after which he was sent to New York to finish his education at St. Francis Xavier College. Finishing there, he started his commercial life as a clerk with his fathers lumber company at Savannah, which soon became McDonough & Son. In the early seventies he bought out his father in both the lumber and iron foundry business, which he had established. The iron foundry was reorganized under the name of McDonough & Ballantyne, and is now one of the greatest institutions of the kind in the South. The lumber business was con tinued under the name of McDonough & Son until 1895, when it was merged into the Southern Pine Company of Georgia, of which Mr. McDonough is the managing director.
Mr. McDonough was first induced to enter public life in 1882, when he was nominated and elected a member of the House of Rep resentatives during his absence from the city. He could not very well decline to serve after such a compliment by his fellow citizens. He brought to the discharge of his legislative duties the same high business qualities that had gained him front rank in the commercial life of the State, and his fellow citizens would not consent tor him to retire. He was elected alderman of Savannah and kept in that po sition for four years. Then he was called to the mayoralty, where he served two terms of two years each, from 1891 to 1895. From the mayoralty he was again elected to the Legislature in 1896 and re-elected in 1898. In his municipal administration Mr. McDon ough inaugurated many reforms tending to elevate the morals of the city. He opposed all forms of gambling and kindred vices and made a crusade against them, his aim being to give the city an hon est, business-like government without the entanglements of ward politics.
G. PIERCE MARTIN, Representative from Banks County, was born January 17, 1874. His home is at Arp. He is a lawyer by pro fession, and in pohtics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature, and he has held no other public office. In the Democratic primary he was nominated over two Democrats. In the general- election he was opposed by Jesse J. White,Populist. Mr. Martins majority was 46.
. WALTER MAXWELL, Representative from Oglethorpe County, was born in Oglethorpe County; his home is at Crawford. By oc cupation he is a merchant and farmer; in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature, and he has served as county school commissioner and as mayor of Crawford. He was commis sioner from 1897 to 1898. His opponent in his race for the Legis lature was C. A. Stevens, Democrat.
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OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
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G. M. McELREATH, Representative from Cobb County, was born at Lost Mountain, Cobb County, Ga., January 4, 1851, His home is at Marietta. He is a farmer by occupation and in politics he is a Democrat. This .is his first term in the Legisla ture and he has held no other public office. He has served on the executive committee of his party. His opponent in his race for the Legislature was J. T. Pace, Populist. Mr. McElreaths majority was about 440.
THOS. A. McFARLAND, Representative from Franklin County was born August 19, 1841, in Franklin County, Georgia. His home is in Garlandsville. He is a farmer by occupation, and in politics he is a Populist. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. He had been urged for twenty years to become a candidate for the Legislature, but always refused until this last election. He was opposed by a Democrat and won by a small majority.
JOHN W. MAYSON, Representative from DeKalb-County, was born in Atlanta, Ga., April 30, 1851 ; his home is at Decatur, where he is a real estate agent. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He has been mayor of Decatur from 1893 to the present time, and has also been a member of the board of education of DeKalb County. Was master of Pythagoras Lodge, No. 41, of F. A. M., for the year 1897: In the Democratic primary he was opposed for the nomination to the House by W. B. Henderson and Frank Gordon.
ROBERT L. MERRITT, Representative from Hancock County, was born August 24, 1867, in Monroe County, Georgia. Sparta is his home. By profession he is a lawyer, and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. He has served his party in various capaci ties. He had no opposition in the general election and led his ticket.
JAMES T. McGEHEE, Representative from Harris County, was born in Ridgeway, Harris County, Ga., November 9, 1843, Ellerslie is his home. By occupation he is a farmer, and in politics a Democrat. He has served two terms in the Legislature, and has held no other public office. Was a soldier in the Confederate army from the spring of 1861 to 1865. M. A. Graham and L. C: Harget, Populists, were his opponents in his race for the Legislature.
*
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Hon. B. F. McLaughlin.
B ENJAMIN F. McLAUGHLIN, Repre sentative from Meriwether County, is an influ ential member of the bar of Greenville. His prac tice extends over a large part of the State, and he also represents large foreign interests. His pro fession has been his lifework, though, being of a genial nature, he has found plenty of time to help friends in public life and to take part generally in the shaping of affairs. He is always a prominent figure at the meetings of the State Bar Association, and in the present Legislature has been active in furthering matters especially favored by that important organization. Mr. McLaughlin was born at Mountville, Troup County, January 18, 1846. When the war broke out it found him entering upon a college career at the State University. Like many others of the Souths best young men, he deserted the classroom for the camp and the battle-field, entering the army with the Second Georgia Cavalry, commanded by the gal lant Colonel Wilcoxson. After serving with this brave regiment through its most exciting period, he was transferred to the quarter masters department under Major Cunningham, of Atlanta, and there the close of the war found him. From the army he returned to his farm and remained there for several years, applying himself to the restoration of the family fortunes. Then he decided to take up the thread of his career as it was mapped out before the call to arms intervened, and going to Greenville commenced the study of law, where he was admitted to the bar, and where he has had his office and home ever since. His people have shown their confidence in him by entrusting him with some of the most important matters that come into the hands of the legal profession. -In politics, though preferring to act only the part of the good citizen and the friend, he has been repeatedly called upon to serve his people as
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mayor of Greenville, as delegate to the State gubernatorial and judicial conventions, chairman of the congressional executive com mittee and as legislator. He was first induced to become a candi date for the House after his county had elected a Populist ticket in 1894. When Meriwether went Populist it was a State sensation in a political way. In 1896 the Democrats were determined to redeem it or die in the attempt. In this emergency they called Mr. McLaughlin to lead them, and brilliant success crowned their cam paign. After making such a fight as this it was but natural that he should be chosen again without opposition, and he is therefore now serving his second term as a member of the popular branch of the Assembly. He was assigned as vice-chairman of the general judiciary committee and as chairman of the committee on privileges and elec tions, and in both places he has made a record as an able and faith ful legislator as well as having established himself as one of the most influential debaters on the floor.
A. C. McLENNAN, Representative from Montgomery County, was born March 14, 1840, at Lumber City, Ga. His home is at Alamo. He is a farmer and naval-stores manufacturer. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He was mayor of Scotland from 1890 to 1894, and is at present a member of the school board of Montgomery County. He was cap tain of Company E, Forty-ninth Georgia Regiment, Thomass Brig ade, and participated in all the battles of the Army of Northern Virginia, except First Manassas and Cedar Run. His opponent in his race for the Legislature was Mr. Calhoun, Populist. Mr. Mc Lennan s majority was 615.
MAX LAMAR McRAE, Representative from Telfair County, was born in Lumber City, Ga., October 4, 1874. His home is in McRae. He is a lawyer by profession, and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He served as chairman of the Democratic executive committee of his county from 1896 to 1898. Was private in Company I, First Georgia Volun teer Infantry, from May, 1898,10 June of the sameyear, when he was appointed by Governor Atkinson as second lieutenant of Company F, Third Georgia Regiment, and was later promoted to the first lieutenancy. Resigned December 1st, to take his place in the House of Representatives. In the primary election he was opposed by a Democrat, and won over him by a majority of 146.
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FONDREX M ITCH ELL, Representative from Thomas County, was born August 19, 1874, in Thomasville, Thomas County, Ga., where he still resides. He is a lawyer by profession and in poli tics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He was appointed solicitor of the county court of Thomas County by Governor Atkinson, and still holds that position. He has served his party in various capacities. His opponents in the race for the Legislature were Messrs. Lunsford and White, Populists. The county has two Representatives, and Mr. Mitchell and his Demo cratic running-mate, J. F. Harris, were elected by a majority of 525.
Hon. T. H. McMillin.
T HOMAS H. McMILLIN, Represent ative from Chatham, like his colleague, Hon. John J. McDonough, is a man who stands in the front rank of the progres sive business men of the State. He never asked or sought public office in his life, having been placed on the legislative ticket without having been asked "by your leave." He was literally impressed into public service on ac count of his eminent business qualifications, the people of Savannah, the most important commercial city in the State, believing it wise policy to select men of affairs to represent them rather than the place-seeking politicians. Mr. McMillin was born in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, N. C., March n, 1855. He engaged in the manufacture of turpentine distilleries and distill ers supplies, and was so successful that the business soon outgrew that territory. In 1879 he moved to Savannah, where another branch of the business was opened, and now with branches att Fay etteville, Savannah and Mobile, his firm, under the name of McMiliin Brothers, does the largest business of the kind in the South,
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handling nine-tenths of the whole trade in turpentine distillers sup plies. Besides being the managing partner of this firm, Mr. McMillin has other large interests in Savannah and elsewhere, his real estate holdings in that city being extensive and valuable. He is a director in the Citizens Bank, one of the strongest and most.pros perous institutions of Savannah, the city famous in banking history because there has never been a banking crash there. Aside from his present office as a legislator, Mr. McMillin has never filled any other public position except that of alderman of the city of Savan nah, to which place he was drafted in 1893, during the administra tion of his friend and colleague, Mayor McDonough. When Savan nah local politics divided into the factions known as the Liberal Club and the Citizens Club, Mr. McMillin affiliated with the former, which, being largely composed of the business men, has been domi nating affairs in recent years.
