Richard Peters (November 10, 1810 – February 6, 1889) was an American railroad man and a founder of Atlanta. Events 1444 - Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Vladislaus III of Varna (aka Ulaszlo I of Hungary and Wladyslaw Year 1810 ( MDCCCX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats the combined army of Pompeian followers and Numidians under Metellus Scipio Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The United States of America —commonly referred to as the
Grandson of Judge Richard Peters, Jr. (an associate of George Washington) he was born near Philadelphia at Germantown, Pennsylvania to father Ralph Peters. Richard Peters Jr ( June 22, 1744 &ndash August 22, 1828) was an American lawyer jurist and politician from Philadelphia George Washington (February 22 1732 December 14 1799 served as the first President of the United States of America (1789&ndash1797 and led the Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə Germantown is the name of six places in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a state in the United States, including a neighborhood in Philadelphia Pennsylvania
Contents |
Early career
His early Pennsylvania career found him working with architect William Strickland and as a rodman with John Edgar Thomson for $1. William Strickland ( Navesink New Jersey, November 1788 - Nashville Tennessee, April 6 1854) was a noted architect in nineteenth-century Gromatici (from Latin groma or gruma, a surveyor 's pole or agrimensores, was the name for land-surveyors amongst the John Edgar Thomson ( February 10 1808 – May 27 1874) was an American Civil engineer, railroad executive and Industrialist 50 a day. Thomson liked the 26-year old's work and offered him a job for $1000 a year to help with construction of the new Georgia Railroad for which he was chief engineer. The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company is a historic railroad and banking company that operated in the U One hundred dollars got him a rough paddlewheeler ride into camp near Charleston, South Carolina in the brutally cold February of 1835. A paddle steamer is a ship or boat driven by a Steam engine that uses one or more Paddle wheels to develop thrust for propulsion. Charleston is a city in Charleston county in the US state of South Carolina. Year 1835 ( MDCCCXXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common
He worked the state road the eight years it took to complete it from Augusta to the new town of Marthasville, Georgia, building a life-long friendship with Lemuel P. Grant both of whom began buying land in the new town. Augusta Georgia is a city in Richmond County, Georgia, United States. Marthasville was the previous name of Atlanta, Georgia. Marthasville was named after Governor Wilson Lumpkin 's daughter Martha it was officially incorporated Lemuel Pratt Grant (1817&ndash1893 was an American engineer and businessman When the road was completed, he was made superintendent and while in that position heard many complaints about the length of the name Marthasville which took too long to write in log books, freight, etc. He traded letters with Thomson and when the latter suggested Atlanta, Peters began printing up thousands of circulars distributing them from Augusta to Tennessee advertising the new name which was officially changed in December 1845. Tennessee ( is a state located in the Southern United States. Year 1845 ( MDCCCXLV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common
He built a home there and was married in 1848 to Mary Jane, the daughter of early settler Joseph Thompson. Year 1848 ( MDCCCXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Dr Joseph Thompson ( September 29, 1797 &ndash August 21, 1885) was an early Settler of Atlanta Georgia, hotelier and He founded the first Atlanta steam factory, the flour mill at the Georgia RR between Butler and Calhoun (the location of today's Sloppy Floyd office building). James H Floyd State Park is a 561 acre (227 km² Georgia State park located near Summerville. With no water, the mill needed to be powered by wood and Peters purchased 405 acres (the land lots 80 and 47) which is basically all of midtown between North Avenue and 8th St for pine wood. North Avenue in Atlanta is a major street dividing Downtown Atlanta from Midtown. This land turned out to be the key to his future wealth.
