Читать книгу Atlanta - Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow - John R. Hornady - Страница 10

MANY other spectacular and thrilling events transpired in Atlanta during the years intervening between the close of the war and the final restoration of the government to the people of the State. This City "became the political center of the commonwealth and the pivot around which turned events of an absorbing character.

Seeing no reason why the State Government should not function, especially in the light of the fact that action was needed as never before in the history of the State, Governor Brown called the Legislature to meet on May 22, 1865, and immediately thereafter he was placed under arrest by order of General Wilson, who also issued an order forbidding the Legislature to assemble. Governor Brown was carried to Washington, where he was placed in prison, but he obtained an audience with President Johnson and was released after the passage of some ten days. Returning to Georgia, he was denied the right to exercise the duties of Governor — James Johnson, of Chambers, having been appointed Provisional Governor on June 17 — and on June 29, 1865, Governor Brown resigned.

At the time of the arrest of Governor Brown, Alexander H. Stephens, General Howell Cobb and B. H. Hill were also taken into custody. The arrest of these conspicuous figures in the public life of the State created a great sensation, and added fuel to the flames of passion burning throughout the length and breadth of the Commonwealth.

As throwing light upon the mental attitude of the newly liberated negroes, it is interesting to note that one of the early acts of Provisional Governor Johnson was to issue a proclamation in which was set at rest the expectation that private property would be parceled out. Many negroes were under the impression that the land of the white people was to be divided among them, this being the outgrowth of a report that came from some source during the war that each negro would get "forty acres and a mule" when the South was subdued.

Provisional Governor Johnson called a State Convention for October 25, and when this body assembled, he delivered a message that created widespread controversy because of a recommendation that the war debts of the State be repudiated. These debts amounted to $18,135,775, whereas the debt of the State for other purposes was only $2,678,760. A violent protest against repudiation arose and the act was passed only after notice had been received from President Johnson and Secretary Seward that repudiation was necessary to readmission to the Union. In addition to repudiating this debt, the Convention formally abolished slavery and adopted a new constitution.

The legislative session beginning January 5, 1866, developed incidents of widespread interest. Among other things, this body elected Alexander H. Stephens and Herschell V. Johnson to the United States Senate, but they were never seated. By now the fierce conflict between President Johnson and the Congress of the United States was on, with Thaddius Stevens leading the fight for making the conditions as onerous as possible. Southern representatives were denied admission, and the whole matter went to the Reconstruction Committee, of which Stevens was Chairman, and before which he had his way. He also won in Congress, when the fight was renewed and when the vetoes of the President, which precipitated the agitation for his impeachment, were overridden.

The extraordinary condition brought about by the disfranchisement of many prominent citizens, was illustrated in striking fashion when the Democrats, in 1868, undertook to place a candidate in the field for Governor. Meeting in Atlanta on March 13, the State Democratic Executive Committee placed Judge August Reese in nomination for Governor. On the 24th of the same month Judge David Irwin announced his candidacy for this position, and thereupon Judge Reese withdrew, saying that he had found himself ineligible to hold the office. The party then got behind Judge Irwin, but presently the Republicans pointed out that Judge Irwin was ineligible by reason of the fact that he had been a Confederate presidential elector. This point was sustained by the Military Commander, and the Democrats were left without a standard bearer. In this emergency they went to General Meade, Military Commander, to find out who among Democrats was qualified to hold the office. General Meade thought the situation over and then announced that General John B. Gordon was eligible. Thereupon this great soldier and highly popular leader was given the nomination, going down to defeat, however, in the chaotic state that existed at that time — thousands of white men disqualified and thousands of negroes having the ballot.

One of the greatest sensations of the period was furnished by Governor Rufus B. Bullock, who succeeded Governor Jenkins after the brief reign of Thomas Ruger, the military appointee. Under his administration, which was characterized by great bitterness. State bond issues were handled with a disregard for the properties that was amazing, and charges of corruption and inefficiency mounted until they reached such proportions that drastic action appeared inevitable. His administration became a national scandal, attracting the notice of newspapers in New York and elsewhere, and finally the storm of public disapproval became so threatening that, on October 23, 1871, he secretly resigned and fled from the State.

