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In Memoriam |
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Lemuel P. Grant |
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| Lemuel P. Grant, born in Frankfort, Maine,
August 11th 1817, died in Atlanta, Ga., on the morning of January 11th
1893, aged 75 years and 5 months. |
| Col. Grant's boyhood and youth were spent
on his Father's farm, the labors on which served to strengthen and
toughen a naturally good constitution. Educational facilities were so
limited that he enjoyed school advantages for only short terms at
irregular intervals. |
| When about nineteen years of age -- in
1836 -- he obtained a position as rodman on the engineering corps of the
Philadelphia & Reading railway. Here his industry and fidelity, the
quickness and capacity of his mind, and his aptitude for mathematics
received ready recognition, followed by rapid promotion. |
| On the completion of the
Philadelphia & Reading railway he accepted and offer from J. Edgar
Thomson, Engineer-in-Chief of the Georgia railway, and came to Georgia
in January, 1840, serving on the extension from Madison to the proposed
"Terminus," the present site of Atlanta. Financial embarrassment
having necessitated temporary suspension of work on this line, he
engaged as Assistant Engineer on the Central railway; but, in 1843, he
was recalled to the Georgia railway, with which he remained until it was
finished. |
| It is worthy of remark here, -- and of
record -- that although Col. Grant subsequently acquired extensive
landed proprietorship in and near Atlanta, his first purchase was not
made for mere ownership or on speculation; but he was moved to make it
from higher and nobler motives -- motives which serve as a key to his
inner thought, -- his broadmindedness and public spirit. The
circumstances were these: To reach the point designated as the
"Terminus," the "right-of-way" was needed through land lot number
Fifty-two, between one and two miles east. This the owner positively and
persistently refused to give. Col. Grant bought the lot, gave the needed
"right-of-way," and thus assured an easy and free pass-way to the center
of the now prospective "Metropolis of the South." As the years
glided by Col. Grant sagaciously invested largely of his earnings in
real estate in and near the rapidly growing embryo city; the increased
value of which contributed much to the value of the handsome estate
which he left. |
| Col. Grant's conspicuous ability as a
railway engineer, together with the sterling attributes of his
character, attracted, as well might be expected, the attention of
railway builders and caused his services to be desired and sought.
Consequently he was offered, and accepted the Superintendency of the
Montgomery & West Point railway in 1845, of which he remained in charge
until April, 1848, when he resigned to accept the position of Resident
Engineer of the Georgia railway. He held this position until 1853 when
he resigned and was appointed Engineer-in-Chief of the Atlanta & West
Point railway. In addition to this Col. Grant was, during all the years
intervening between that time and his death, more or less engaged in
several important railway enterprises -- notably the Georgia Air-Line
and the Georgia Western (now Georgia Pacific,) and an influential
advisor in may others. |
| During the "War Between the States" Col.
Grant rendered valuable services to the Confederate government in his
capacity as an engineer -- particularly in his superintendency of the
defences around Atlanta. |
| In October, 1866, he was appointed
Superintendent of the Atlanta & West Point railway, continuing until
July, 1881, when he was elected President of the Company. |
| In 1843 Col. Grant married Miss Laura A.
Williams, daughter of Mr. Ami Williams, of Decatur, Ga. This lady died
in 1875, leaving two sons and two daughters. In 1881 Col. Grant married
Mrs Jane L. Crew, widow of Mr. James R. Crew, one of Atlanta's first and
oldest and most esteemed citizens who was assassinated the latter part
of 1865 and robbed while on his way home from the office of the Georgia
railway, of which he was Ticket Agent. |
| In 1860 Col. Grant united with the Central
Presbyterian Church, of which he remained a consistent and devout, and
liberal member until his death -- his generous church contributions, and
his unnumbered free-will and other benefactions demonstrating that he
recognized himself as only a steward of the Most High. |
| In 1883 Col. Grant donated to the City a
tract of one hundred acres of land, partly within and partly without the
South-eastern limits of the City, to be maintained in perpetuity as a
Public Park. To this the City after added forty-five acres by purchase
-- the entire tract being known as L. P. Grant Park. |
| Col. Grant was always one of the warmest
and most steadfast friends and advocates of the Public School System of
Atlanta; and was an ardent supporter, and one of the early Directors of
the Young Mens' Library Association. |
| Unostentatious, unassuming, and
politically unambitious, yet always ready to advance all laudable public
enterprises with mind, means and service, Col. Grant was a model
citizen; discharging fully, faithfully and promptly every Christian
duty, and contributing liberally to every movement for the advancement
of home and foreign Christian work, he was a model Christian gentleman;
while in his domestic relations his open-handed hospitality, and firm
and conscientious discharge of every marital and parental obligation
presents him as a shining exemplar worthy of all honor, and of the
emulation of all. |
| {Located in the C. R. Hanleiter
papers. Capt. Hanleiter was a native of Atlanta and Captain of an
artillery battery, mostly in the defence of Savannah and Charleston. His
father was a longtime newspaper man in Atlanta. This paper was probably
written shortly after Grant's death, for publication in a newspaper.} |
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