Hon, J. M. Moore.
H J. M. MOORE, Representative trom Carroll County, is one of the successful farmerlawyers of the State. This is his second term in the Legislature as a member of the House, and in both he has been accorded rank with the leading spirits without dispute. He is a close student of legislation and a hard worker on the details and an able deba ter. His speeches always command attention from the House, his clear logic and forcible way of putting questions before the minds of his colleagues giving him a strong influence in the disposition of any matter in which he essays to take an active hand. Mr. Moore is an economist on liberal lines. He has always had the courage of his convictions in this respect, and (has unhesitatingly advocated retrenchment wherever he believed it
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necessary, without regard to the popular cry. "Hew to the line, let the chips fall where they may," has been his motto in public life, and in consequence his people have unstinted confidence in him both as a private citizen and a public servant. Mr. Moore was born in Carroll County, August 28, 1857, and has lived there ever since. He studied law while engaged in making a living on his farm, which is one of the best in the county, and was admitted to the bar at Carrollton in 1887, since which time he has had a steady practice in all the courts. He was chosen mayor of Villa Rica in 1891 and served continuously until 1896. In his contest for a seat in the present House he defeated his Populist opponents over eight hun dred votes. In recognition of his ability and experience in public affairs he was made chairman of the committee on counties and county matters by Speaker Little, and in that place he has done some of the most important work of this Legislature.
Hon. N. A. Morris.
H ON. NEWTON A. MORRIS, of Cobb County, is one of the younger members of the present House of Repre
sentatives, but he went
about the duties of a. legis
lator like a veteran. His
experience in public af
fairs, his close association with many of the men who
have helped to make the history of the State, af forded him an education in public affairs and a
knowledge of conditions
that thoroughly equipped
him for the performance
of the high responsibili
ties of the lawmaker. Being thus qualified, he applied himself with
a conscientious devotion to the duties of his office that quickly won
the confidence and esteem of his colleagues. His training as a law
yer, practicing for the last two years as assistant to the solicitor-
general of the Blue Ridge Circuit, made him ready on his feet, and
as a debater, the present House, replete as it is with good talkers and
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135
men of argumentative minds, has never found Mr. Morris at a dis advantage. He takes keen delight in a skirmish, in which his ready wit and bright style of putting things are displayed to excellent ad vantage, and almost invariably to the cost of the opposition. In the series of railroad legislation proposed at the opening of the ses sion he took sides with the party led by Mr. Hall of Bibb oh this particular line, and in the debate he was an able second to that dis tinguished champion of the Constitution. Mr. Morris was also ag gressive in the demand for retrenchment in public expenditures, a reform that would hold the State government within the bounds of its income and in keeping with the depressed condition of private affairs. Though born in the country and still retaining his own in terests in the country, Mr. Morris was bold enough to advocate the contraction of the common-school fund as a step in the interest of the country people, whom he contended were unable to bear the burden of taxation thus entailed upon them, and he as much as any other member is entitled to credit for the fiscal reforms accom plished by this Legislature.
Mr. Morris was born in Cherokee County, April 2, 1865. He has been a Democrat all his life, and in the politics of Cobb County . where he has lived his boyhood, except for the years 1886 to 1891 spent in California, he has been a quantity of decided importance for some years past. As a lawyer he enjoys a large and lucrative practice, his firm being one of the busiest in the Blue Ridge Circuit. He graduated in the law class of 1893, from the University of Georgia, and is a steadfast friend of his alma mater. In the contest for the nomination for the Legislature, he led the ticket, receiving over two-thirds of the full vote cast.
JOHN M. MULLIN, Representative from Meriwether County, was born in Lovelace, Troup County, Ga., June 25, 1871. His home is at Stinson. He is a farmer by occupation and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature, and he has held no other public office. His opponents in the Democratic primary were A. H. and Dave Freeman. In the general election his opponents were H. A. Florence and T. L. Bowden, Populists.
J. T. NEWTON, Representative from Morgan County, was born February 28, 1854, at Pennington, Morgan County, Ga., where he still resides. He is a farmer by occupation, and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office.. He had no opposition either in the primary or general election.
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THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
Hon. J. W. Overstreet.
SCREVEN COUNTY is represented in the present House by a young man who enjoys a popularity that is rarely attained during the service of his first term by any member of the General Assembly. Hon. James W. Overstreet was a popu lar man at home before he came to the Legislature, his selection to represent his county in the House being in fact due to the high esteem in which he was held by his neighbors and friends. The Demo cratic party realized that it had a hard fight on its hands in the late election, if the county was to be saved from the Populists, who had established a stronghold there. Their candidate for the House was H. S. White, recognized as a man of ability and strength with all classes of people, despite his politics. To defeat him it was neces sary for the Democrats to put out a candidate who possessed ex traordinary qualities to commend him to the countys support. In this emergency Mr. Overstreet, one of the ablest young lawyers of his section, and the proprietor of the Sylvania Telephone, was selected. He was born and raised in Screven County, a member of a family that had long exercised a dominant influence in public affairs, and these recommendations, coupled with his genial capacity for mak ing friends, gave the party managers hope of success. The cam paign was one of the hottest fought anywhere in the State, Mr. Overstreet displaying a brilliance and energy in his leadership that would have done credit in a wider field of political effort. The re sult was a rout of the Populists, and complete redemption of the county from their control. Mr. Overstreet received many congratu lations upon his victory from party leaders all over the State, and when he came to claim his seat in the House he was given a warm welcome by all hands. Mr. Overstreet is a graduate of Mercer Uni-
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137
versity. He won a reputation as an eloquent speaker at college and was chosen anniversarian of the Phi Delta Theta Society in 1888. Upon the floor of the House he has more than once sustained his reputation for both eloquence and argument.
JAMES M. PACE, Representative from Newton County, was born in Newton County, Georgia. His home is in Covington. He is a lawyer, and a graduate of Emory College. He is a Democrat in politics. This is his second term in the Legislature. He was a member of the constitutional convention in 1877, and was mayor of Covington for twelve years. Mr. Beatley, Populist, was his oppo nent in his race for the Legislature.
Hon. J. B. Park, Jr.
NO MAN in Greensboro or Greene County is more prominent in every matter of public in terest and advancement than Capt. James B. Park, Jr., Representative from that county, nor is there any who has more loyal friends and admirers than he. He is a young man thoroughly identified with the county since his boy hood ; who has been re peatedly honored by the people, and who has proved faithful to every trust reposed in him, and equal to every duty he has ever assumed. Captain Park was born in Greene County in 1854, and is now 43 years of age. He is the eldest son of Hon. James B. Park, Sr., himself one of the most distinguished, usefuland honored citizens of that county. After a primary education he entered Emory College at Oxford, and there graduated in 1874, taking a high stand in his class. After his graduation he studied law under Judge P. B. Rob inson, and was admitted to the bar. He is a close student, with a trained legal mind, and he \s looked upon as one ofthe ablest and
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strongest members of the bar of his circuit. He has held the posi tion of county solicitor of the criminal court for many years; has served several times as solicitor-gen.ral pro tem of the Superior Court of the Ocmulgee Circuit, and is recognized as a splendid officer and criminal lawyer.
Captain Park was for eighteen years treasurer of Greene County, voluntarily retiring from the position. He was also a member of the city council, and treasurer of the city of Greensboro for sixteen years, resigning these positions despite the desire of his friends for him to hold them. He is prominent in military circles, being at present captain of the Greene Rifles, having been identified \\ith the company s nee its organization and having I een twice elected first lieutenant and captain, and resigning to be again called by the mili tary young men to serve them.
Captain Park was nominated for the Legislature by the Demo cratic party of Greene County in 1894, receiving in the nomination the largest vote ever given by the party to a nominee. When the experimental farm was first established, he was appointed as one of the directors, and to this position he has been repeatedly reappointed by each succeedi .g Governor.
JOHN P. PADGETT, Representative from Echols County, was born Januarys, 1869, in Echols County, Georgia. His home is at Statenville. He is a farmer by occupation and in politics he is a Democrat. This his is first term in the Legislature. He was justice of the peace for eight years, having been elected at the age of 22. He has served his party in various capacities. His opponent in his race for the Legislature was J. A. Carter, Independent Democrat.
THOMAS ANDREW PATE, Representative from Gwinnett County, was born November 7, 1855, n Walton County, Georgia. His home is at Snellville. He is a farmer and merchant by occupa tion and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He his served as a justice of the peace from 1886 to the present time. Was teacher in the public schools for seventeen years. His opponents in his race for the Legislature wereSamuel Craigand A M. Baxter, Populists.
