and died the owner of property worth millions. One of the original Collier land lots has since been converted into the beautiful residential area known as Ansley Park.

Some of the profits made in real estate by the far-sighted investors shrewd enough to read the leaves of the Sibyls at this early day sound like the yarns of Sinbad the Sailor, but they possess the literalism of truth. In the beginning tracts of land were purchased for old shotguns which were soon afterwards worth a king's ransom. But prices were soon advanced. The arrival of the Georgia Railroad in 1845 contributed to this end. It was another energizing factor in the growth of the town. On board the train was Hon. J. P. King, of Augusta, a pioneer in railway building, afterwards United States senator from Georgia. The conductor on the train was George W. Adair, a man destined to become identified for half a century with the material development of the town. It is quite an amusing episode in the life of Colonel Adair, who exemplified the typical virtues of the Scotch-Irishman, that when the use of tickets was introduced on the Georgia Railroad, he considered it an imputation upon his integrity and refused to pull the bell cord any longer. In 1846, the line from Macon was completed and the young town became the converging center of three separate lines of railway, each in itself an important asset.

With metropolitan prospects looming ahead, another name was needed to meet the demands of the growing community; and, on December 29, 1847, an act was passed by the Legislature incorporating the "City of Atlanta." The next year, George W. Collier lost his official head as postmaster. He was an avowed democrat. Consequently, with the election of the Whig candidate for President, General Taylor, he was forced to retire. His successor was Jonas S. Smith, a merchant, who held the office for two years, resigning it in 1851 to Dr. George G. Smith, a physician, whose son of the same name, afterwards the distinguished historian and minister, became his clerk. The post office was then in the little angle made by the intersection of what is now Edgeworth Avenue with Decatur Street, and it paid a salary of $600. The first charter of Atlanta was drawn by Judge John Collier. The first house of religious worship in the town stood at the corner of Houston and Peachtree streets, in the neighborhood of what is now the Candler Building, and was used as a day school during the week. Rev. John S. Wilson, D.D., afterwards pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, preached the earliest sermon to which the villagers listened, but the little building was not the property of any one particular denomination. The first mayor of Atlanta was Moses W. Formwalt.*

Concerning the origin of the name "Atlanta," there is quite a divergence of opinion. Some derive it from the middle name of Martha Lumpkin. Others trace it to the heathen goddess who was fleet of foot. In fact, there is quite a literature on the subject. But after carefully

* Wallace P. Reed, in "History of Atlanta"; E. Y. Clarke, in "Illustrated History of Atlanta," and Thomas H. Martin, in "Atlanta and Its Builders.''

sifting the evidence, gathered from various sources, the facts seem to be these: In 1845, when the Georgia Railroad was first completed to Atlanta, Mr. Richard Peters, one of the earliest pioneers and one of the most substantial citizens of the town, approached Mr. J. Edgar Thompson, the chief engineer of the new road, requesting him to suggest a substitute for the name of Marthasville. His objection to the name was that it took too long to pronounce it; but the desire for a change. was quite general, due to one reason or another, some contending that it was too suggestive of village ways. Mr. Thompson promised to give the matter thought. In the course of time several letters were exchanged upon the subject, but at last the problem was happily solved by the following paragraph:

"Eureka!" wrote Mr. Thompson. "I have found it! Atlantic, masculine; Atlanta, feminine-a coined word, but well adapted."

It caught the fancy of the whole town. At once the citizens began to use it, and, long before it was conferred by charter from the Legislature, it was applied to the depot. Mr. Peters, when still in vigorous. health, was asked in 1887, to reduce to writing his recollection of the circumstances under which Atlanta was named, and he cited the foregoing particulars.

There is no doubt that the nickname of Martha Lumpkin was Atalanta. It is also quite likely that Mr. Thompson, who was an educated man, possessed some knowledge of Greek mythology; but the probabilities are that the process by which he arrived at the derivation of the word was wholly disconnected with either of these sources. He simply coined it from the word Atlantic. The railway enterprise of the time was to connect the uplands with the Atlantic seaboard; and, moreover, the young town was a terminal point of the Western and Atlantic Railroad. So the elements which entered into the naming of Atlanta are doubtless all here in solution. Martha Lumpkin, now Mrs. Compton, is still living, 1916. Her life has been wonderfully preserved; and, though verging upon the century mark, she is an active old lady, with eyes still bright. Long ago she expressed a desire to be buried in Atlanta, and when the end comes she will be laid to rest in Oakland cemetery, where a place has been reserved for her in the shadow of the Confederate monument.*

* Situated on the foot-hills of the Blue Ridge at a point seven miles to the east of the Chattahoochee River, a stream which at this point is not open to navigation, Atlanta is an inland city in the most restricted sense of the term. But the high elevation of the town-1,100 feet above the level of the sea-its fine natural drainage and its splendid climate, have supplied compensating assets. Such a thing as an epidemic has never been known in Atlanta, though her gates have always been opened to refugees from less favored latitudes. The gentle ridges on which the town is built form a watershed between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico; and there are not a few lots so located that when it rains the water falling in the front yard is destined to reach the Gulf, while the water falling in the rear is carried through a labyrinth of streams to an outlet on the Atlantic Ocean, in the harbor at Darien. However, the chief factors in Atlanta's phenomenal growth are the railway lines which converge at her civic center, there forming a web of steel, from the bi-focal points of which they radiate in every direction.

