Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

2910 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANSpublic service. About 1844 he established the Patriot, a weekly newspaper,out of which grew the Albany Herald, now one of the leading papers ofSouth Georgia. In the decade of the '50s he served as justice of the peace,judge of the Inferior- Court and colonel of the militia. Before the war hehad become recognized as the foremost business man of the state. His brotherAsa F. Tift had settled in Key West, Florida, and on the outbreak of the warthey had become whole-heartedly Southern in their sympathies, establishedat Albany a large beef and pork packing establishment, which was of immensevalue in furnishing supplies to the Confederacy. Later they erected a largecracker or "hardtack" factory, a grist mill and a barrel factory, and theseplants all served their purpose in contributing supplies to the Government.In 1863 the two brothers began at New Orleans the construction of the ramMississippi under the approval and direction of the secretary of the Confederate Navy. Nelson Tift, a man of strong inventive mind, worked outthe plan of this vessel along new lines, and it was pronounced by expertsas the most formidable gunboat possessed by either Government, while manybelieved that it alone could defend the City of New Orleans. Unfortunatelyit was not completed in time, for Admiral Farragut captured the city justbefore its completion and the Mississippi was burned to prevent it fallinginto the hands of the Federal fleet. The brothers then transferred theiroperations to the City of Savannah and there transformed a merchant vesselinto a gunboat called the Atlanta. This vessel also met with misfortune, asit ran aground on its first trip and was destroyed to keep the enemy fromcapturing it. All the work done during the war by these two brothers forthe Confederate cause was done without pay or compensation of any kind,and they gave to their work the very best of their great energies and abilities.After the war Nelson Tift supplied both courage and enterprise to therehabilitation of the South. He was still active in politics, and at a time whenthe will of the majority was frequently thwarted he was elected to the FortiethCongress, but the election was set aside and his seat given to another man.Turning his attention to railroad building, he projected and carried to completion four distinct lines. First and last he was devoted to his home city ofAlbany, and never hesitated to give time and zeal and money to its interests.As a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1877 he was one of theleading figures, and gave valuable service by reason of his sound judgment,his wide experience and his devoted patriotism. To the last he was as activeand zealous as many men half his age, and possessed an untiring epergy andforesight that was characterized as phenomenal; a courage that feared nothing ; a temper always under control; integrity of the most rigid sort; a kindlynature, and a smile which Henry Grady once said was "irresistible." Hewas easily one of the remarkable men of his day, and did; more towardsstarting South Georgia on that remarkable development of which the fruitsare now evidence than any other man. He was one of the few pioneers whohave a measure of appreciation in his life and who reaped some of the rewardsof his labors.Soon after coming to Albany he married Miss Annie Maria Mercer, nieceof the celebrated Baptist minister, Jesse Mercer, in whose honor Mercer University at Macon was named. To their marriage were born two sons and fivedaughters: Nelson Tift and James M. Tift, Annie Tift Rawson, Fannie TiftNelson, Isabel Tift Mitchell, Clara Tift Woolfoik, and Irene Tift Mann.REV. SAMUEL W. REID. High intellectual attainments, marked administrative ability, and perfervid consecration in the work of his high callinghave given to Mr. Reid marked distinction and influence in the localized andgeneric activities of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, and, withabiding human sympathy and tolerance, he has striven with all of earnestnessin the aiding and uplifting of his fellow men, his character and services show-