Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

3116 GEOEGIA AND GEORGIANSthe quiet deliberations of the committee room rather than in the clamorousdebates of the assembly hall. Well-poised in mind, his temperament is decidedly judicial, and he is given rather to the calm statement of carefully formedopinions than to the violent advocacy of public measures. Upon much of thelegislation of the last session his impress, was distinctly stamped. Especiallyzealous was he in his championship of compulsory education, and it was duelargely to his tireless activities that a law to this effect was in 1916 writtenfor the first time upon the statute books of Georgia. Mr. Hutcheson was vicechairman of the judiciary committee, vice chairman of the Western and Atlantic committee, and a member of the committee on education. These assignments in themselves attest his influence as a law-maker. Yielding to theimportunities of friends, rather than to an impulse of selfish ambition, Mr.Hutcheson became a candidate in 1916 for one of the newly created judgeshipsof the Court of Appeals. There were many applicants for these judicialhonors. Some of the ablest lawyers of the state were among the number, nota few of them already wearers of the ermine. Though unsuccessful in hisrace, the fact that he came fifth on a list of fourteen, emphasizes the esteemin which he is held by all classes of the people, an honor in itself equivalentto a crown of laurels.Born at Jonesboro, Clayton County, Georgia, November 20, 1860, the subject of this sketch is a son of Leander C. and Julia A. (Sims) Hutcheson. His.paternal grandfather was Furney Hutcheson, who served as a soldier in theIndian uprising of 1836. Leander C. Hutcheson was born in Blount County,Tennessee, June 19, 1820, and when ten years of age came with his parents toGeorgia, the family first settling in Fayette County, afterwards in Clayton.He was a farmer by occupation but became exceedingly.well known in publicaffairs, serving for twenty-two years as sheriff of Clayton County. He wasfirst elected to that office in 1860 on the whig ticket, and retained the officefor six consecutive terms of two years each, though in the last year he wasremoved as an " impediment to Reconstruction,'' a badge of honor to be cherished by his children's children. During those years this civil office was burdened with a weight of responsibilities and duties such as it has never hadsince. During the war he was also first lieutenant of the Home Guards ofthe state militia. In 1872-73 he represented Clayton County in the StateLegislature, and in 1886 was again elected to the office of sheriff and serveduntil he had completed a total of twenty-two years' tenure of the office ofsheriff. This venerable Georgian died in 1903 at the age of. eighty-three. Hiswidow, who was born in Meriwether County, Georgia, September 26, 1841,is still living at Jonesboro at the age of seventy-five.John B. Hutcheson, who was one of five children, grew up in Jonesboro,attended the high school there, was also a student in the University of Georgia,and until reaching his majority was given a great deal of practical experiencein farm work. While attending the university he taught school during vacations, and thus earned the means to defray the expenses of his further education. Another means for the same end was supplied by taking contracts forimproving the streets of his home city, and this he did for two years. In 1884Mr. Hutcheson assumed the control of the Jonesboro News and continued toedit that journal until 1886, .meanwhile devoting himself assiduously to thestudy of law. He kept law books close to his editorial desk, and after mastering the fundamentals of jurisprudence he was admitted to the bar on March1, 1886. Thus for thirty years he has been an active member of the Georgiabar. However, he did not begin practice until January 1, 1888, when he formeda partnership with James L. Key at Atlanta. He remained in practice in thatcity for four years associated with Mr. Key, and afterwards practiced aloneuntil 1905, when he moved to Ashburn. He early became recognized as a conscientious, painstaking attorney, and one whose ability enabled him to pro-