To one of the wealthy sea-island cotton planters of Georgia belongs the credit of having first conceived the idea of an immense trunk line to connect the two oceans. This far-sighted man was Thomas Butler King, a resident of St. Simon's Island. He was the advocate of a transcontinental railway to extend from Brunswick, Georgia, to San Diego, California. The suggestion doubtless originated in his own vast and lucrative operations as a planter and in his perfectly natural desire. to market his crops to the best advantage. He realized far in advance of his time the importance to the South of cultivating trade relations with the Orient. So impressed was he with the wisdom of the proposed route that he delivered a number of speeches upon the subject both in and out of Congress and wrote a number of articles for the press. He was a man whose reputation was countrywide and whose influence was felt in national affairs. There is no doubt that he helped to mold public opinion and to pave the way for the final consummation of the stupendous project. But the iron horse as a factor in commerce was still new. The popular mind was almost dazed by the thought of such an undertaking.

As early as 1849 Mr. King sat for his portrait. It is still in existence and represents him with pencil in hand demonstrating on a globe the advantages of the proposed route and indicating the various points through which the line was to pass. He was willing for posterity to sit in judgment upon him, and for this reason he was not loath to be identified with his favorite scheme upon the enduring canvas. Today the continent is spanned by four magnificent highways of steel. With the building of the new line from Birmingham to Brunswick, his dream was literally fulfilled, save only in one particular. Los Angeles, instead of San Diego, was made the terminal point on the far Pacific slope. But when the idea of a transcontinental railway was first advanced, Los Angeles was only an obscure little pueblo where Indian trails crossed and was not dignified with a place on the map until fifty years later. Over the grave of Mr. King, on St. Simon's Island, the leaves have fallen for more than half a century; but his judgment has been triumphantly vindicated. It is an item of some interest to note in this connection that the district of which Brunswick is the chief commercial center was represented by Mr. King in Congress, first from 1839 to 1843, and afterwards from 1845 to 1849; and that during a part of this time two of his brothers, Andrew and Henry, were in Congress with him as representatives from other states. He resigned his seat in Congress in 1849 to become collector of the Port of San Francisco. Mr. King was a native of Massachusetts. He was at one time sent to Europe by the United States Government in the interest of direct trade between the two opposite shores of the North Atlantic.

Vol. II-4

CHAPTER XXVI

GEORGIA TO BE DISTURBED NO LONGER BY HER ANCIENT FOES OF THE FOREST-AT THE CLOSE OF GOVERNOR GILMER'S ADMINISTRATION, IN 1839, Two CANDIDATES ENTER THE FIELD-CHARLES J. MCDONALD, THE UNION PARTY CANDIDATE-CHARLES DOUGHERTY, THE STANDARDBEARER OF THE STATE RIGHTERS JUDGE MCDONALD WINS NEW COUNTIES CREATED-DADE AND CHATTOOGA-FINANCIAL DEPRESSION-GEORGIA BANKS SUSPEND SPECIE PAYMENT-WIDESPREAD SUFFERING FOLLOWS-LEGISLATIVE REMEDIES-THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY INCORPORATED-CHARTER MEMBERS THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1840-ONE LONG TO BE REMEMBERED-IT MARKS THE RISE OF THE OLD WHIG PARTY OUT OF A COALITION OF ALL THE ELEMENTS ANTAGONISTIC TO ANDREW JACKSON-MOST OF THE ADVOCATES OF EXTREME STATE RIGHTS FALL INTO LINE UNDER THIS BANNER-GEN. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON IS NOMINATED BY THE WHIGS -PRESIDENT VAN BUREN IS RENAMED BY THE DEMOCRATS-HARD CIDER TIPPECANOE AND TYLER, TOO."-LOG CABIN BUTTONS AND BADGES AN INCIDENT OF THE CAMPAIGN THE WHIG PARTY SUCCESSFUL-GOVERNOR MCDONALD, A JACKSONIAN DEMOCRAT, IS NOT COMFORTED BY THESE RETURNS, ESPECIALLY SINCE WILLIAM C. DAWSON IS HIS OPPONENT IN THE FALL OF 1841-BUT GOVERNOR MCDONALD IS RE-ELECTED BY A HANDSOME MAJORITY, DESPITE THE RECENT TRIUMPH OF WHIG PRINCIPLES BREAKERS AHEAD-GOVERNOR MCDONALD'S CLASH WITH THE LEGISLATURE THE STORY TOLD BY HIS GRANDSON, JUDGE ATKINSON-DR. STEPHEN ELLIOTT, OF SOUTH CAROLINA, BECOMES THE FIRST BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN GEORGIA-HIS EMINENT SPIRITUAL AND INTELLECTUAL GIFTS BISHOP JAMES O. ANDREW'S OWNERSHIP OF SLAVE PROPERTY RENDS AMERICAN METHODISM IN 1844-THE STORY TOLD BY DOCTOR SMITH.