WALTER PARK, Representative from Troup County, was born in Tuskegee, Ala., February 28, 1870. His home is in LaGrange. He is a lawyer by profession and in politics he is a Demo crat. This is his first term in the Legislature, and he has held no other public office. He-has served his party in various capacities. His opponents in the race for the Legislature were H. Banks, J. H. Carter and J. D. Covin.
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Hon. W A. Post.
NO MAN in the present Legislature com
mands a more general
respect and admiration for
his many fine qualities
than the Hon. W. A. Post,
Representative from Cow-
eta County. He is a lib
eral-minded man of af
fairs, regards his position
as Representative as one
of high public trust,
and in the performance of
this trust has set an ex
ample worthy of emula
tion. He is a member of
all the more important
committees, and has not only paid the strictest attention to this branch of his work, but has also maintained an active part in the development of all leading subjects upon the floor. Mr. Post is the senior member of the wellknown law firm of Post & Post, with offices at both Newnan and Grantville, at which latter place he resides. He is a director in the Grantville Hosiery Mills and the Grantville Ginning and Manufac turing Company, besides operating one of the finest farms in his county and attending to a large law practice. He is now and has been for years mayor of his town, and is also chairman of the board of education of Coweta County. His first legislative experience was gained in i88o-8i, when he represented his county in the House, serving on the general judiciary, penitentiary and other important committees. Although he was among the youngest members of that House, he was recognized as one of the most active and effi cient, just as he is in the present House. Since this first term in the Legislature, nearly twenty years ago. Mr. Post has devoted all his time and energies to his profession and business affairs, with the exception of serving his community in strictly local matters; and it was only at the earnest solicitation of his friends who remembered his former valuable services in the Legislature t.hat he consented to again come back to the capital as their representative.
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Hon. W. W. Price.
I N SOME respects the most unique figure in the present House i
Hon. Weldon W. Price, of Oconee County. As a type of the big-hearted
liberal-handed, wholesouled, plain-spoken North Georgia farmer, he would form a fine subject for a Bret Harte or Mark Twain, had either selected the South as a background for his pictures of life or the well-spring of quaint humor. For four terms "Price of Oconee" has been upon the rolls of the House of Representatives, and in the midst of statesmen from Tybee to the Chattahoochee he has always been as refreshing as a breath from the mountains whence he came. He is the "hail-fellow-wellmet" of this sedate body; but underlying a jovial disposition and an irresistible aptness for seeing a ridiculous or humorous side to the dusty dryness of most legislation, there is a vein of sincerity and devotion to principle that has never failed to win for him the honest friendship and confidence of colleagues and constituents alike. Being a horny-handed son of toil himself, a farmer who was born with the love of the fields in his blood, and for whom no other call ing that took him. away from the bosom of that nature which he loves would be satisfying, he has always been the champion of the people who so\v and reap and earn bread by the sweat of th.eir faces. He has beentheir tireless mouthpiece in the present Assembly, bearing their cry for relief to the ears of the lawmakers. Retre chmerit in public expenditures has been his watchword, and tax reduc tion the goal of his highest endeavor. , A man of undaunted courage, patriotic to the core and full of the spirit of adventure, "Price of Oconee" rendered valiant service to his people in the darkest days of the Civil War, and was .a bold fig ure in the troublous times of reconstruction. Then it was that his rugged character first began to inipre.-s itself upon his people, who
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have ever since continued to trust and honor him. Aside from his legislative duties, he has been sheriff and tax-receiver of his county and held many other posts of public confidence, being called upon always to bear the brunt whenever his party had a hard fight ahead.
MORGAN RAWLS, Representative from Effingham County, was born in Bulloch County, Georgia; his home is at Guyton. By occupation he is a farmer, and in politics a Democrat. He has served eight terms in the Legislature, having served his first term in 1863; has served about half of the terms since that time. He was a captain and lieutenant-colonel in the Confederate army; member of State convention in 1865; elected to and served in the Forty-third Congress from the First Congressional District of Georgia; elected to the Legislature in 1863, while in the army, re turning to the aimy after the close of the session. Was severely wounded in the battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864. In his race for the Legislature his opponent was a Populist, whom he defeated by a majority of 251.
JAMES R. RAWLS, Representative from Wilkinson County, was born in Wilkinson County. Georgia, October 12, 1847; *s a farmer by occupation, and a Democrat in politics. This is his first term in the Legislatur . Stephensville is his home, where he has served as postmaster for twenty-five years. He was county com missioner for six years and a member of the board o education of the county for two years. In the Democratic primary his oppo nent was John F. Burke. In the general election he was opposed by E. J. Denson, Populist.
WILLIAM R. REID, Representative from Taliaferro County, was born in Taliaferro County; his home is at Crawfordsville in that county, where he is engaged in the mercantile and several other businesses; is also a farmer. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He was a member of the city council of Crawfordsville during 1886 and 1887. He has served his party in various capacities. In his race for the Legislature his op ponent was a Populist.
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THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
Hon. J. S. Reynolds.
J OSEPH SHEWMAKE REYNOLDS, of Rich mond County, repre sents one of the most im port constituencies in the State. He comes of a family of legislators and statesmen. There has hardly been a Legislature for several generations back in which some branch of his family has not had the honor of rep resenting Burke, his native county. His ancestors on both sides were among the pioneer settlers of that county, and they have always been leaders in social and political as well as business affairs. Mr. Reynolds, who is one of the youngest men in the present Assembly, is a lawyer by profession. He was admitted to the bar after having studied law in Augusta, in December, 1896, before Judge Enoch Galloway. Since that time his rise in his chosen profession has been most extraordinary. His eloquence and keen insight in dealing with human nature in the many varied forms presented to the lawyer, has made him a bril liant reputation in criminal cases. In civil practice his ability has been acknowledged by several of the largest manufacturing con cerns and corporations in the city of Augusta, which have retained him as regular counsel, though he has been but a few years regu larly engaged in the practice of his profession. Mr. Reynolds has a fine appearance and came to the House with the reputation of a finished speaker. His speeches upon the floor of the House are always listened to with attention and always highly enjoyed for their well-rounded sentences and finished periods. In the recent munici pal campaigns in Augusta, Mr. Reynolds has taken some part, making a number of good speeches in behalf of Hon. Patrick Walsh, in the hot fight through which he passed in his recent elec tion to the office of mayor. His election to the House of Repre sentatives was without solicitation upon his part and without op position a high compliment to a young man just making his ad vent in public affairs.
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143
M. M. RICHARDSON, Representative from Hart County, was born in 1840, in Elbert County, Georgia; his home is at Hartwell. By profession he is a lawyer and a farmer, in politics a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. Was tax-collector for his his county for one term, 1865 and 1866, and was clerk of the Superior Court for fourteen years, from 1881 to 1896. He entered the Uni versity of Georgia in 1867, taking a regular A.M. course. In the fall of 1869, he entered the law class of the University, and gradu ated in that class the following year, after which he taught school for several years.
J. S. ROGERS, Representative from Marion County, was born in Marion County, Georgia; his home is at Doyle. By occupation he is a farmer, and in politics a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. He has served his party in Marion County in various capacities. He was opposed in his race for the House by M. T. Edge, Populist.
Hon. D. P. Rose.
H ON. DAVID P. ROSE, Representa tive from Camden County, was born in Sa vannah, Ga., March I, 1859. He is a lawyer by profession, but does not confine himself strictly to the practice of his profes sion. He is one of the largest rice-planters in the State, and has other large commercial interests which give him a wide in fluence in his section. He is public-spirited and lib eral in his methods, and is deservedly popular with all classes of people, from the hands employed upon his plantations to the polished professional men whom he meets at the Savannah bar and in the other courts of the State. Mr. Rose has never aspired to hold public office except when he might, by reason of his broad
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THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
experience and successful business methods, render some especial service to his people. He takes a special interest in educational mat ters, and is an old member of the board of education of his county, as well as a member of the commission of roads and revenues. He is president of the Camden County Agricultural Association, and sec retary of the Young Mens Democratic Association, in all of which positions his sole aim has been to be a benefit to the people among whom he lives, and assist in the development of the State, which he loves with the spirit of a true patriot. There is a strong Repub lican vote in Camden County as well as a considerable number of Populists. Mr. Rose considered it a matter of public duty when he became a candidate for the Legislature, and in that spirit he made the race, though in doing so his own large private interests were de prived of his attention. There is no more genial gentleman in the Legislature than the big-hearted member from Camden. He pos sesses a. large degree of that subtle force called personal magnetism, and if he chose to enter the political arena for the sake of politics, this quality, coupled with professional and business ability of a high order, would make him a formidable candidate for any place to which he might aspire.
R. Y. RUDICILL, Representative from Chattooga County, was born in 1832, in Spartanburg, S. C.; his home is at Trion. By pro fession he is a physician, and in politics a Democrat. He has served three terms in the Legislature, viz., i874-75i l ^95~97 a"d i8gS-gg. Was surgeon of the Sixth Regiment of Georgia Cavalry under Gen. Joseph Wheeler, during the war between the States. Was opposed in his race for the Legislature by Mr. Oglesby, Fusionist.
