Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 3043Of the more intimate and personal characteristics and relations of GeneralAustell, the following quotation will serve as a portrayal: "Though somewhat reserved in manner, General Austell was one of the kindest of men, andno where were his amiabilities of character displayed to better advantage thanabout the fireside. He was devoted to his family; and as a husband and fatherwas always indulgent and tender. "When occasion required, he could be asfirm as the oak, but preferred to-govern his relations with men by the rule ofgentleness. No man was ever more loyal to'his friends than General Austell,and sbme one has said'of him that the only losses which he met with in businesswere where his friendships were involved. He was always ready to lend thehand of encouragement to young men. He remembered his own youthfulstruggles, and when success rewarded him he not only requited the kindnessto those who had befriended him in his former days, but stood ready to assistthe efforts of those who were struggling upward as he had done. He was quitegenerous in all of his public benefactions and never failed to respond to anycall which the community made upon his time or his purse. He cared nothingfor politics, otherwise there was no office in the gift of the people which hemight not have filled. General Austell was an upright Christian man andsquared his conduct at all times by the standard laid down in the scriptures.Several years before his death he united with the First Presbyterian Church,and was unremittingly faithful in attending its public exercises as well as insupporting its benevolent causes. But he was in no sense narrow or sectarian.He gave to churches without regard to denominational creeds and numerousstructures all over the South, especially in the rural districts, attest his generosity in this respect. Few men have surpassed General Austell in the ability to discern great opportunities or in the skill to direct great business operations; but after all the secret of his power was in his granite-like solidity ofcharacter.''Out of the many tributes-paid to him at the time of his death, this sketchmay be closed with an editorial from the Atlanta Sunday Gazette: '' Trueto his friends, true to his family, true to honor and to every obligation whichrested upon him, he turned his face heavenward as life's twilight gatheredaround him, and laying aside the impetus of earthly labor, withdrew to hiseternal rest. He was so modest and retiring that few, even of his friends, hadany idea of the extent of his benevolences. How many struggling fellowmenhe has lifted over rough and rugged places no one will ever know. As founderand president of the Atlanta National Bank, one of the first, not only inregard to organization, but also for unquestioned financial standing and fairdealing in all the land; as the possessor of a princely fortune, as a father, afriend, a Christian and a citizen, he came up to the full measure of his dutyand died as he had lived, an honest man, the noblest work of God."VICTOR HUGO KRIEGSHABER, civil engineer, manufacturer and merchant,was born at Louisville, Kentucky, March 27; 1859, his parents being WilliamKriegshaber, a successful general insurance agent, and Regina (Sommers)Kriegshaber, who was a member of a well-known and influential Jewish family. The Kriegshaber family was founded in the United States by WilliamKriegshaber, who emigrated to this country with Carl Schurz and his littleband of German revolutionists, having been exiled from Prussia on accountof his active participation in the political troubles of 1848. The family originally belonged to Germany, where its members resided for many years.Victor Hugo Kriegshaber was sent to the Bailsman German-English Academy, at Louisville, Kentucky, and afterward completed his education in theUniversity Preparatory School, at Frankfort-on-the-Main and in the university at Darmstadt, Germany, in which institutions of learning he remainedduring the years from 1875 to 1880. At his graduation he received the degreeof civil engineer, and from that time to the present he has followed his pro-