William Yates Atkinson
Encyclopedia
William Yates Atkinson was the 55th Governor of Georgia from 1894 to 1898.

Atkinson graduated from the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

 with an LL.B in 1877. He married Susie Cobb Milton in 1880. (Their son, William Yates Atkinson, Jr., was the Georgia Democratic state chair in 1942 as well as a Georgia state Supreme Court justice from 1943 to 1948.)

The elder Atkinson was the solicitor of the Coweta Superior Court circuit. He then represented Coweta County
Coweta County, Georgia
Coweta County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 89,215. The 2009 Census Estimate placed the population at 131,936...

 as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives
Georgia House of Representatives
The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly of the U.S. state of Georgia.-Composition:...

 (1886–94), where he was the speaker, or presiding officer, during the last two years. He was also the Georgia Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 state chair from 1890 to 1892.

Atkinson died on August 8, 1899 in Newnan, Georgia
Newnan, Georgia
Newnan is a city in Coweta County, Georgia, about 30 miles southwest of Atlanta. The population was 16,242 at the 2000 Census. Newnan is one of the fastest growing cities in Georgia, with an estimated population of 27,097 in 2006 and 33,293 in July 2008...

, aged 44. He is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in that city.

Other notable facts about Atkinson:
  • He hired the first woman salaried employee in state government, Ellen Dortch, as assistant state librarian.
  • Atkinson County, Georgia
    Atkinson County, Georgia
    Atkinson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia, and was formed in 1917 from parts of Coffee and Clinch counties. As of 2000, the population was 7,609. The 2007 Census Estimate placed the population at 8,223...

     is named for him.
  • He vetoed a law that would have prohibited football in the state.
  • As a state representative, he introduced a bill that established the Georgia Normal and Industrial College, which later became Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, Georgia
    Milledgeville, Georgia
    Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon, located just before Eatonton on the way to Athens along U.S. Highway 441, and it is located on the Oconee River. The relatively rapid current of the Oconee here made this an...

    .
  • He bravely confronted the mob in the infamous Sam Hose
    Sam Hose
    Sam Hose was an African American worker who was tortured and executed by a lynch mob in Coweta County, Georgia.Sam Hose, a.k.a. Sam Holt, was born Tom Wilkes in south Georgia near Marshallville around 1875. He grew up on a Macon County farm owned by the Jones family...

     lynching and tried to get them to allow the legal justice system to take its course. He was unsuccessful, however, and Hose was lynched soon after Atkinson confronted the mob.

External links

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