BERRY F. SIMPSON, Representative from Milton County, was born February 21, 1858, in Walton County, Georgia; his home is in Alpharetta. By profession he is a lawyer, and in politics a Democrat. He has Served two terms in the Legislature; has held no other public office; he was both times nominated and elected by the Democrats of Milton County, the last time by the largest ma jority any candidate for Representative ever received in the county. His opponent was Lee B. Fiiendly, Populist.
H. H. SINGLETON, Representative from Schley County, is a farmer and merchant. Was born in Sumpter County, Georgia; his home is at LaCrosse. In politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature, and he has held no other public office, but has served his party in various capacities in his county. In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by T. F. Rainey, Populist.
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145
Hon. John M. Slaton.
JOHN MARSHALL SLATON, of the lawfirm of Glenn, Slaton
& Phillips, was born in Meriwether County, Geor
gia, December 25, 1866, and lived for five years on a plantation that had be
longed to the family more than one hundred years.
From this extensive plan tation he moved in 1871 to Spalding County, Georgia,
and during the four suc ceeding years attended a
small country school of that neighborhood. In 1875 he came to Atlanta, and passed with distinction through the grades of the public schools and received a diploma from the Boys High School in 1880. He then entered the Sophomore Class of the University of Georgia at Athens, and at once asserted a leadership which continued throughout his entire course, and was graduated with first honor and M. A. degree in July, 1886. He returned to Atlanta, and, having determined in early boyhood to become a lawyer, entered upon his studies with this intention in the office of Hopkins & Glenn. After thorough study he was admitted to the bar in July, 1887, and began practice alone, continuing until February, 1893, when he formed a partner ship with John T. Glenn. When Mr. Glenn succeeded Hon. Hoke Smith in the firm of Smith, Glenn & Smith, the partnership of Glenn & Slaton was dissolved and Mr. Slaton resumed practice alone. Subsequently he renewed the old partnership with Mr. Glenn, the firm being now as above stated. Mr. Slaton is a young Democrat of the old Jeffersonian stripe, and amid the political tumult of to-day espouses and maintains the principles that have g.uided the party in the past. In 1891 Mr. Slaton was honored by election to the presidency of the Young Mens Democratic League, an organization of about two thou sand members composed of the leading spirits of the city. Mr. Slatonis a Mystic Shriner, past grand of the I. O. O. F., past 10
146
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
sachem of the Comanche Tribe, Independent Order of Red Men, and a member of Capital City Lodge, Knights of Pythias. He is a Methodist by religious faith and belongs to Trinity Methodist Church, of Atlanta. Mr. Slaton is serving his second term in the Legislature, having been re-elected last summer upon the record he made in his first term. He is a careful and energetic legislator. In recognition of his high abilities he was made chairman of the general judiciary committee, the most important of the House standing committees. Upon this committee rests the burden of a majority of the important legislation, and the man who fills the chairmanship must be resourceful, broad and full of energy. He ranks next to the Speaker. That Mr. Slaton has fully measured up to the require ments of his important trust, his fellow members testify to a man. The arduous duties of the judiciary committee have not, however, prevented Mr. Slaton from taking a leading part in all the important debates on the floor, and as a speaker he has carried off the laurels in more than one brilliant contest of logic and eloquence.
WILLFORD B. SLOAN, Representative from Hall County, was born in Cartersville, Bartow County, Ga., September 18, 1867; his home is at Flowery Branch, and he is a lawyer by profession; in politics he is a Democrat. This is his fir.-^t term in the Legislature. During 1895 and 1896 he was mayor of his home town, and served during the year 1896 as chairman of the Democratic executive com mittee of Hall County. In his race for the Legislature he was op posed by H. H. Stephens and E. F. Little, Populists.
A. R. SMITH, Representative from Hall County, was born July 3- !855; his home is in Gainesville. By profession he is a lawyer, and in politics a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legisla ture. He was clerk of the Superior Court of Hall County for four teen years, from 1885 to 1898, inclusive, and has served his party in Hall County in various capacities. In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by E. F. Little and H. H. Stephens, Populists.
EDWARD CHRISTIAN SPEER, Representative from Sumter
County, was born near Griswoldville, Jones County, Ga. Americus
is now his home. By profession he is a lawyer, and in politics a
,. Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He served
for a long time on the Democratic executive committee of Sumter
County, and also has served on the Democratic Congressional ex
ecutive committee; he was secretary of the Democratic club of
Sumter County during the 1898 campaign. In his rate for the
Legislature he was opposed by William Pilcher and George Seig,
Populists.
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THE OFFICIAL-SKETCH BOOK.
147
Hon A. C. Stone.
4 LONZO C. STONE, L\ Representative from
Walton County, is a prominent attorney of Monroe. Having been born and reared on a farm near that thriving little city, he gained his educa tion by his own" efforts, and has attained his pres ent high place in his pro fession strictly upon his merits. He worked his own way through Emory College, graduating with the class of 1888. After this period he read law without the aid of instruct ors, and was admitted to the bar in 1891, opening up an office at Monroe, which he still occupies. In 1890 he was chosen chairman of the Democratic executive committee of Walton County and filled that position for four years, responding to every call made upon him for the party s good and materially advancing its interests by his able administration. Mr. Stone was chosen mayor of Monroe and served two terms, and in a heated contest for the Legis lature in 1896 was nominated to the House. In the general election, after a contest with the Populists, he raised the Democratic majority more than a thousand votes above what it was in the preceding elec tion, the party having won in 1894 by the slim majority of fortyeight votes. After such a magnificent showing as this his renomination for the present House was a matter of course, and he is therefore now serving his second .term. In the last Legislature Mr. Stone was one of the leading spirits in the formulation of the new penitentiary lease act. The law as finally passed was a com promise between his bill and that presented by Hon. Hewlett A. Hall, chairman of the penitentiary committee.
148
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
Hon. L. Q. Stubbs.
Hr ON. L. Q. STUBBS, Representative from
Laurens County, i s
another of the younger
element of the present
Legislature who enjoys
the distinction of having
redeemed his county from
Populism by the force of
his own individuality. As
a newspaper man and en
terprising man of business,
Mr. Stubbs had made his
influence felt upon the af
fairs of Laurens County
before he was selected as
the standard-bearer of the
Democratic party in the
last election, when Populism was making its life-and-death stand in
every corner of the State where it had gained a foothold. In Laurens
County they had things in a swing, so to speak, and it therefore re
quired no little confidence and ability to make a winning fight
against it. The older party leaders were not at all eager to take upon
themselves the responsibility of the situation, and in this emergency
Mr. Stubbs, who had already won a State-wide reputation as editor
of the Dublin Gazette and the Dublin New Era, was put in the van.
The campaign he made was remarkable for the energy and ability
for organization displayed by the young leader. The result of it
was a complete routed all along
victory for Democracy, the Populists having been {he line, Mr. Stubbs own majority being approxi
mately five hundred votes. When it is considered that in the pre
ceding campaign the Populists tide of ballots was a brilliant
were the victors, this turning of the political achievement. Mr. Stubbs
was mayor of istration that
the city of Dublin place was built up
for five terms. Under from a small village to
his its
admin present
thriving condition, being one of the most important of the smaller
cities of the State. He is a native of Laurens County, having first
seen the light of day there April 3, 1864, at the time when Georgia
was in the throes of revolution.
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149
Hon. Q. W. M. Tatum.
G W. M.TATUM, Repm resentative from Dade County, was born in Trenton, Dade County, Ga., November 25, 1852, where he still lives. He has served six terms in the Legislature. He is a merchant and dealer in live stock. In politics he is a Democrat. He is Master of Trenton Lodge, F. & A. M. In his race for the Legislature he had no opposition and received all the votes cast.
A. H. STURGIS, Representative from McDuffie County, was born in Columbia County, Georgia, in the year 1842. His home is in Thomson. He is a farmer by occupation and in politics he is a Populist. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other office. In his race for the Legislature he had no opposition.
A. IRWIN SMITH, Representative from Hancock County, was born September 21, 1842, in Hancock, Ga.; he is a farmer and mer"chant; in politics he is a Democrat; he has served three terms in the Legislature; he was commissioner of Hancock County from 1886 to 1895, inclusive, and he has served his party in various capacities.
O. N. STARR, Representative from Gordon County, was born in Gordon County, Georgia, July 20, 1854. His home is in Calhoun. He is a lawyer by profession and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the House of Representatives, but he served one term in the Senate, representing the Forty-third District in the General Assembly of iSgo-g/. Was never a candidate for any other office, and never held any other. His opponent in his race for the House was John B. Griffin, Populist. The latter had repre sented the county in the House for two terms as a Populist.
