Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events, 1820s-1870s

CHAPTER 31: 1853

CHAPTER 31 1853 R. GIBBS made a second try for the office of mayor on January 17, 1853, but was defeated by John F. Mims, the vote being 193 for Gibbs and 369 for Mims. B. N. Williford and Paschal House were elected marshal and deputy marshal, respectively. Seven, instead of the usual six, councilmen served during 1853. They were Julius A. Hayden, Jonathan Norcross , Leonard C. Simpson, Jared I. Whitaker, William M. Butt, Ira O. McDaniel and Joseph Winship. This was a good strong group, though two were new arrivals. Whitaker was a lawyer, recently moved to Atlanta from Fayetteville , Georgia, while Judge Butt came from Campbell County, where he had served as Justice of the Inferior Court. After moving to Atlanta in 1851 he entered the mercantile business. The city Board of Health for '53 was composed of Dr. Daniel Hook, Dr. Thomas M. Darnall, Dr. T. S. Denny, Basil H. Overby and Richard Peters.1 By this time Atlanta was growing rapidly indeed, and much important business in the way of physical improvement came before Mayor Mims and his council. A need for better police protection of the town during the night had manifested itself. Accordingly, on January 28th, an ordinance was passed providing for the election by the mayor and council of a night police, consisting of three persons, one of whom should be designated as chief of police. It was made the duty of the night police to guard the city from the ringing of the council bell at night, each and every night, and until sunrise next morning. E. T. Hunnicutt was elected chief, at a salary of $30 per month, and J. A. Medlin and James M. Lester, assistants, at $25 per month. On May 7 the chief was raised to $33^ and the assistants to $30 each.2 On February 16 Mayor Mims reported a proposal from Edward A. Vincent , a young engineer and native of England, to get up a map of the city for the sum of $100, he, Vincent, to retain the copyright. The proposal was agreed to and the map was made, although some argument arose in council later in the year as to its acceptance. The difficulty was ironed out and the fact that council took pride in the map is evidenced by the following resolution dated November 18, 1853: "Resolved, that the Mayor of Atlanta furnish the Mayor and Council of the Cities of Savannah, Augusta, Athens, Columbus, and Macon, each, with a copy of our City Map, and that he also furnish the Governor with a copy for the use of the State House."3 The Vincent Map of 1853 remains today the earliest extant map of the city.4 It is possible that Mr. Vincent's cartographic activities brought to the fore a need for a city surveyor. At any rate a motion was introduced in council during March and adopted, for the election of a city surveyor, to fix grades of streets, etc. On July 29, 1853, Dr. Hilliard L. Currier, for whom Currier Street was subsequently named, became the first individual to hold the office.5 The matter of bridging the deep cut over the railroad tracks and the opening of Market (now Broad) Street north to Peachtree at Luckie Street Atlanta—Vol. 1-23 D 354 ATLANTA AND ITS ENVIRONS was effectuated in 1853 by the purchase of the necessary right of way from Mrs. Daniel Dougherty for $660 on February 15th, and from Ammi Williams for $200 on February 25th.6 A wooden Howe truss bridge was then erected (Collection of Franklin M. Carrett) Vincent's old (1853) map of Atlanta as reprinted in Hopkins' Atlas of Atlanta, 1878. This is the earliest extant complete map of the city. The "Note" and "N.B." were added upon republication in the 1878 Atlas. Explanation at top added by the writer of this history over the tracks by William McConnell and Patrick Lynch, contractors, replacing a plain wooden structure thirty feet in width, built the year before.7 The new bridge, then and for many years thereafter the only such structure across the railroad tracks in the center of the city, inspired the first effort at artificial street lighting. On March 25, 1853, it was "Resolved [by Council] THE EIGHTEEN-FIFTIES 355 that a lamp be placed on the Bridge in Market Street; and that lamps be furnished and be...