A warrant for the arrest of the fugitive ex-Governor was issued early in 1872, it being charged that he was guilty of the larceny of certain bonds, but it was not until 1876 that he was arrested. The Governor of New York, to which state he fled, refused to grant a requisition, and when the accused was finally brought back and placed on trial, five years after his flight, acquittal resulted, it being impossible to connect him directly with the transaction involving the bonds.

In January, 1872, a scene of rejoicing such as Atlanta had not witnessed in years, attended the inauguration of James M. Smith as Governor. Coincident with his election, the Democrats of the State had come into complete control of the legislative machinery for the first time since the war, and the rule of a free people was restored. Carpet-bagism, with all its attendant terrors and intimidations, was at an end.

A stirring event of this year was the meeting of the Democratic State Convention in Atlanta on June 26, which was characterized by a sensational fight over the impending nomination of Horace Greely for President, in opposition to the regular Republican candidate. Greely was then the nominee of the Liberal Republicans and had been endorsed by the Democrats of the North, who saw the futility of attempting to carry the country with a candidate of their own in the face of the popular feeling in the North which had grown out of the war. The Atlanta convention, after a spirited contest, declined to endorse Greely or to oppose him, preferring to send an untrammeled delegation to the Democratic Convention, which soon was to meet at Baltimore. However, when the Baltimore Convention formally endorsed Greely, another meeting was held in Atlanta, July 24, and the convention endorsed the nominee and pledged its support to the ticket. In the national election which followed, Greely carried the State.

Another convention held in Atlanta that excited widespread interest, was in 1873, when General John B. Gordon was elected to the United States Senate after a spectacular and sensational fight, in which the honor came very near going to the eloquent and popular Alexander H. Stephens. The candidates were General Gordon, Alexander H. Stephens, B. H. Hill, Herbert Felder and A. T. Akerman, but the struggle narrowed down to the two first named, and in the end General Gordon won.

The popularity of Stephens was attested immediately thereafter by his election to Congress, where he was returned after an absence of thirteen years, during a portion of which interval he occupied the high office of Vice-President of the Confederate States of America.

Senator Gordon inadvertently added fuel to a flaming state fight by resigning his seat in the Senate in May, 1880. At that time Governor Alfred H. Colquitt was a candidate for re-election, his campaign being managed by the famous Henry Grady, and it was one of the bitterest fights Georgia had ever known. The State Convention, which had met in Atlanta on August 4, was unprecedented in that it failed to make a nomination after a prolonged and fiercely bitter struggle. Governor Colquitt's forces were in the majority by a wide margin and might have insisted upon majority rule, which had prevailed in previous conventions, but they accepted the two-thirds rule, and fought for days to bring about the nomination of their man. At one time they came within nine votes of winning, but the opposition was implacable, and in the end the body adjourned after passing a resolution "recommending" Governor Colquitt to the Democrats of the State.

The element which had waged this fierce and uncompromising fight upon Governor Colquitt, put Thomas M. Norwood in the field for governor, and the struggle raged with unprecedented fury. The most sensational charges were brought against the Governor, and when Senator Gordon resigned and former Governor Brown was appointed in his place, the cry of 'trade" was raised by the opposition, and the struggle became more embittered. This development threw three powerful figures side by side in the struggle — Colquitt, Gordon and Brown, and the result was a landslide for Colquitt.

The Colquitt campaign, which Grady conducted with such conspicuous success, assisted by Evan P. Howell and other distinguished leaders, resulted in the choice of a Legislature which elected Joseph E. Brown to the United States Senate — the post to which he had been appointed by Governor Colquitt.

By this time, 1880, the population of Atlanta was approaching 40,000 and the City was pulsing with life and energy. Its fame had grown until it was recognized as one of the coming cities of America, and the tide which carried it to the greatness of today was running strong. It is a far cry from that stirring and progressive period to 1849, but it is worthwhile to turn back for a little while and consider some of the intervening events.

Communication between Atlanta and the outside world, which is now carried on with so much ease by means of telegraph and telephone systems and numerous radio stations, was limited to the United States mails until the Spring of 1849, when the Macon and Western Branch Telegraph Company brought a line into the City from Macon. The telegraph office, with its single wire and one instrument, was located in a building at the corner of Pryor and Alabama Streets, the operator being C. E. Hanleiter.

