Biography of 	MAGINNIS, Arthur Ambrose, Jr., Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by 	Mike Miller June 1998

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Maginnis, Arthur Ambrose, Jr., the second son of A. A. Maginnis, known by 
his intimate friends as Ambrose Maginnis, was born in New Orleans, 
Aug. 30, 1848.  He attended the local public schools until 1862, when, as 
a mere lad sharing in the martial spirit that was then enthusing his 
elders, he enlisted under command of his brother-in-law, Capt. John 
Tilghman Nolan, and was known as the youngest Confederate in active 
service, being then 14 years old.  When the command to which he was 
attached was disbanded, he reënlisted in 1863 in the Miles Legion, with 
which he continued until Dec., 1864, when he was honorably discharged 
from service.  He first returned to New Orleans, where he secured 
employment from the Lafayette Warehouse Co., owned by his father, and in 
1867 he went to New York as manager of a cotton seed oil company, which 
had headquarters in Connecticut.  In 1871 he returned to New Orleans to 
become identified with the firm of A. A. Maginnis Sons, afterwards merged 
into the Maginnis oil and soap works.  His business enterprise and energy 
were soon recognized, and he became president of the Maginnis cotton 
mills, the Lafayette Warehouse Co., the Planters Fertilizer Manufacturing 
Co., the Hermitage Planting and Manufacturing Co., and the resident 
vice-president for Louisiana of the American Surety Co. of New York.
Mr. Maginnis was always to the fore.  He was a member of the celebrated 
organization known as the Knights of the White Camelia, organized shortly 
after the war, and when the dark days of reconstruction were brought to a 
close, there was no more highly honored name on the roles of the Crescent 
City White League than that of Col. Maginnis.  He figures as a prominent 
member of the committee of 100 and was one of the leaders in each of the 
political reform movements of the Y. M. D. A. in 1888 and of the Citizens' 
League in 1896.  He was one of the organizers of the Southern Yacht club, 
reorganized the Mistick Krewe of Comus and was a valued member for many years; 
was a member of the Pickwick, La Variete, French Opera and Louisiana Jocky 
clubs and was the moving spirit in several other carnival organizations.
His philanthropy was shown on many occasions and in many ways.  Interested 
in the Morris public baths located in the front portion of the 1st ward, 
he ran them for more than 2 years at his own expense, for the benefit of 
the great army of indigents who would have been compelled to go unwashed 
had it not been for these baths.  In addition to this, when epidemics 
were menacing the health commerce and property of the city, Mr. Maginnis 
from his private resources, provided for pumping apparatus for the 
flushing of the gutters and gave it his personal time and attention.
The Harlequin called him a typical American philanthropist in pursuance 
of its policy of applauding whatever is genuine, saying:  "This man courts
no popular favor, and has no mawkish sentimentality.  Beneath an 
independent exterior, that of a successful man who owes the world nothing 
for what he has achieved, he has a quiet, big heart and a gentle mercy 
whose quality is not strained.  His flushing of the gutters of New Orleans 
during the warm months is an act of kindness in which a population of 350,000 
souls is concerned.  He made no great fuss or flurry over the matter, organized 
no society of high-sounding names with titled officers and press exploitations.
The gutters were dirty, the heart of the city was endangered.  He saw what
was necessary, and seeing it, did what he thought should be done for the 
health of the community and the city is the better for it.  A hundred 
other things he has done and is doing, in the same quiet way, to the 
little orphans of the city, whose friend he has always been."  When Mrs. 
Jefferson Davis came to Beauvoir for the last time to look over all the 
contents of the cherished place and select those souvenirs she desired to 
save for herself and family, previous to turning the home over to the 
state of Mississippi, she turned to Mr. Maginnis, who had managed her 
business affairs, for advice.  Many of these souvenirs she gave to her 
family, but the beautiful and historical ones she presented to Memorial 
Hall in memory of her daughter Winnie.  A number of boxes containing other
precious relics were packed and sent to the warehouse of that ,"dear old 
friend of the Davis family, Col. Ambrose sorrows that have come to each 
in the death of loved ones, united the living members more closely 
together.  By a special message from Mrs. Davis at the time of Winnie's 
death, Mr. Maginnis was with her in all her trouble and sorrow.  So when 
Mr. Maginnis was suddenly taken sick with pneumonia at the Waldorf-Astoria 
hotel in New York, Mrs. Davis lost no time in going to his bedside.  It 
was a most gracious act that is cherished by the Maginnis family, as he 
was alone until members of his family joined him there.  Archbishop Blenk,
 in his address at the church of the Immaculate Conception, said:  "One 
of the marked traits of the character of A. A. Maginnis was, that he was 
a worker."  Although his life was comparatively short, all testimony 
showed that he did a great deal.  From his youth he strove to serve his 
state and country with all his might.  In mature middle life, in 
commercial activities, in charity, in all that related to the city and 
the state, there was no more enlightened or efficient worker than he.  It 
is needless to recount his deeds.  Some are well known, but it would be 
impossible to tell the extent of his benefactions or of his goodness and 
kindness because he kept them a secret.  He strove not to let his left 
hand know what his right hand did, and it was only after his death, when 
the disposition of his affairs was made public, that it became generally 
known that he had rewarded the faithful services of his old servant,
Peter Brown, by making him comfortable the rest of his life.  Peter had 
served his master faithfully in war as well as in peace, and "Mars Ambrose"
had not forgotten to remember him in the days that were to come when the 
master had passed on to the great world beyond.

Source: Louisiana:  Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, 
Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), 
pp. 545-547.  Edited by Alcée Fortier, Lit.D.  Published in 1914, by 
Century Historical Association.