Chatham County GaArchives Biographies.....Crane, Horace A. 1841 - living in 1913
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 15, 2004, 10:03 am

Author: William Harden
p. 690-692

   HORACE A. CRANE. It is natural to look for the foremost citizens of a
community among the recognized financiers, for a city's commercial importance
and prosperity is largely indicated by the stability of its banks, and those who
control these and direct their activities are, as a class, the safe,
substantial, solid and dependable men. Among the prominent citizens of Savannah,
Georgia, is Horace A. Crane, who is vice-president of the Citizens and Southern
Bank. He was born at St. Mary's, Georgia, in 1841, and is a son of Heman A. and
Julia E. (Underwood) Crane.

   Heman A. Crane, who, for many years was an esteemed and valued citizen of
Savannah, was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, from which section he came
to Georgia in young manhood. He was a commission merchant and prior to 1843
engaged in this business at Darieu, Georgia, which place, at that time, was an
important shipping port. In the above year he removed to Savannah, in which city
he made his home until his death, in 1879. In all that concerned the growth and
development of this city he was deeply concerned and the general esteem in which
he was held was expressed by resolutions adopted at the time of his decease, by
one of the organizations to which he had belonged in life. This tribute we are
permitted to copy:

   "We are once more called upon to mourn the loss of one whose loss we share in
common with a whole community. The sudden and unexpected demise of our late
esteemed and beloved fellow member, Heman A. Crane, calls for no ordinary
expression of feeling and opinion from the members of the Savannah Benevolent
Association. Our deceased brother was one who gave character to our association,
and during the dark days of 1876, while a fearful epidemic was raging in our
midst, his self-sacrificing devotion in ministering to the wants of the sick,
dying and distressed, was conspicuous and worthy of emulation. He was a sincere
Christian, a noble friend, a charitable gentleman. While by his teachings he
showed to others what they should do for the good of their fellow men, by his
example he demonstrated to them how it might be done. He seemed to have adopted
as the motto of his life, Non sibi, sed aliis, thereby illustrating his
profession. He was truly a Christian man in every sense of the word. Be it
therefore

   "Resolved, that in the death of Heman A. Crane, our city has sustained the
loss of one of its most useful and upright citizens, and the Savannah Benevolent
Association one of its brightest ornaments; one whose daily life was an example
worthy to be followed under any and all conditions."

   Horace A. Crane was educated in his native city. Before he had yet
established himself in business he became a soldier, in May, 1861, enlisting for
service in the Civil war, in the Oglethorpe Light Infantry, Confederate army,
which organization became Company B, Eighth Georgia Infantry, assigned to
service in Virginia, his brother, William H., a member of the same company,
being killed at the first battle of Manassas. On account of illness, Mr. Crane
was given a furlough home after one year in the Virginia mountains, and later
was commissioned a lieutenant in the First Georgia Battalion of Sharpshooters,
whose commander afterward became Gen. Robert H. Anderson. This organization was
ordered to Vicksburg, but, following the fall of that city, it was sent to North
Georgia and from there to Tennessee and participated in the battle of
Chickamauga. On the second day of this prolonged battle, Mr. Crane was severely
wounded, this injury causing his being sent home to recuperate, and a year
later, when but partially recovered, he was appointed adjutant of the garrison
at Fort McAllister, having about 150 men. The fort was taken by storm by General
Hazen, commanding a large force of Federal soldiers, December 13, 1864, and Mr.
Crane was sent first to a military prison at Hilton Head, South Carolina, and
six weeks later to Fort Delaware, where he remained a prisoner until the close
of the war, when he was paroled and returned to Savannah.

   Upon returning to Savannah after the war he became associated with his father
in business and so continued until 1873, in that year becoming bookkeeper in the
Southern Bank of the State of Georgia, of which, in 1877, he was made cashier.
In 1881 he became vice-president of the institution and served continuously
until 1906, when the Southern Bank was consolidated with the Citizens Bank,
forming the present Citizens and Southern Bank, Mr. Crane retaining his official
status in the new organization. The Citizens and Southern Bank has a capital of
$1,000,000, a surplus of the same amount and undivided profits exceeding a
quarter of a million dollars. For almost forty years Mr. Crane has been
identified with this financial institution and his name has always added to its
strength and his efforts to the extension of its prosperity.

   Mr. Crane was married (first) to Miss Georgia Anderson, who died in 1880,
survived by four children: William H., Horace A., Jr., Edward A., and Nina, who
is the wife of John L. Hammond. Mr. Crane was married (second) to Miss Mary Cox,
who was born in Georgia, and they have one son, H. Averill Crane. In all matters
of great and general importance Mr. Crane's interest and assistance may be
depended upon and more than once his keenness of business perception has proved
of value in public matters.



Additional Comments:
A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA
BY
WILLIAM HARDEN

VOLUME I
ILLUSTRATED
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1913

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