Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

3188 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANSOne of the actuating forces guiding Mr. Mclntosh's efforts for years hasbeen an earnest desire to bring his native state up to the maximum of efficiencyin its civic, commercial and industrial progress. By those who have kept inclose touch with -what he has done he has been well called the "father ofdiversified farming in his section of Georgia.'' Probably no other citizen hasdone so much toward the bringing out the principle of diversified farming.For years he offered prizes for the best hay produced in his county, lateroffered similar prizes for the best corn, and has constantly used argumentsand other methods to secure the co-operation of the farmers in a diversifiedcrop production rather than rigid adherence to the old staple crops of theSouth.The Second Congressional District has no more powerful leader in thedemocratic party than Mr. Mclntosh. But he has used this influence andthe power of his splendid paper not for his personal advantage, but for theadvantage of the party as a whole and through the party for the welfare anddignity of the-community and state. It is said that Mr. Mclntosh could havebeen nominated and elected for Congress at any time within recent years hadhe desired such an honor. In fact, after the death of Congressman JamesM. Griggs in 1910 he was requested to fill out his term, but he declined eventhis position.Henry Martyn Mclntosh was born in Thomas County, Georgia, January19, 1852. The tragic incidents of the Civil war fell athwart his boyhood, andhe has many recollections of that period. His parents were Roderick andBathsheba (McMillan) Mclntosh, both of old lines of Scotch ancestry. Hecomes from the great Highland clan of Mclntosh, so famous in Scotch history.One branch of this great Scotch elan, headed by John Moor Mclntosh, witha hundred of his followers, migrated to America in 1745 and established thecolony in Georgia. Mr. Mclntosh's individual Branch of the family belongsto a later date. It was his grandfather, Daniel Mclntosh, that came fromScotland to America, establishing a home in Robeson County, North Carolina,At the opening of the nineteenth century he moved with his family to Southern Alabama, and the next generation came to Thomas County, Georgia.Mr. Mclntosh in the maternal line belongs to the noted McMillan clan,which had close alliances with some of the greatest Scottish families of Southern Scotland.The father of Mr. Mclntosh was a prosperous planter in Thomas County,and died when Henry M. was seven years of age. The widowed mother, agentle and gracious woman of strong character, then assumed the heavyresponsibilities that fell to her portion. Henry M. Melntosh was given everyencouragement and support in applying himself diligently to his studies.His early life was spent in the country and for several years he attended theexcellent schools of Quitman, county seat of Brooks County. It has long beenrecognized that no university can impart a more liberal education than aprinting shop. Henry Mclntosh was sixteen years of age when he began hisapprenticeship at the printer's trade. He worked long and diligently inacquiring the mysteries of the art preservative of all arts, and not only learneda useful trade but kept broadening his mental knowledge and fitting himselffor greater responsibilities.He has been more or less constantly active in the newspaper business forforty-five years. In 1871, at the age of nineteen, he became editor of theQuitman Banner. There he soon demonstrated the powers that have sincematured and made him a big factor in the domain of Georgia newspaperenterprise. The Centennial year, 1876, found him a member of the editorialstaff of the Savannah Morning News. This paper sent him as its representative to Florida to make canvass and report of the activities in that state duringthe national campaign in which Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tildenwere the respective candidates of the republican and democratic parties.