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THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
VIRGIL A. STEW ART, Representative from Murray County, was born in Fannin County, Georgia, November 2, 1849. His home is at Spring Place. He is engaged in farming and milling. In poli tics he is a Populist. This is his first term in the Legislature. He served as a notary public and justice of the peace from 1884 to 1894. He has held no other public office. In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by W. J. Peeples, Democrat.
BENJAMIN L.TISINGER, Representative from Upson County, was born in Talbot County, Georgia, January 21, 1866. His home is at Thomaston. He is a lawyer by profession and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He has held no other office with the exception of having been a member of the city council of Thomaston. In his race for the House he was opposed by R. M. McFarlin, Populist.
THOMAS MADISON SWIFT, Representative from Elbert County, was born November to, 1847, in Elberton, Elbert County, Ga.. where he stiil resides. He is a manufacturer, banker and farmer. In politics he is a Democrat. He has served two terms in the House of Representatives. He has served on the board of county commissioners of his county and as a councilman in his home town from 1874 to 1896. He has also been a member of the Democratic executive committee of his county. T. C. Vandiver, Populist, was his opponent in his race for the Legislature.
PAUL TURNER, Representative from Henry County, was born at McDonough, Henry County, Ga., October 29, 1869. He is a
merchant at McDonough. In politics he is a Democrat. He has
served two terms in the Legislature. He is chairman of the Demo cratic executive committee of Henry County and has served his
party in various capacities. In the Democratic primary he was
opposed by R. F. Smith, whom he defeated by 100 votes. In the general election his opponent was W. J. Combs, Populist.
!
C. H. TURNER, Representative from Rockdale County, was ( born in Newton County, Georgia, March 30, 1849; his home is at Coriyers. By profession he is a physician, and in politics a Dem
ocrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no
other public office; he has served his party in various capacities; he
was graduated in-1870 at the University of New York, and after wards located at Conyers. In his race for the Legislature he was
opposed by J. R. Irwin, Populist.
.,
THE OFFICIAL. SKETCH-BOOK.
15!
WILLIAM CAPERS WADE, Representative from Brooks County, was born ifi Brooks County, Morven district, September to, 1872; his home is at Quitman. He is an attorney at law, and editor of the Quitman Free Press; in politics a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office; never offered for any office until 1898, when he opposed Capt. J. G. McCall for the nomination for the House in the Democratic primary. Mr. Wades majority was 50. In the general election he had no opposition.
JOHN J. UPCHURCH, Representative from Charlton County, was born March 18, 1861, at Callahan, Fla ; his home is at Moniac, Ga. By occupation he is a lumberman, and in politics a Democrat. He has served two terms in the Georgia Legislature. In i886-87 he was a member of the Legislature of Florida, in which State he resided at that time. In his race for the Legislature he vis op posed by A. G. Gowan, Populist.
WILLIAM J. WALKER, Representative from CrawfordCounty, was born March 29, 1850. By occupation he is a farmer, and in politics a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office; he has served on and is now a member of the Democratic executive committee of Crawford County. In the Democratic primary he was opposed by J. N. Smith, over whom he was elected by a majority of fifty-six votes.
DR. E. W. WATKINS, Representative from Gilmer County, was born in Jackson County, Georgia. His home is at Ellijay. He is a physician and farmer. In politics he is a Democrat. He has served three terms in the Legislature. He has held the following offices in his county: Member of board of education, clerk of the county Superior Court, judge of the inferior court, mayor of Ellijay three terms. He was opposed in his race for the Legislature by J. D. Blalock, Republican.
J. W. WHITELEY, Representative from Glascock County, was born in Gibson, Glascock County, Ga., in 1872. His home is at Gibson, where he is engaged in the mercantile business, and he is also editor of the Gibson Record, a Democratic paper. He is a Democrat in politics. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other public office. He is an ex-secretary of the Democratic executive committee of Glascock County. The Popu lists carried this county in 1892, 1894 and 1896. Mr. Whiteley was opposed by John P. Alien, Populist.
152
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
J. C. TRACY, Representative from Dooly County, was born August 2, 1850. His home is at Cordele. He is a farmer by oc cupation and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature and he has held no other office. In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by J. M. V. Williams, Populist.
F. M. WILLIAMS, Representative from Lumpkin County, was born in 1831, in Blount County, Tennessee. His home is at Dahlonega, where he is engaged in the mercantile business. In politics he is a Democrat. He has served two terms in the Legislature. He served as ordinary of Lumpkin County for twelve years, from 1885 to 1897. He was a captain in the Confederate army and served throughout the war. He was opposed in his race for the Legislature by Samuel M. Grizzle, Republican.
BARTOW S. WILLINGHAM, Representative from Monroe County, was born in Warren County, July 27, 1860. His home is at Forsyth. He is a lawyer by profession and in politics he is a Democrat. He has served two terms in the Legislature. He was clerk of the committee on foreign affairs of the Fifty-second Con gress, and was mayor of Forsyth for one term. He has never held any party position. He was opposed in his race for the Legislature by T. J. Cheeveres and S. H. Zellner.
DELA F. WOODALL, Representative from Talbot County, was born May 23, 1860, at Pleasant Hill, Talbot County, Ga., where he still lives. He is a farmer by occupation and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature. He has served as a member of the board of education of Talbot County from March, 1897, until the present time. He has served the Democratic party in Talbot County in various capacities. In his race for the Legis lature he was opposed in the Democratic primary by Judge W. J. Weeks and S. B. Baldwin.
J. MERCER WOOTEN, Representative from Calhourj County,
was born in Dawson/Terrell County, Ga., November 23, 1860. By
occnpation he is a farmer and in politics he is a Democrat. This is
his first term in the Legislature. He has served as chairman of the
board of roads and revenues of his county and as a member of the
Democratic executive committee. In his race for the Legislature
he was opposed by Joe Harrold, Populist. Mr. Wooten was elected
by a vote of about two to one.
,
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
53
W. H. YATES, Representative from Catoosa County, was born in Catoosa County, Georgia, August 14, 1843. . He is a farmer by occupation and in politics he is a Democrat. He has served four terms in the Legislature. For twelve years he was a member of the board of county commissioners. In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by T. B. Carroll.
JONATHAN J. WOOD, Representative from Towns County, was born February 2, 1848, in Towns County, Georgia. His home is at Hiawassee. By occupation he is a farmer and in politics he is a Democrat. This is his first term in the Legislature, and he has held no other public office. In his race for the Legislature he was opposed by Ennis M. Sellers, Republican.
Hon. Sam E. Berry.
T HE subject of this sketch was born Oc tober 3, 1853, irf Whitfield County, Georgia, in which county he has con tinuously resided, with the exception of four or five years spent in Murray County, teaching. He was reared on a farm and was taught amongother things, to plow, hoe, and dig. He received such an education . as the best schools of the country afforded. His father, M. P. Berry, who. is at present the efficient county school commis sioner, was his teacher, and from him he received the greater por tion of his instruction. Having an unusually bright mind, he made rapid advancement, and by the time he was seventeen years old he began teaching. He was connected with some of the best highgrade schools for eight years, at the end of which time he moved to Dalton, and engaged in the wholesale and retail hardware business, in partnership with his brother, T. A. Berry. He is at present man-
154
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
ager of the Berry-Bryant Hardware Co., one of the largest and most successful houses in North Georgia. At the age of twenty he married Miss Elizabeth Bryant, the only daughter of the late Judge John Bryant, of Murray County. Three boys and three girls ornament their happy home.
Mr. Berry has been and is now connected with a great many en terprises looking to the welfare of the community in which he lives, being president of the board of trustees of the public schools of the city of Dalton, and also treasurer of the board of trustees of Daltoh Female College. In 1896 he became a candidate for the Legislature, and after a heated contest for the nomination, and also against the Populists candidate, he was elected by a large majority. During the first session he made a fine record and at its close he was selected as one of the five men to examine the various de partments and institutions of the State, and will go down in history as one of the most active and conservative members of the cele brated Blalock Committee.
THE GOVERNORS MILITARY STAFF.
Governor Candler has surrounded himself with military aides, who, individually and collectively, do credit to his good taste and discrimination. Their rank and position is largely ornamental, to be sure, but each man of them is "every inch a colonel" and should the emergency arise they would all ride out upon the battle-field as gallantly as they sustain the dignity of the administration in times of peace. Among Governor Candlers aides are some of the best-known men in the State, progressive professional and business men, as well as veterans of the lost cause who have seen real soldiering.
COL. R. J. LOWRY,
of Atlanta, is one of the
leading figures in the
growth and history of the
capital city. He has lived
here almost all his life,
and though never in poli
tics except to help friends
and advance the interests
of the city and State, he
is one of the most popular
men personally in the
community. Colonel
Lowry is president of the
Lowry Banking Company,
and enjoys the distinction
of having served as presi
LIEU t EN ANT-COLONEL ROBERT J. LOWRY.
dent of the American Bankers Association, the
greatest financial association in this country. He is an able business man, and a liberal, public-spirited citizen. When Governor Candler set about making up his military staff Colonel Lowry was the first to be tendered an appointment. Colonel Lowry is personally a handsome, magnetic man, and his social disposition makes him an idea-1 military aide to the governor of a great State.