Always interested in transportation, he had run stage coach line from Atlanta to Montgomery, Alabama, but after the completion of the Atlanta & West Point Railroad he moved the northern end to West point and continued from there to Montgomery. For other meanings see Stagecoach (disambiguation. A stagecoach (also called diligence) is a type of four-wheeled enclosed Montgomery (məntˈgəmɜriː is the Capital, second most populous city and the 4th most populous metropolitan area in the Southern U The Atlanta and West Point Railroad (AWP was originally chartered in 1847 as the Atlanta and LaGrange Rail Road and the section from Newnan to West Point was chartered
The War
During the American Civil War Peters remained in Atlanta until a few days before the arrival of Sherman's army where he was the civilian transportation agent for all Atlanta railroads and he contracted with the blockade running Crenshaw Company supplying cotton by rail in exchange for foodstuffs. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South A blockade runner is a term applied to ships used to evade a naval Blockade of a harbor or strait as opposed to confronting the blockaders to break the blockade The Crenshaw Company was a Blockade running company established during the American Civil War. In early 1861, he sold the steam engine from his mill for $12,000 to be used in the Confederate Powderworks at Augusta. Year 1861 ( MDCCCLXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common A steam engine is a Heat engine that performs Mechanical work using Steam as its Working fluid. The Confederate Powderworks was a Gunpowder factory during the American Civil War, the only permanent structures completed by the Confederate States of America By the time of the Battle of Atlanta he and his family were in Augusta where they stayed until April of 1865. Background In the Atlanta Campaign Maj Gen William Tecumseh Sherman commanded the Union forces of the Western Theater. After Sherman left Georgia in December of 1864, he had James R. Year 1864 ( MDCCCLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Crew repairing the 24 miles of destroyed Atlanta and West Point Rail Road and Lemuel P. Grant the nearly 100 miles of wrecked Georgia Railroad. The Atlanta and West Point Railroad (AWP was originally chartered in 1847 as the Atlanta and LaGrange Rail Road and the section from Newnan to West Point was chartered Lemuel Pratt Grant (1817&ndash1893 was an American engineer and businessman The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company is a historic railroad and banking company that operated in the U By April, the war was over and rail service was restored to Atlanta.
After the War
In 1871 he built Atlanta's first street railway, Atlanta Street Railway Company with real estate man George Adair . George Washington Adair ( March 1, 1823 &ndash September 29, 1899) was an important real-estate developer in post Civil War After the Kimball House was destroyed by fire, Peters helped lead the efforts to have that center of Atlanta life rebuilt eventually having to ask Hanniball Kimball back to town to help raise money. Hannibal Ingalls Kimball ( May 16, 1832 &ndash April 28, 1895) was an American entrepreneur and important businessman in He began to subdivide his north Atlanta land, first by laying out roads: north/south by trees (myrtle, juniper, apple, etc) to match the naming of Peachtree Street but threw in Penn to harken back to his Pennsylvania roots; east/west streets were numbered starting with 3rd St. The Myrtle ( Myrtus) is a genus of one or two species of Flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae, native to southern Europe and north Junipers are Coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. The apple is the pomaceous Fruit of the apple tree Species Malus domestica in the Rose family Rosaceae. Peachtree Street is the main north-south Street of Atlanta Georgia. William Penn ( October 14, 1644 – July 30, 1718) was founder and "Absolute Proprietor" of the Province of Pennsylvania, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern (since North Avenue and Ponce de León were long-since named) and ending with the northernmost extent of his property, 8th St and built his final home on the highest part: the block bounded by Peachtree, 4th, Cypress and 5th streets. North Avenue in Atlanta is a major street dividing Downtown Atlanta from Midtown. Ponce de León may refer to Juan Ponce de León, Spanish explorer Luis Ponce de León, Spanish poet In 1884 he sold 180 acres surrounding W. Peachtree to Kimball for $1,000 an acre to create Peters Park, a development which eventually failed for lack of sales. In 1887 he sold five acres of his remaining holdings to the state for $10,000 and donated another four to help found the Georgia School of Technology. Year 1887 ( MDCCCLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly known as Georgia Tech, or Tech, is a public, Coeducational Research university in
He left a million dollar estate. Of his two sons, Edward stayed on the estate and built a mansion which still stands while Ralph became president of the Long Island Rail Road. Ralph Peters (born in Atlanta Georgia November 19, 1853) was the son of another railroad man Richard Peters and president of the Long Island
He's buried in Oakland Cemetery, in Atlanta. Oakland Cemetery can refer to Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta Georgia Oakland Cemetery (Dallas Texas Oakland Cemetery
External links
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic