Atlanta - Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow. John R. Hornady

      CHAPTER II. From Hamlet to City.

      WHEN Hardy Ivy built his log cabin in the splendid solitude that existed here in 1833, the Indians still had their grip upon the land and were reluctant to surrender it. Not gifted with the intellectual refinements that characterized the white man, they were slow to see the logic of the suggestion that they pack their simple belongings and depart to some remote spot beyond the Father of waters where they might remain in peaceful possession of their land until, ah; well, let's say, until the white man caught up with them again!

      The group which existed in this section at that time and which had no claim upon the land other than that they had occupied it for a few centuries, consisted largely of Cherokees. They were a peaceful people for the most part, and really the only charge that can be justly laid at their door is that they were a bit stubborn, and, as indicated above, slow to understand. They offered no armed resistance when their land was taken from them, but put the whites to a lot of inconvenience by refusing to leave until, by force of arms, they were persuaded so to do. They had to be rounded up, which was a lot of trouble to begin with, and then an escort had to accompany them all the way upon that long and perilous journey; a journey upon which a number of the escorts died of privation and hardship. Some four thousand of the Indians died also.

      As individuals are born in hours of agony, so also are empires, but, O, the tragedy of it! The eviction of the Indians from Georgia began on May 24, 1838, five years after the first house had been built upon the ground where Atlanta now stands. This cabin remained the only one in the vicinity until about the time the Indians were scheduled to go. Then in 1839, with much talk of railroads coming in, the solitude began to be broken by the sound of the axe and the saw. John Thrasher, a merchant, came in and erected a house, and was followed by several others. Then Thrasher laid the first stone in what was to become a mighty commercial structure by opening a general merchandise store under the name of Johnson and Thrasher. But, if anyone should have asked Mr. Thrasher the commonplace question, "How 's business? " he would not have found the gentleman very enthusiastic, for trade languished to such an extent that the owners finally decided to move elsewhere. But in this, they erred, not reading aright the signs of the times, for while progress moved with leaden tread, it moved with certainty, and the time came when Thrasher saw the error of his way and returned to the new community to again become identified with its commercial life. In this he set an example that has been followed by many since his day, so much so that it has become a proverb that "Once an Atlantan, always an Atlantan."

      The little hamlet, still known as Terminus, languished until in the early forties, by which time connection with Marietta was established. But, alas, when this railroad appeared it was like an automobile stranded on a lonely highway with an empty gas tank. There was no engine with which to operate! The road then was finished only between Atlanta and Marietta, but everyone was eager to see it in operation.

      After some casting about, it was found that a locomotive could be obtained at Madison, but Madison was some sixty miles away and there was no railroad connection. In this emergency, those hardy pioneers of 1842 did a bold and spectacular thing. They caused to be made the heaviest wagon that any individual in this section had seen until that time, and, when this huge craft was completed, they loaded the locomotive upon it and started across country for Terminus. Sixteen mules furnished the motive power, and one may imagine the strain and stress of that tortuous journey across sixty miles of country, with mere trails for roads. Yet the bold exploit proved successful, and the locomotive was placed safely upon the rails in Terminus in time to make a Christmas Eve trip to Marietta, December 24, 1842. This initial train consisted of the engine and a lone box car, but a large crowd gathered in honor of the occasion, the people coming from miles around, and the introduction of railroad transportation was fittingly celebrated. Enthusiasm was at a high pitch because the road from Augusta was being pushed forward and it, too, would soon become an actuality.

      From this time forward events moved with a surer, more sustained tread. Farmers began to bring their products to Terminus, and sundry manufacturing enterprises were launched, while real estate men, alert then as now, began to see possibilities in the situation. Subdivisions were opened and an auction of town lots was held. As these lots were located in the very heart of what was to be the metropolis of the future, they became the basis of more than one great fortune, and today many of them are adorned with graceful office buildings that tower high into the blue.

      Meanwhile the town had been incorporated as "Marthasville," the name being adopted in compliment to a daughter of Wilson Lumpkin, former Governor, who had been zealous in the promotion of railroad enterprises throughout the State. It is a matter of interest, in this connection, that Marthasville was launched under the commission plan of government. This plan generally is referred to as "modern," but it was put in operation in this isolated hamlet at the beginning of 1844. There were five commissioners, as is the rule of the average commission governed city of today and they exercised legislative, administrative and judicial functions, just as they do at this time.

      This early experiment in commission government was not a success, however, and at the expiration of four years, when it was decided to incorporate as a city instead of a town, the aldermanic system was substituted for the earlier plan, evidently in response to a very general demand. Meanwhile the name "Marthasville" had become too prosaic to suit the progressive citizenship, and it had been changed to Atlanta. This change was made officially by the legislature on December 26, 1845, but the town had been called Atlanta, by common consent, some time before this date.

      Some controversy has existed concerning the origin of this name, and since there appears to have been no authentic data upon the subject even as early as 1859, it would be presumptions for one thus far removed from the date of Christening to undertake to speak with authority. However, the theory advanced in 1859 by Gr. B. Haywood, a prominent lawyer of the young city, is of interest. In the course of a descriptive article he said:

      "Atlanta is a name which is understood to have been proposed by J. Edgar Thompson, at that time chief engineer of the Georgia Railroad. The significance of the name, the reason for its adoption, and the various theories on the subject have now become a theme of inquiry and investigation not without interest. The writer has heard it claimed as due in honor to a mythological goddess, Atlanta, said to have been remarkable for fleetness, strength and endurance. It was certainly a fast town then, and may have been supposed entitled to the honor of recognition by the goddess, by reason of its early character and its wonderful achievements. The name was for a short time written as Atalanta, which seems to favor the claim of the goddess. And still another theory is set up by some who claim for it an origin more worthy of its present importance as a railroad entrepot and commercial emporium, taken in connection with its future prospects as a great railroad center and manufacturing city. The great State work, connecting the waters of the West with the Atlantic, commencing at Chattanooga, on the Tennessee River, and terminating at this point, had nearly been completed the name ' Western & Atlantic Railroad,' had been given to it by the Legislature of Georgia, and it was not inaptly considered the great connecting artery through which must