The coming of the telegraph was an incident of widespread interest and the instrument, being of that type which printed the message upon a long ribbon of paper, was an object of much curiosity. The first commercial message to pass over this wire was sent by Dr. E. K. Kane, a celebrated artic explorer of that period, who was passing through Atlanta about the time the office opened. The message went to his father at Philadelphia and related to the purchase of materials for an expedition for which he was then preparing.

Later, in 1850, another telegraph operator was sent to Atlanta in the person of Col. N. D. Sloan, and in a speech made at a banquet given to the old settlers at the National Hotel in 1884, he told some interesting experiences connected with those early days. Among other famous men who visited the little telegraph office was Col. Sam Houston, of Texas, then a member of Congress. He had never seen a telegraph instrument before and was greatly interested in it. Another famous visitor was the Hungarian patriot, General Kossuth, who passed through Atlanta en route to Savannah with a large body of followers. He sent a telegram here and displayed considerable indignation when asked to pay for it, but finally did so.

On another occasion, a group of young fellows encountered a farmer who had come to town for the purpose of sending a negro to Macon. They told him that it would be much cheaper to send the darky by telegraph, and so the farmer, the negro and the practical jokers all repaired to the office. Here the farmer and the negro were lined up and told to hold to a wire which connected with the battery, and both did an impromptu dance as they felt the force of the current. When the farmer found that he was the victim of a joke, he was furious and Col. Sloan had to vacate the office for a time in order to avoid a personal difficulty.

Practical jokes of this character were common enough in those rollicking days, and one which attracted no little attention was perpetrated when a group of boys one night took the bell from the Methodist Church and dropped it into the well at the home of the Baptist minister.

Illustrating the tendency of the youth of this period toward mischief, a writer in the Pioneers' History of Atlanta, said:

"It was not an easy job to police Atlanta in those days, for the old inhabitants will agree that there never was a town of like size that had as many wild and mischievous boys in it. One little harmless amusement that the boys about town were wont to indulge in at that time, consisted in rolling a hogs-head full of hogs down the Alabama Street hill. They would get a big sugar hogshead and, putting four or five 'grunters' securely inside, start it rolling at the top of the Alabama Street hill, where Whitehall now crosses. The hogshead would roll until it hit the big embankment on which the calaboose stood, and the racket made by the imprisoned porkers would bring everybody in the village running to the place of the terrific noise. This was one of the mild jokes the town marshal of those days had to put up with."

Many curious and interesting events occurred in those old days, as one may learn by browsing among ancient tomes and musty newspaper files. For instance, it is recorded that in 1859 Jefferson Davis, then a member of the United States Senate, was arrested in this City. He was passing through, and when the train stopped at the" shed " he got off and was taking a bit of exercise by the side of the track, when two local officers walked up to him and told him he was under arrest.

Accosted thus. Senator Davis told the officers that they were mistaken in their man, but nothing he said had any weight with them, and he was only saved from going to jail by an earnest request to be carried before Mayor James M. Calhoun, whom he knew well. When the mayor saw this old friend and distinguished citizen under arrest he was filled with indignation and mortification, and he read the officers a severe lecture. The latter, who were on the lookout for a train robber and who had thought that they had captured the fugitive, were profuse in their apologies, and the incident ended there. At a later period, when he had become President of the Confederate States of America, the citizens of Atlanta had an opportunity to honor Mr. Davis and his visit on this occasion was noted for its fervent enthusiasm. Again, when in 1893, the body of Jefferson Davis passed through Atlanta en route to Richmond, where it was consigned to the earth, the people of this City assembled in great numbers to pay tribute to the fallen leader.

In the early fifties. President Fillmore, who had succeeded President Taylor upon the death of the latter, visited Atlanta and the event was celebrated in notable fashion, though a tragedy which marked the occasion added a somber touch. A feature of the celebration was to be a flag raising, and in anticipation of this event two tall trees had been felled and a very high pole had been erected by fastening the two trees together. When it was sought to raise the flag, the ropes became entangled, and the ceremony was halted, much to the embarrassment of the committee and the assembled citizens.

