Georgia:  Coweta County:  Biography of GOV. W. Y. ATKINSON 

====================================================================
USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing
free information on the Internet, data may be used by
non-commercial entities, as long as this message
remains on all copied material. These electronic
pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit
or for presentation by other persons or organizations.

Persons or organizations desiring to use this material
for purposes other than stated above must obtain the
written consent of the file contributor.

The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb
Archives to store this file permanently for free access.
This file was contributed by:
Nel Rocklein 
TAROCKLEIN@aol.com
====================================================================

GOV. W. Y. ATKINSON. The career of Gov. William Yates Atkinson, the 
present chief executive, is one of the most remarkable in the annals of 
this state, and one that is full of practical encouragement to the young 
men of Georgia. 

Reared in the school of adversity, he grew up with a full knowledge of 
the hardships and privations that have served as the rigid, though not 
unkind discipline of many of the foremost men of this country. From a 
plain country lad, and without the aid of such artificial means of 
advancement as wealth and influence, armed only with his native force of 
character and the laudable ambition to leave his impress upon the times, 
he has risen by sheer force and determination, pluck and self-reliance, 
to the highest position of honor in the state, and taken his seat in the 
gubernatorial chair before reaching his fortieth year. The father of the 
young chief executive, John P. Atkinson, was a farmer and schoolteacher 
in Brunswick county, Va., and resided in that state during the greater 
part of his life. He was a man of irreproachable character and eminently 
respected by his neighbors. He drew their contracts and their wills, 
served as arbitrator in the settlement of their disputes, and attended to 
their legal business when they had any, as the school teachers in the 
mountain districts of Virginia and other southern states usually did. His 
mother, who still lives to rejoice in the honors of her son, is a native 
Georgian, born in Putnam county. She is also a woman of good education 
famous for her piety, and has exercised a decided influence over her 
sons. The family moved to Oakland, Meriwether Co., Ga., just before 
the governor, the sixth of eight children was born. His childhood was 
passed upon his father's plantation and the qualities of manhood which 
were to distinguish him in after life were there carefully nurtured. He 
received the rudiments of his education from his father and mother, but 
the former died while he was still a boy, and all the money the governor 
has ever expended he has earned for himself. He was prepared for college 
by his brother, Prof. T. E. Atkinson, who was then principal of the 
Senoia high school, and entered the university of Georgia, Athens, 
graduating therefrom in 1877. The following year he was admitted to the 
bar and commenced the practice of law at Newnan, Ga., where he had since 
resided. No sooner had he begun the practice of law than he married Susie 
Cobb Milton, who had attended the Lucy Cobb institute for young ladies at 
Athens, while he was a student there at the university. She came from 
famous southern stock. Her great-grandfather was a member of the 
continental congress and received two votes for president at the time 
Washington was elected; her grandfather was governor of Florida 
and her father for years has been a man of prominence in that state. Mrs. 
Atkinson is a very remarkable woman. There is no doubt of her gifts and 
political acumen, and a large part of the governor's phenomenal success 
is due to her counsel and assistance, which have been actively and 
untiringly given him throughout his career. In 1879 Gov. Colquitt, 
recognizing the ability of the young practitioner, appointed him 
solicitor-general of the county court of Coweta county, and in this 
capacity he served with honor for three years. In 1886 Mr. Atkinson was 
the overwhelming choice of the voters of Coweta county as their 
representative in the general assembly. He was for four consecutive terms 
a representative of Coweta county in the legislature, and during his last 
term, beginning in 1892, was speaker of the house, making one of the best 
presiding officers that body has had. Gov. Atkinson, though a strong 
advocate and supporter of the common school system, has always been 
a loyal friend of the state university, his alma mater, and in 1890 he 
was made a trustee of that institution. Hon. H. W. Hill, in speaking of 
the legislative career of Mr. Atkinson, gives the following summary of 
matters specially worthy of attention: 

I. He was the author of the bill which took the appointment of the 
commissioner of agriculture from the governor and provided that he 
be elected by the people; thus enabling the farmers of the state -- 
the class of our people most interested in it -- to select the 
occupant for this important office. 
II. The bill which limits the pay of inspectors of oils to $1,500 per 
annum each, and requires them to pay the excess of fees into the 
state treasury. This saves the state annually from 
$10,000 to $12,000. 
III. The bill to place telegraph and express companies under the control 
of the railroad commission. 
IV. The substitute for the senate bill under which the claim of the 
Western & Atlantic railroad lessees against the state for $750,000 
betterments was finally settled by the state's reimbursing the 
lessees the $99,999 paid to the state of Tennessee for taxes 
and paying nothing for betterments. 
V. The bill creating the Georgia Normal and Industrial college for 
girls at Milledgeville, whereby poor and dependent Georgia girls 
acquire such an education as will make them self-sustaining and 
independent. For all time to come this will stand as an 
imperishable monument to his name, and the men and women of Georgia 
will rise up and call him blessed. The training of teachers in the 
normal department of this school has already proven of inestimable 
value in supplying competent teachers for the common schools. He is 
now president of the board of trustees of this institution. 

In 1890, Mr. Atkinson was made the president of the state democratic 
convention and also chairman of the democratic state executive committee 
for the ensuing two years. He was re-elected to this office in 1892, and 
the magnificent victory of the democratic party in the fall of that year 
-- at which time, in its divided condition, it was in great peril from 
the combination of third-partyism and republicanism which assailed it -- 
was due mainly to his personal and untiring effort. Notwithstanding 
Gov. Atkinson's brilliant success as a lawyer and advocate and his 
greater political honors, his heart continually turns to the peaceful 
joys of rural home life. He has always retained his agricultural 
interests, and whenever he has been able to find the time in his 
exceedingly busy life, he has turned to his farms for a few days of 
happiness. The campaign of 1894 was one of the warmest political fights 
that has ever occurred on the stump in Georgia. Mr. Atkinson's opponent 
was Gen. Clement A. Evans, a gallant ex-Confederate soldier and one of 
the purest men in the state. It was due to the brilliant dash and 
eloquence of Mr. Atkinson and his rare gifts as a political leader 
that he carried the day against the seemingly overwhelming odds that 
might have dismayed an ordinary man. Mr. Atkinson announced his candidacy 
late, at a time when Gen. Evans seemed almost to be the unanimous choice 
of the people of the state. Before the end of the contest Gen. Evans 
retired from the race, leaving the field to his young antagonist, who was 
nominated by the democratic party for governor without opposition. 

The inauguration of Gov. Atkinson drew to the state capitol one of the 
largest crowds that has ever assembled in that building. The presence of 
the pupils of the Georgia Normal and Industrial college added to the 
picturesque impressiveness of the occasion. Few men at the age of forty 
have mounted to such high official position, and with equal confidence it 
may be asserted that few men have worn their honors more deservingly. His 
popularity in the state, though very great before, has grown steadily and 
rapidly since his inauguration as governor. If the spirit of a bold and 
resolute ambition has dominated the energies of Gov. Atkinson he has 
never antagonized the interest of his state or his party, and he has 
always been ready to sacrifice his own personal ends to promote the good 
of the commonwealth. 

Transcribed from MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA published by the Southern Historical 
Association, 1895.