Chatham County GaArchives Biographies.....Austin, William Grafton unknown - living in 1913
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 15, 2004, 10:56 am

Author: William Harden
p.697-699

   CAPT. WILLIAM GRAFTON AUSTIN. The substantial and loyal citizens of Savannah
have no finer representative than Capt. William Grafton Austin, who rendered the
city most valuable and efficient service as chief of police for six years, the
result of which made it remarkably free from crime and disorder, and the police
force under his leadership reached a high point of efficiency. A son of Charles
William and Georgia (Grafton) Austin, he was born in 1868 in Grimes county,
Texas, being a member of the same branch of the Austin family from which Stephen
F. Austin, the founder of the Austin colony of Texas, was descended, the
immigrant ancestor of the family having been John Austin, who came from Kent,
England, to America in the early part of the seventeenth century, and died in
Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1657. He is the ninth generation removed from the
founder of the Austin family of the United States, and seven generations removed
from David Austin, who was the great grandfather of Stephen F. Austin, of Texas
fame, this David having been the grandson of the immigrant, the lineage being
thus traced: David Austin I., David Austin II., David Austin III., who during
the Revolution was wounded in the defense of New Haven, Connecticut, against the
British, and was afterwards collector of customs at New Haven, and was the
founder, and first president, of the New Haven Bank; John P. Austin, born in New
Haven, Connecticut, in 1774, was graduated from Yale College and died at
Brazoria, Texas, in 1834, while visiting a son; Andrew Yates Austin, born in New
Haven, Connecticut, in 1803, died in Willoughby, Ohio, in 1882; Charles William
Austin; and William Grafton Austin.

   Capt. Charles William Austin was born at Norwich, Connecticut, in 1833, and
died in Savannah, Georgia, in 1889. Migrating to Texas in early manhood, he
subsequently had a notable career, particularly in connection with the
Confederate navy during the war between the states. His chief fame lies in the
fact that he, in association with Capt. John A. Stevenson, was one of the
designers and constructors of the Confederate ram "Manassas," the vessel which
revolutionized naval warfare, displacing wood hulls for those of steel, that
vessel having preceded the "Merrimac" and "Monitor." Following its completion
the "Manassas" was placed in command of Capt. Charles William Austin, who while
sailing her passed through some of the most dangerous and thrilling escapades of
the war. His first encounter with the enemy after assuming command of the
"Manassas" was at New Orleans, at the mouth of the Mississippi, where in a tilt
with four of the Federal sloops-of-war Captain Austin came off victorious, but
with his clothing nearly burned off him from the enemy's fire. He succeeded,
however, in ramming and sinking the "Richmond," one of the enemy's fleet, in
that engagement. In a later engagement the "Manassas," having her engine broken,
had to run on a sand bank to save her crew, and was there abandoned.

   Prior to the Civil war, Captain Austin had been captain of a steamer of the
Harris-Morgan line, plying between New Orleans and Mobile. After the disaster to
the "Manassas" he continued in active service in the Confederate navy until the
close of the conflict, leading a life that was filled with most dangerous
exploits in blockade running, and having narrow escapes from the enemy on both
sea and land. Three times he was imprisoned, and each time made his escape, his
most thrilling escapade having been when, in the closing days of the war, he
successfully ran the Federal blockade in Galveston harbor, an event that is
remembered by all of the old residents of that city as one of the most notable
in the course of the war.

   In 1875, Captain Austin came with his family from Texas to Savannah, Georgia,
where he engaged in his old business, that of stevedoring, remaining a resident
of the city until his death, in 1889, as mentioned above. He married Georgia
Grafton, who is descended from the Harlan family of Kentucky, her mother having
been a first cousin of the late Justice John Marshall Harlan, of the United
States supreme court, and who also counts among her ancestors Nathaniel and John
Harlan, founders of the city of Rochester, New York. After the captain's death
she and her daughter, Miss Susie T. Austin, and her son, Andrew Y. Austin,
returned to Texas, and are now living at Houston, that state. One of Capt.
Charles W. Austin's brothers, John P. Austin, belonged to Morgan's band of
raiders, serving in the Confederate army, and was on land what the captain was
on sea, an intrepid, fearless fighter, the entire Austin family having been
then, as now, noted for coolness and bravery in face of danger.

   Completing his education after coming to Savannah, William Grafton Austin
attended the Barnard School, the Massie School, and the Chatham Academy. In
1887, he enlisted as a private in the United States army, in which he served
five years, becoming first sergeant of Troop E, Seventh Cavalry, Custer's old
regiment, being stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. As sergeant of his troop, he
took a prominent part in the suppression of the Sioux uprising in South Dakota,
in December, 1890, and upon the earnest recommendation of his superior officers
was awarded by the United States department a medal of honor for gallant conduct
and conspicuous bravery in close-range fire at the battle of "Wounded Knee, on
December 29, 1890.

   After leaving the regular army Capt. William G. Austin returned to Savannah,
and was here for a number of years successfully engaged in the cotton business.
In January, 1907, at the urgent solicitation of friends, he retired from his
mercantile operations to take the position of chief of police of Savannah, an
office which he filled with honor to himself, and to the great advantage of the
city. Although a strict disciplinarian, it is recognized that through his severe
training and experience the force of which he was at the head became one of the
best and most efficient in the state, while he himself was an ideal head for a
metropolitan police department.

   In 1894, Capt. W. G. Austin joined the Savannah Volunteer Guards as a
private, and having through various promotions become captain of Company A,
commanded that company in the Spanish-American war, his company being a part of
the Second Georgia Regiment of Volunteers. For a number of years the captain was
a member of the Georgia Rifle Team, and is noted as an expert rifle shot. He
retired from the captaincy of the company before he became chief of police.

   Captain Austin organized, and is president of, the Savannah Motor Car
Company, representing in Savannah the Cadillac automobile.



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

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

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/chatham/bios/gbs230austin.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/

File size: 7.4 Kb