The committee promptly offered a reward of $100 to any person who would climb the pole and untangle the rope, and thereupon a stranger who said that he had been a sailor, came forward and volunteered. He climbed to the point where the ropes had become entangled, and cutting one of the ropes with his knife, was instantly killed by falling to the earth. He evidently was holding to the rope that he cut. Investigation showed that he had left a family, and when this fact was made known to the crowd, a fund of $2,000 was raised and presented to the widow.

"Whig" sentiment was strong in the community at this time, and there had been great rejoicing over the election of the "Whig" ticket. Prior to this election, one of the greatest political meetings ever witnessed in Georgia was held at Walton Spring, the crowd being estimated at ten thousand. This was in 1848, and one of the striking features was a highly emotional demonstration upon the appearance of Alexander H. Stephens, destined to become the Vice-President of the Confederate States of America.

Mr. Stephens was on the program as one of the speakers, but a few days before the meeting, while upon the veranda of the then famous ''Atlanta Hotel," he was attacked by Judge Francis H. Cone, who was armed both with a cane and a knife. Mr. Stephens was stabbed several times before his assailant was overpowered, and while the wounds were not serious, they were severe enough to incapacitate him for some days.

Confined to his room at the hotel, Mr. Stephens did not intend to appear at the meeting, but when that vast throng had assembled, a large crowd of his admirers came to the hotel with a buggy and carried him to Walton Spring. No horses were used, the vehicle being drawn through the streets by the cheering crowd of enthusiasts. When the time came for him to speak, Mr. Stephens was unable to do so, but his valiant friends lifted him up so that the great company could see him, and thereupon was witnessed such a demonstration as this community had never before beheld.

Following the election of Taylor and Fillmore as President and Vice-President of the United States, there was another tremendous demonstration in Atlanta, the central feature of which was a torch-light parade. The marchers, representing communities scattered for many miles about Atlanta, carried burning pine faggots, and the enthusiasm was unparalleled. Years later one who witnessed this demonstration said ''Atlanta never saw another that approached it until the great torch-light parade held in honor of Grover Cleveland when, as President, he visited the City in 1887."

These early days developed in Atlanta an invention of a crude sort that was the forerunner of others that, years later, attracted world-wide attention. This was a rotary wheel, grandfather of the Ferris wheel, and was the invention of a local Frenchman, Antonio Marquino, by name. He operated a refreshment stand near Walton Spring, which at that time constituted the amusement resort of Atlanta, and in order to attract more trade and, at the same time, turn a little profit on the side, he erected a giant wheel, about forty feet in diameter, and attached thereto a number of boxes in which were board seats for the passengers to ride upon. It operated exactly as the now familiar Ferris wheels operate, and attracted much attention at the time. The only difficulty was that, because it was made of wood and crudely constructed, wet weather caused the bearings to swell and made it difficult, and sometimes impossible to operate. Motive power was supplied by two darkies.

While Walton Spring was the chief "resort" of Atlanta, the favorite "breathing spot" was located in the very heart of town — a little park that was bounded by Pryor, Decatur and Loyd Streets and the Western & Atlantic Railroad. This square was the property of the Western & Atlantic Railroad Company, having been deeded to the Company by Samuel Mitchell for railroad purposes. In 1858 the City obtained from the Company an agreement for its use as a park, and it was made a place of real beauty. Atlantans enjoyed its restful shade and its pleasing flowers and foliage until the City reached that stage when it was being besieged by the Federal forces. As the number of wounded defenders increased and overflowed the emergency hospitals this park was converted into an open-air hospital, and then such scenes were witnessed as made sore the hearts of all observers.

Men maimed by shot and shell were hurried to this open space, where many tables had been erected, and here busy surgeons carried on their work amid the groans of the suffering. When this frightful tragedy was succeeded by the tragedy of Atlanta's destruction, the park was practically obliterated by the force of the Sherman war machine, and it was never restored. The property had been given to the State road by Samuel Mitchell for railroad purposes, but that portion of it which was used as a park not being required for the purposes set forth in the deed of transfer, his heirs made a prolonged fight for its recovery. This fight culminated in the passage of an act by the Legislature under which the land was restored to the heirs upon payment of $35,000. The land was then sold at public auction and soon thereafter began to be covered with business structures. Thus passed Atlanta's first and only downtown park.