1 56
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
LIEUTENANT-COL
ONEL C. C. NICHOLLS
is a representative of the
successful young business
men of the capital city.
He is the head of the well
known firm of Nicholls &
Holliday, who handle the
vast advertising business
of the Atlanta Constitution
and other publications.
Colonel Nicholls was born
near Athens, in 1866, in
the midst of the trying
times that came at the
close of the Civil War. He
attended the common
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL C. C. NICHOLLS.
schools of Clarke County and went to the State Uni
versity, after which lie began his business career in this city, a pro
tege of the lamented Henry W. Grady, who saw in him those quali
ties that have since made him the most successful man in his line in
the South. Col. Xicholls
was intimately associated
with Mr. Grady in several
enterprises, the great edi
tor having unbounded con
fidence in his sound busi
ness judgment and progres
sive ideas and methods.
Colonel Nicholls is/ part
owner of The Suhny Soiith,
which has conie to be
recognized as the repre
sentative literary paper of
the South, having attained
under his management a
very large circulation and
enjoying a fine advertising
patronage.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ALBERT G. FOSTER.
THE OFFICIAL SKKTCH-BOOK.
157
GOVERNOR CAND-
LER has on his staff at
least one man of the
younger generation who
has "smelt gunpowder,"
though, strictly speaking,
he is not a veteran. He is
Lieutenant-Colonel Robt.
B. Cramer. Col. Cramer
as the correspondent of
the Atlanta Constitution in
the Spanish-American war
won wide reputation. He
was on the firing line at
Santiago and was present
at the surrender, having
followed General Shatters
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ROBERT B. CRAMER.
army throughout that cam paign, sending his paper
reports of the engagements and movements of both the army and
navy which were eagerly read and greatly enjoyed by the public.
Colonel Cramer and Governor Candler became fast friends in the
governors campaign for
the nomination and his
commission on the staff
was tendered as a mark of
the high appreciation in
which the Governor held
his newspaper friends
work. Personally, Colo
nel Cramer isa hail-fellow-
well-met, and no appoint
ment the Governor has
yet made was so pleasing
to the friends of the ap
pointee as that of this
brilliant young newspaper
man. As a political writer
Col. Cramer has made a
high reputation inGeorgia,
and among the politicians
is held almost a prophet.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL B. B. BOWER, JR.
I 58
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
LI KUTEN ANT-COLO-
N E L HARRY SIL
VERMAN is a soldier by
instinct and his appoint
ment to a commission on
the staff was due to his
enthusiastic interest in
military affairs, though
Governor Candler had no
more sincere and hard
working friend than he in
the race for the Demo
cratic nomination. Colonel
Silverman since his boy
hood has been identified
with the military life of
Atlanta and the State.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL HARRY S1LVERMAN.
For years he was one of the mainstays of the Gate
City Guard, contributing largely in energy and funds to the estab
lishment of that command in its present firm condition. At the out
break of the Spanish-American war he was tendered a lieutenants
commission in the Third
Georgia Regiment by
Governor Atkinson, and
at the sacrifice of his
large business interests he
accepted, raising by his
individual efforts probably
more men for the ranks
than any other officer in
the regiment. , Colonel
Silverman remained with
the regiment until hostili
ties ceased and it became
certain that it would see
n6 active service, when he
resigned his commission
and returned to his busi
ness in Atlanta. Shortly
after his return he was appointed a member of, th,Fe
: LIEUTENANT-COLONEL H. W. WO; ODING.
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
59
staff by Governor Candler in recognition of his patri otic enthusiasm and liber ality at the time when the State was in need of the military spirit.
LIEUTENANT-COLO NEL B. B. BOWER, JR., is a member of the House of Representatives from Decatur County a young
man of social disposition and great popularity. He is a son of Judge B. B. Bower, and is a lawyer by
profession.
LIEUTENANT-COLO
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ROBERT RILEY.
NEL ALBERT G. FOS TER, of Madison, is well
and favorably known by the public men of the State. For several
years he was connected with some of the important committees of
the Senate and House as Clerk, and also as Deputy Secretary
of the Senate. ^Colonel
Foster belongs to one of
the most influential fami
lies in Middle Georgia, his
father being Colonel Fos
ter of Morgan County
He is a young man of
brilliant mind, having done
some exceptionally fine
work for the State press
before taking up the pro
fession of law, which he
has now made his life-
work. He acted as secre
tary to Congressma-i Howard during his first
term, but resigned tha
position to undertake the
practice of law.
JOHN T. HAUNSON
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THE OFFICIAL SKKTCH-BOOK.
LI KUTENANT-COLO-
NELJ.H.HEERYis the
senior member of the large
retail house of J. H. Heery
& Co., of Reidsville, Ga.
He is a business man
whose high qualifications
have been demonstrated
by success, his house being
one of the largest in that
part of the State. Colonel
Heery andGovernor Cand-
ler have long been
friends, and in the cam
paign, which was particu
larly warm in that locality,
Colonel Heery threw him
self into the breach and
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL J. H. HEERY.
did valiant service in be half of his leader.
ANOTHER of the "young veterans" of the staff is Lieutenant-
Colonel J. Van Holt Nash. Jr., of Atlanta. Colonel Nash was one
of the first to offer his services to the State when war with Spain
was declared, and he was
commissioned a captain
in the Second Regiment
by Governor Candler, serv
ing with that command
until it was finally mus
tered out. Colonel Nash
has been continuously
identified with the., mili
tary of the State for the
past twelve years He
was first in the Gate City
Guard as a private, and
then . helped to organize
the Atlanta Rifles, being
made first sergeant.
From that position he rose
rapidly, on account of his
soldierly qualities, to lieu-
3^
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL J. VAN HOLT NASH, JR.
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
161
tenantand then to captain. At the outbreak of the war with Spain he was in command of the Atlanta Rifles, a large percentage of which company fol lowed him in tendering their services to the State. Colonel Nash is a fine soldier, and as a member of the Governors staff is held in the highest esteem.
IN APPOINTING JOHN T. HAUNSON, of Atlanta, upon his military staff Governor Candler gave recognition to the LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JAMES E. DONALDSON. railroad men of the State. Colonel Haunson is an en thusiastic member of the O. R. C., though at the present time con
nected with one of the city departments and not actively engaged in the railroad business. Colonel Haunson is a man of wide popularity in Atlanta and among the railroad frater nity generally, and his se lection for a staff position has caused much favorable comment among them.
LIEUTENANT-COLO
NEL H. W. WOODING is a business man. He is treasurer of the Maysville Manufacturing Co., large makers of chairs and dealers in lumber. He was an ardent supporter of Governor Candler in his candidacy for the nomina tion, and did much active
work in securing for him the hearty support of the business men of the State.
11
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JAMES w. DILLON.
162
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
LI ELTEX ANT- COL-
OX KL D. B. DYER, en
joys the novel distinction
of being, not only a Re
publican on the staff of a
Democratic Governor, but
a veteran of the Federal
army a G. A. R. man
serving as aide to a Con
federate veteran, which
goes to show how far true
men rise above policies and
dead issues when they have
once learned to know each
other as friends and fel-
lou- citizens. Colonel
Dyer, now one of the lead
ing citizens of Augusta,
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL D. B. DYER.
where he is universally liked and respected for his progressive spirit and liberal views on all questions, was born near Joliet, 111., and recalls with pleasure
his boyhood days spent on the farm. He with his father and brother went into the army and served during the entire war. In 1864 he
was captured by General Price after the battle of Pilot Knob, and held a prisoner for two weeks before he made his escape.
Colonel Dyer has had something of a varied experience since that time, a brief record of which discloses the fact that he has borne an ac
tive, stirring and important part in the various communities where he he has lived. He has been engaged in merchandising, banking, stock-
raising and railroading, besides having had fifteen years of intensely
interesting experience with the Indians. In 1869 he went West and either traded withthe Indians or acted as a representative of the
government uritil 1885, when he resigned and removed from the In dian Territory to Kansas City. During his Indian service1, he had in charge eight tribesin the northeast part of the Indian Territory,
the .most noted of which were the Lava Bed Modocs, who killed General Canby and Dr. Thomas, and scalped Colonel Meacham; these wild Indians he induced to take up civilized pursuits, and later
on he took charge of the wild and warlike Cheyennes and Arapahoes,
and succeeded in starting them on the white mans road. .
He has the largest private collection of Indian curiosities in the world and was given a diploma and medal at the Worlds Fair for it.
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK..
163
Besides his Indian experience, he has promoted many great en terprises and to-day is at the head of the street railway and electric lighting plant at Augusta, Ga., besides being interested in one of the street railways at Kansas City, and in a steamship line, and a large office-building that bears his name. He is president of the Georgia Railroad Land and Colonization Company. He has been an important factor in all movements for the advancement and upbuild ing of his section. The officers of the Sixth Georgia Regiment, to show their appreciation of his worth as a citizen, his courage and patriotism, tendered him the colonelcy of their regiment. He has always felt a profound sense of personal responsibility for the ad vancement of the section where he lives, and he has always been popular with all classes.
