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Georgia Genealogy Trails "Where your Journey Begins" |
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Stewart County Georgia
Fort, Allen, senior member of the well
known law firm of Allen Fort & Sons, of Americus,
is a descendant of one of Georgia’s
old and honored families. His
great-grandfather, Arthur Fort, was a gallant soldier in the colonial
army in
the Revolutionary war and rendered yeoman service in behalf of the
cause of
American independence. He was also a
member of the executive council or Gov. John A. Treutlen, the first
governor of
Georgia
under the constitution of 1777; was for several years a member of the
state
senate, and is reputed to have been the author of the celebrated
judiciary act
of 1799. Allen Fort, the immediate
subject of this sketch, was born near Lumpkin, Stewart county, Ga.,
July 14, 1849, a son of James Arthur and Mary A.
(Belcher) Fort, both natives of Twiggs county, Ga.
After due preliminary training he entered the University
of Georgia, in
which institution hr was granted with the degree of Bachelor of Arts,
as a
member of class of 1867, sharing first honors of his class with Samuel
Spencer,
now president of the Southern Railway Company.
The following year he was admitted to the bar and since
the he has
achieved substantial success and won high prestige as an attorney and
counselor
at law. Politically he is an unswerving
advocate of Democratic principles and has been honored by the people of
Sumter county by being
elected three times to represent that county in the legislature. While a member of the general assembly he
became interested in railroad legislature, particularly in the matter
of
creating a railroad commission. He
introduced the bill, which was afterward consolidated with the bill of
Mr.
Rankin, of Gordon county, and which passed the house as the Fort-Rankin
bill,
and which was amended in the senate, becoming the present railroad
commission
law of Georgia. In the opinion of some of
the ablest lawyers
in the state the bill as it passed the house-that is the original
Fort-Rankin
bill-was a better measure that the one which finally became the law. In his fight for this bill Mr. Fort was ably
supported by Mr. Rankin and a number of other members, as well as many
of the
leafing citizens of the state. He still
has in his possession an autograph letter from Gen. Robert Toombs,
complimenting
him on his distinguished services in the connection.
Gov. W. J. Northern was a member of the house
at the time, and after his election to the office of governor he
appointed Mr.
Fort a member if the railroad commission, chiefly because of his active
interest in securing the passage of the law.
He served on the commission for six years, during which
time he was ever
alert to the people’s welfare, favoring a number of reductions in
freight
rates, notably the cotton rate, to which the other two members of the
commission failed to agree. In this case
Mr. Fort rendered the dissenting opinion, which was published and
widely
circulated through the South. The
railroads naturally opposed his continuance as a member of the
commission and
Mr. Fort declined to ask a reappointment at the hands of Governor
Atkinson,
though his services while a member will long be remembered by the
people of Georgia. For ten years Mr. Fort
served as judge of the
superior courts of the Southwestern circuit and made an admirable
record on the
bench. During his entire professional
career he has been a resident of Americus and is
regarded as one of the progressive and influential citizens of Sumter
county. He is now associated with his two
sons,
Allen, Jr., and Hollis, in the practice of law, the firm being widely
known and
has a large clientage. Judge Fort is a
member if the Masonic fraternity, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon college
fraternity
and the Methodist Episcopal church South, in each of which he has a
high
standing because of his unimpeachable integrity and general good
fellowship. On Dec. 13, 1879, Judge Fort
was united in marriage to Miss Floyd Hollis, daughter of John F. and
Susan M.
Hollis, of Marion county, Ga., and the children of this union are
Allen, Jr., Hollis, James, Susan F., Mary D. and Georgia A.
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