Georgia was to be disturbed no longer by her ancient foes of the forest. Both the Creeks and the Cherokees had now vanished into the Golden West; and at last the frontier settlements could taste the sweets of repose, a luxury to which they had long been strangers. George R. Gilmer, in the fall of 1837, was again called to the executive helm. He had served the state as chief magistrate from 1829 to 1831; but it was during his second administration as governor that the final deportation of the Indians had occurred. During this interval there were also two counties created. Dade was laid off from Walker in 1837 and named for Maj. Francis Langhorne Dade, of the United States army, who was killed by the Seminole Indians in Florida in December, 1835. Chattooga was formed out of Walker and Floyd in 1838 and named for the

Chattooga River. Toward the close of Governor Gilmer's tenure of office two candidates entered the field. Charles J. McDonald, of Bibb, formerly a judge of the Flint Circuit, was the standard-bearer of the union party, while Charles Dougherty, of Clarke, an eminent lawyer, was again supported in a vigorous but unsuccessful fight by the extreme advocates of state rights.

Governor McDonald entered upon his duties as chief magistrate in 1839. It was a season of great financial distress. Wildcat speculations had produced unsettled business conditions, impaired credit, entailed litigation, and resulted in a general scarcity of money. Cotton dropped to a price lower than its cost of production, while supplies which the farmer was in the habit of buying became correspondingly dear. Some of the best people of Georgia were burdened with heavy debts; and to add to the hardships of a situation already grievous enough the Georgia banks all suspended specie payments.

Widespread suffering followed. As a means of relief, the Legislature of 1839 passed a law forbidding these banks to sell exchange at a higher rate than 2 per cent and imposing upon them other restrictions. The Legislature of 1840 repealed this act, but passed a measure still more drastic, requiring all banks in suspension to resume specie payment; and if any bank failed to comply with this demand its charter was to be forfeited.*

On December 19, 1839, an act was approved incorporating the Georgia Historical Society, at Savannah, with the following charter members: t John MacPherson Berrien, James M. Wayne, M. H. McAllister, I. K. Tefft, William B. Stevens, George W. Hunter, Henry K. Preston, William Thorne Williams, Charles S. Henry, John C. Nicoll, William Law, Robert M. Charlton, Richard D. Arnold, A. A. Smets, John W. Anderson, William B. Bulloch, Joseph G. Binney, William H. Bulloch, Joseph B. Burroughs, John Balfour, William P. Bowen, T. B. Bartow, James Barnard, Morgan Brown, George B. Cumming, Solomon Cohen, Joseph Cumming, D. C. Campbell, James Hamilton Couper, William A. Carruthers, William H. Cuyler, Edward Coffee, William Crabtree, Jr., Archibald Clark, William Duncan, William C. Daniell, George M. Dudley, J. Delamotta, Jr., Joseph S. Fay, Samuel H. Fay, William B. Fleming, James F. Griffin, Robert Habersham, William N. Habersham, Joseph C. Habersham, Edward J. Harden, S. L. W. Harris, George Jones, Joseph W. Jackson, P. M. Kollock, George J. Kollock, Ralph King, Thomas Butler King, William McWhir, John B. Mallard, John Millen, William H. Miller, C. McArdell, James S. Morel, M. Myers, John F. O'Neil, Edward Neufville, E. A. Nisbet, A. G. Oemler, A. Porter, Thomas Paine, John F. Posey, Willard Preston, Edward Padelford, Thomas Purse, R. W. Pooler, William Robertson, L. O. Reynolds, J. Bond Read, R. H. Randolph, F. M. Robertson, George Schley, James Smith, William H. Stiles, Benjamin E. Stiles, Joseph L. Shaffer, Charles Stephens, William P. White, John E. Ward, and George White.

The presidential campaign of 1840 was one long to be remembered.

*Acts, 1840, p. 27. + Acts, 1839, p. 132.