LIEUTENANT-COL
ONEL JOHN F. DE-
LACY is of Irish descent,
despite the spelling of his
name, and is proud of it.
He has lived nearly all his
life in South Georgia. He
studied law and was ad
mitted to the bar in Coffee
County, but removed to
Eastman in 1875. ^ e nas
been mayor of Eastman
several different times;
was elected to the Legis
lature in 1882 and again
in 1888. He was president
of the board of education
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHN F. DELACY.
of Dodge County for a number of years, and was
one of the Omaha Fair commissioners in 1898. Colonel DeLacy
is now serving as solicitor-general of the Oconee Circuit. The law
firm of DeLacy & Bishop, which has been in active practice since
1883, and has been assistant division counsel for the Southern Rail
way for a numberof years, representing the company in several
counties along its line, is one of the leading law firms of that section.
164
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
THERE ARE few bet
ter - known men in the
State than Lieutenant-
Colonel Samuel Altmeyer,
of Macon. Since remov
ing from New York to
that city in 1876 he has
taken an active part in
many movements looking
to the upbuilding of the
community in which he
lives and in the general
interest of the State.
Colonel Altmeyer began
life as a clerk fn a dry-
goods store, but by the
exercise of economy and
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL SAMUEL ALTMEYER.
good business judgment he was enabled to go into
business for himself, and he is now one of the most influential busi ness men in the Central City. He has served as alderman in the city government, and on the county executive co i.mittee, always taking an active interest in politics.
LIEUTENANT - COL-
ONEL ALFRED R. WILLINGHAM, of Macon, is the gifted son of Calder B. \Villingham, one of the foremost citizens of that place. He was born in Macon and has lived there all his life, except when attending college at Richmond. Colonel Wtllingham has always been interested in military af fairs. He graduated from Gordon Institute as cap tain of Cadets, and was a few months ago made cap tain of the Macon Huzzars.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ALFRED R. WtLLINGHAM.
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
165
LIEUTENANT-COLO
NEL JOHN CHARLES
WOODWARD is one of
the most prominent young
teachers in the State. He
was born in Butts County,
Georgia, July 26, 1866.
His father was a farmer of
the old Southern school.
Young Woodward, under
the tuition of his excellent
father, lived on a farm and
did farm and shop work,
and attended the common
schools of the county.
After a few years Mr.
Woodwards father moved
to Griffin, Ga., to his children-two
educate daugh-
"EUTEHANT-COUJNEL j. c. WOODWARD.
ters and five sons. At eighteen years of age Charles prevailed
upon his father to allow him to enter upon a college course, and being desirous of military training, he sent him to the North Geor gia Agricultural College, at Dahlonega. He was the senior captain in the cadet battalion and one of the best-trained officers in that
excellent body of young men. He was graduated in 1888 with first honor among a class of brilliant young men, all of whom have dis tinguished themselves more or less in their lines of business. During Mr. Woodwards college course he spent the summer vacations
teaching in the common schools of the State, thereby enabling him to pay a large part of his own expense while at college. In 1889 he accepted a place as teacher and commandant of cadets in Gainesville (Ga.) College; after one term he resigned this place and ac cepted a position in Jackson Institute, Jackson, Ga. The next year he was tendered and accepted the vice-presidency of Gordon Insti tute, Barnesville, Ga., where he succeeded in organizing a military feature in the school. After two years at Barnesville he accepted
the presidency of the Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural College in 1892. He is now ^superintendent of the Newnan public
schools.
166
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
LI EUTEN A NT-COLO
NEL T. L. HOLTON was
born in Appling County,
Georgia, January 9, 1867.
He graduated from the
State University, Law De
partment, in 1889, since
which time he has been
actively engaged in the
practice of law in Abbe-
ville, VVilcox County. In
October, 1893, he %vas ap-
pointed judge of the
County Court of VVilcox
County, and on December
31, 1896, was reappointed.
In January, 1898, he was
LIELTENANf-COLONEL T. L. HOLTON.
elected mayor of the city of Abbeville, and was re-
elected to that office again without opposition in January, 1899.
LIEUTENANT-COLO
NEL GEORGE BOARD-
MAN WHATLEV was
born at Beech Island, S. C.,
December 27, 1853. He
was reared in his native
district, Edgefield, now
Aiken County, until he
was 14 years of age; re
moved with his parents to
Scarboro, Ga., in 1867,
and four years later went
to Savannah,. Ga., where
he completed his educa
tion in the schools of that
city. He then taught
school in different parts
of Georgia for several years, stubd,yi.ng l,aw i.n the
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL G. B. WHATLEY.
meantime, and was admitted to the bar at Decatur, Ga., dn Septem
ber 25, 1877- Returning to Savannah,, he took a position in the
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
167
Central Railroad, which he held for several years, when he resigned and entered actively and successfully upon the practice of his pro fession in that city. Colonel Whatley was an ardent champion of Gen. Clement A. Evans for Governor in 1894. When Colonel Candler announced himself a candidate, "We will now take up the work where we left it in 1894" was his slogan for the campaign. He con tributed several able campaign articles to the press of the State which created much favorable comment, defending Governor Candler against attacks made upon him as to his position on finance and
the public schools.
Colonel Whatley is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Baptist Church. He was married on February I, 1882, to Miss Georgia Helen, daughter of John B. Ryals, of Montgomery County, Georgia, and that union has been blessed by the birth of a son and
three daughters.
LIEUTENANT-COLO-
NELW. P. LARAMORE
was born on his fathers
plantation, in Lee County.
He lived there and in the
town of Americus until he
was sixteen years of age,
and received the greater
portion of his schooling at
the Rylander Institute, in
Americus, afterward going
to Baltimore to engage in
business, remaining there
four years. From thence
he went to New York, still
in mercantile pursuit; but
in 1883 returned to Geor--
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL W. P. LARAMORE.
gia and took up mining,
which has since been his
occupation. He first opened a coal-mine in Alabama, but has oper
ated in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. In the last-named State
he put in the first plant for cutting coal by machinery operated in
the State. Colonel Laramore was married in 1876 to Miss Florida
Stephens, of Cartersville, Ga., which place is his home.
168
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ROBERT RILEV is the popular and efficient clerk to Ordinary VV. H. Hulsey, of Fulton County. Colonel Riley is an Atlantian to the manner born. He is a business man of fine abilities, as well as full of the military ardor. Colonel Riley began his military career with the Gate City GuarJ and has always taken a deep interest in the military affairs of the State. He is of a genial disposition, and has a host of friends who were gratified when the Governor took him from the ranks and made him a colonel.
LIEUTENANT-COL
ONEL FRANK M.
STAFFORD was born in
Barnesville, Ga., May 5,
1868 Graduated at Gor
don Institute 1884, from
Eastman Business College,
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in
1886, and from Emory
College, Oxford, Ga., 1891.
While at Emory he was
anniversarianof Few
Society.
He received an appoint
ment under the civil serv
ice to a position in the
Treasury Department at
LIEU TENANT-COLONEL FRANK M. STAFFORD.
Washington, D. C.,resignng this position to be
come partner in firm of J. W. Stafford & Sons, of Barnesville. He is
secretary and treasurer of the Stafford-Huguely Hosiery Co., di
rector in Barnesville Manufacturing Co., and director in Barnesville
Chautauqua Association. Colonel Stafford has taken a prominent
stand in politics for sdme years. He is a Bryan Democrat, believes
in free coinage of silver, and is opposed to expansion. He has., been
chairman of the Democratic executive committee of Pike County,
for three years, and is chairman of the Barnesville city executive
committee. When Governor Candler announced his/candidacy he
espoused his cause, and though Pike County joins Monroe, the home
of Colonel Berner,and was confidently placed in the Berner column,
it gave Candler a handsome majority.
He was appointed by Mr. du Bignon on the State campaigti com
mittee and gave his best efforts toward piling up a large Demo
THE OFFICIAL SKETCH-BOOK.
169
cratic majority. Colonel Stafford has never been a candidate for public office and is determined never to be, he declares. His ap pointment on Governor Candlers staff was unsolicited and came as a compliment tor services both in his nomination and election.
LIEUTENANT-COLO
NEL W. B. ROLLINGS-
WORTH was born in 1873,
in Rockdale County, where he received a commonschool education. He re moved to Fayetteville in 1893 and entered the cot ton business, continuing in this business until 1896, when he entered the Uni versity of Georgia Law
School, graduating six months later. He then returned to Fayetteville to practice his profession. He was appointed secreLIEUTENANT-COLONELW. B. HOLLINGSWORTH. tary ^ ^le Blalock inves tigating committee to in vestigate all State departments and institutions. While serving in that capacity, and during his absence from Fayetteville, he was elected mayor of Fayetteville without opposition. In May, 1898, he was made cashier of the Bank of Fayetteville. Colonel Hollingsworth has the distinction of being the youngest member of the staff. Colonel Hollingsworth is a member from Fayette County of the Sixth congressional committee; also a member of Fayette County Democratic executive committee.
