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Georgia Genealogy Trails "Where your Journey Begins" |
Forsyth County, Georgia
Biographies
| Gramling, John Robinson, who was for
many years identified with the commercial interests of Georgia’s fair
capital city, was born at Spartanburg, Spartanburg county, S. C., April
30, 1842, a son of Kennedy and Mary Ann (Wood) Gramling, both of whom
were representatives of old and prominent families and both natives of
South Carolina. His paternal grandfather, Andrew Gramling, was
born on Nov. 21, 1783, a son of Adam Gramling, a veteran of the
Revolution. Kennedy Gramling was born on Jan. 21, 1813. He
served in the Mexican war as a captain and was an officer in the
Confederate army during the Civil war. On the maternal side Mary
A. Wood was a daughter of Robinson Wood, who was a prominent figure in
North Carolina. Her mother was Elizabeth Royston, daughter of
Richard Royston, a member of one of the first families of
Virginia. There is a town in Spartanburg county, S. C., called
Gramling, that was named in honor of the family. John R. Gamling
was educated in the schools of Canton and Cumming, Ga., and
supplemented his training there with a wide course of reading until he
was regarded as one of the best informed men in a general way in the
community in which he lived. He enlisted in the Confederate
service at the beginning of the Civil war and served as a faithful
soldier until the end of the conflict, as a private in Hampton’s
legion. Soon after the close of the war he located in Atlanta,
where he continued to reside the rest of his life. In 1874 he
became a member of the firm of Gramling & Spalding, wholesale
dealers in shoes, and by his energetic and honorable business methods
soon won a high place in the mercantile circles of the city.
Doctor Spalding, his partner in business and warm personal friend said
of him: “He was one of the most honest, straight up and down men that I
ever met. Having a perfect genius for business, he it was who was
the principal promoter of our business interests through the long years
that have passed.” Although Mr. Gramling began his business
career at the close of the war without capital and on a salary of only
fifteen dollars a month, he achieved success by his honesty and
indomitable will power. Obstacles that might have discouraged
other men had no terrors for him. In 1886 he organized the Atlanta
Banking Company, of which he remained president until the time of his
death. In his political affiliations he was an unswerving
Democrat, and though he was never a seeker for public office, he was
elected in 1883 to a place on the board of aldermen of Atlanta.
Here he was chairman of the finance committee and was the first man to
negotiate cheap bonds—four and one half per cent—for the city of
Atlanta. He was several times reelected and his record as one of
the municipal legislators stands like his private business career,
without stain. Previous to his election as alderman he had served
the city as one of the police commissioners, to which position he was
appointed in 1876, and when the board of county commissioners was
created he was elected on of the first members for Fulton county.
In all the public position he held his course was uniformly marked by
sound judgment and a desire to conserve the public welfare. He
was a member of the Young Men’s library association, out of which grew
the present Carnegie library. In fraternal circles he was well
known, having been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
was at one time worshipful master of Atlanta lodge, No. 59, Free and
Accepted Masons. He was a consistent member of the Methodist
church, with which he united while a resident of Cumming. On Jan.
22, 1868, he was married in Hall county to Miss Anna Eliza Porter,
daughter of Benjamin Franklin and Delana Scott (Bell) Porter, of
Flowery Branch, Ga. Benjamin F. Porter was a prominent merchant
of Hall county and a descendent of the Porters of Virginia and
Pennsylvania. His wife was a noted belle and was of staunch
Revolutionary stock. Francis Bell served in the American army in
the Revolution in a North Carolina regiment; Thomas Bell was in the
colonial wars in Pennsylvania, and his father, William Bell, was an
officer in the Provincial war—1747-48. His record is on file at
Harrisburg, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Gramling became the parents of the
following children: Charles, Kate, Eula, Robert E., and
Anna. Kate is now the wife of Edwin A. Hardin. John R.
Gramling passed to his eternal rest on May 28, 1890. Of his death
the Atlanta Constitution of the 29th said: “The death of John R.
Gramling is a severe loss to Atlanta. Mr. Gramling was a model
citizen, broad minded, progressive, liberal and public-spirited.
He was a splendid type of the men who have built the Gate City and
contributed so much to her progress and prosperity. In all the
relations of life and in every circle that he entered, his admirable
traits of character, his clear head and mind and heart made him honored
and beloved. Taken away in the prime of his useful manhood, his
death will strike most of us as the untimely ending of a bright career,
but such lives leave the lessons to carry on the good work.” (Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. VOL III Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Marilyn Clore) |