INDEX.
Adams, George W............. 82 Adamson, A. P.................. 84 Alien, John....................... 83 Altmeyer, Samuel... ......... 164 Anderson, K. S................. 83 Arnold, N. D.................... 83 Atkinson, S. R.................. 49
B
Bacon, A. O...................... 57 Barren, J. C....................... 84 Barwick, G. I.......... .......... 84 Bass, C. L......................... 84 Beauchamp, J. C............... 85 Bell, H. P.......................... 86 Bell.J. B........................... 88 Bennett, J. B..................... 87 Bennett, S. S..................... 87 Berry, S. E....... .............. 153 Black, N. D...................... 88 Black, W. A...................... 88 Blalock, S. T..................... 66 Bond, J. F. L.................... 88 Bower, B. B., Jr..... ......89, 157 Bower, R. V...................... 89 Brandon, Morris................ 89 Brown, A. J.................. ... 91 Brown, J. E....................... 37
Bryan, W. C..................... 90
Bush, J. A......................... gi Byrd, P. G... .................... 35
C Candler, A. D................... 4 Candler, M. A................... 9 Calvin, M. V..................... 91 Carter, E. C.......... ........... 93
Clay, A. S......................... 59 Clifton, William................ 67 Cook, Philip...................... 10 Copeland, F. W................ 94 Crosland, D. F.................. 91 Cramer, R. B.................... 157 Crenshaw, T. C., Jr............ 47 Chappell, T. J................... 92
D
Daniels, G. H.................... 6; Darnell, L. J..................... 93
David, G. H........!............. 96
Davis, W. J., Jr................. 67 DeLacy, J. F..................... 163 Denny, R. A..................... 95 Dews, W. W...................... 96
Dickerson, R. G............... 67
Dickey, A. B..................... 96 Dillon, J. W...................... 161 Dodson, W. A................... 63 Donaldson, J. E...............I 161 Dowling, J. R.................... 68 Dyer, D. B.......... ............ 162
E Eason, Thomas.................. 55 Easterlin, J. J.................... 96 Ellis, Roland..................... 97 Emanuel, N...................... 98 Erwin, A. S....................... 98 Evans, C. A...................... 54 Everett, M. L.................... 99 Everett, R. W................... 100
F
Fain, T. W...............:........ 101 Farmer, R. L..................... 101
INDEX.
Felker, J. H...................... IO2 Fender, D. C.................... 102 Ford, G. G........................ 101 Fort, R. E........................ 102 Foster, A. G...................... 159 Fouche, R. T.................... 68 Franklin, H....................... 102 Freeman, R. W................. 103
C Glenn, G. R...................... 20 George,]. R..................... 102 Green, W. J....................... 105 Greene, W. T.................... 104 Gresham, E. B.................. 104 Griffin, H. F...................... 105 Griffin,]. M....................... 105 Gross, M. VV............ ....... 68 Grovenstein, A. N............. 68
H
Hall,]. H.......................... 105 Hamby, R. E. A............... 106 Hammett, J. D.................. 108 Hammond, H. C................ 107 Hand,]. L......................... 69 Hardin, P. D..................... 108 Hardwick, T. W................ no Harrell, W. F.................... 109 Harris, J. F....................... 108 Harvard, D. W........... ...... ill Hathcock, M. L................ 108 Haunson, J. T............. ..... 161 Heard, Columbus....... ...... 70 Heery.J.H............../........ 160 Henderson, William.......... no Henderson, W. ]............... 108 Henderson, VV. R........;.... 108 Herring, P. H..............C..... in Hill, D. C.......................... in Hitch, C. M...................... 8 Hodge, M. T..................... 70 . Holder, J. N..................... 112 Hollingsworth, W. B......... 169 Holton, T. L..................... 166
Hopkins, J. M................... 112 Hosch, J. R....................... 113 Howard, C. N., Jr............. 113 Humphreys, W. S...... ...... 70 Hutchins, N. L., Jr............ 113
J
Jarnigan.J. C....... ............ 114 Johnson, A. S.................... 116 Johnson, J. F.................... 117 Johnson, J. L.................... 115
Johnson, L. F.................... 116
Johnson, M. L................... 114 Johnson, Richard............... 40 Johnson, T. R.................... 68 Jones, S. H........................ 117 Jordan, C. H..................... 118
K
Kell, J. Mclntosh............. 33 King, C. N........................ 70 King, W. S........................ 119 Knowles, Clarence............ 120
L Laing, J. A........................ 124
Lane, A. W....................... 121
Lane, J. P......................... 122 Lane, W. T........................ 123 Lang, R. S........................ 70 Laramore, W. P................ 167 LaRoche, W. P.................. 125 Lee, T. J........................... 122 Little, John D................... 79 Little, Wm........................ 71 Longino, J. H................... 126 Love, A. W...................i.. 121 Lowry, R. J...................... 155
M
Mann, W. E...................... 72 Martin, G. P..................... 128 Massey, J. D................ .... 51 Maxwell, Walter................ 128 Mayson, J. W.................... 129 McCandless, J. M............. 27
INDEX.
McCants, J. J..................... 127 McCranie, J. R.............. ... 126 McDonald, J. R................ 127 McDonough, J. J............... 127 McGehec, J. H.................. 71 McGehee, J. T................... 129 McElreath, G. M............... 129 McFarland, T. A............... 129 McLaughlin, B. F ............ 130 McLennan, A. C ............. 131 McLester, L...................... 71 McMillin, T. H................. 132 McRae, M. L................... 131 Merritt, R. L..................... 129 Mitchell, F ....................... 132 Moore, J. M...................... 133 Morris, N. A..................... 134 Morrison,W. M................ 72 Moye, R. J........................ 72 Mullin, J. M..................... 135
N Nash, J. V. H., Jr.............. 160 Nesbitt, R. T..................... 72 Newton, J. T..................... 135 Nicholls, C. C................... 156
O
Odom, R. B....................... 72 Overstreet, J. W................ 136
P JPadgett, J. P..................... 138 Pace, J. M......................... 137 Park, J. B., Jr................... 137 Park, Walter..................... 138 Passmore, A. P.................. 73 Pate, T. A......................... 138 Perkins, M. T.. ................. 73 Post, W. A........................ 139 Price, W.W........:............. 140
R Rawlings, Wm................... 73 Rawls, J. R........................ 141
Rawls, M........................... 141 Redding, J. F.................... 73 Reid.VV. R........................ 141 Reynolds, J. S................... 142 Richardson, M. M ............ 143 Riley, Robert.................... 168 Rogers, J. S.................... 143 Rose, D. P........................ 143 Rudicill, R. Y................... 144
S Scott, W. M............. ....... 32 Silverman, Harry.............. 158 Simpson, B. F.................. 144 Singleton, H. H................. i44 Slaton, J. M....................... 145 Sloan, W. B..................... 146 Speer, E. C........................ 146 Speer, W. J........................ 15 Smith, A. I........................ 149 Smith, A. R-..................... 146 Stafford, Frank M...........:. 168 Starr, O. N........................ 149 Steed, W. E-.................... 74 Stevens, O. B.................... 23 Stewart, V. A.................... 150 Stone, A. C........................ 147 Stubbs, L. Q..................... 148 Sturgis, A. H.................... 149 Sutton, T. C...................... 74 Swift, T. M........................ 150
T Tatum, G. W. M................ 149 Terrell, J. M...................... 12 Terrell, J. R........ ............. 75 Thompson, J. K. P............ 74 Thrasher, B. E.................. 75 Tisinger, B. L................... 150 Tracy, J. C........................ 152 Trammell, L. N................. 46 Turner, C. H..................... 150 Turner, J. S...................... 52 Turner, Paul...................... 150
174
INDEX.
Underwood, J. W. H......... 75 Upchurch, J. J ................... 151
W Wade, W. C...................... 151 Walker, W. J ..................... 151 Warren, J.W..................... 6 Watkins, E.\V ....... ........... 151 Webb, W.J...................... 75 West, W. S........................ 76 Whatley, G. B................... 166 Whitely, J.W...... ............ 151 Wight, E. L...................... 77 Wilcox, E. K................... 75 Williams, F. M.................. 152
Willingham, A. R............. 164 Willingham, B. S.............. 152 Wood, J. J........................ 153 Wood, J. S.................. ..... 78 Woodall, D. F...... ........... 152 Woodall, W. J................... 22 Wooding, H. W................ 161 Woodward, J. C................ 165 Wooten, J. M................... 152 Wright, R. F..................... 26 Wright, W. A................... 17
Yates, W- H...................... 153 Yeates, W. S..................... 41