Charles Augustus Collier (; July 19, 1848 – September 28, 1900) was an American banker, lawyer, and politician who served as Mayor of

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, from 1897 to 1899.

Early career

Collier was born in 1848 in a

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

village that would later be known as Gate City.Mellus, 1900 He was the son of Judge

John J. Collier Judge John Collier (May 6, 1815 – 1892) was a superior court judge from Atlanta, Georgia, commonly considered one of the city's "founding fathers". Collier filed the charter which renamed the city of "Marthasville" to "Atlanta" in 1848. Judge ...

and Henrietta E. Wilson. At the age of 18, he entered into the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

to study law. While there, he joined

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon () is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on March 9, 1856.Baird, William Raimond, ed. (1905).Baird's Manual of American College Fratern ...

fraternity. Collier graduated from the

in 1869 with a degree in law and was admitted to the bar in 1871. Shortly after, he left the law profession and went into mercantile pursuits and banking.

Piedmont Exposition

He was elected to the Board of

Aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking membe ...

of Atlanta in 1887 and 1888, similar to the

Atlanta City Council The Atlanta City Council (formerly the Atlanta Board of Aldermen until 1974) is the main municipal legislative body for the city of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It consists of 16 members: the council president, twelve members elected from di ...

today. In 1887, he was also the President of the Piedmont Exposition which bought of land to form

Piedmont Park Piedmont Park is an urban forest and park in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, located about northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as ...

and the Gentleman's Driving Club. In just 104 days, Collier and the rest of the Company managed to build the structures and prepare the grounds for the Exposition held at the newly named

. President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

honored Atlanta with a visit to the Exposition with his new bride,

Frances Folsom Frances Clara Cleveland Preston (, christened Frank Clara; July 21, 1864 – October 29, 1947) was the first lady of the United States from 1886 to 1889 and again from 1893 until 1897, as the wife of President Grover Cleveland. She was the ...

. Afterwards, Collier was named President of the Cotton States and International Exposition Company charged with planning the 1895

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

which at the time was known as the

Cotton States and International Exposition Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

. From 1892 to 1896 he was a member of the Fulton County Commission and with Hoke Smith provided funding for the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

's construction through Georgia.

The 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition (1895)

Serious preparations for the Exposition began in 1894. On October 16, 1894, Collier and

John Randolph Lewis Brigadier-General John Randolph Lewis (September 22, 1834February 8, 1900)Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

making him the Chief Commissioner of the State of Alabama for the Exposition and charging him with creating an exhibit show casing the talents of African-Americans in Alabama. During the Exposition, Collier named several days of honor. One of these days included

day, where he addressed fellow SAE fraternity brothers in the auditorium.

Mayor

Collier was elected as Mayor of Atlanta for the first time from 1897 to 1898. In 1899, Collier was elected mayor again, ''

pro tem ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to 'for the time being' in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a '' locum tenens'' ('placeholder'). The phrase is ...

''. Just a year after leaving office he was accidentally shot and killed while searching for a burglar in his backyard in the early morning of September 28, 1900. He was buried in Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery. His wife, Suzie (died 1897) was the daughter of William A. Rawson. His son John Collier Sr. was commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1933 to 1945 and known for his effort to reform the BIA with the Indian New Deal. His daughter Julia Collier Harris was a writer and journalist who won a 1926

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

, the first to go to a Georgian.

Notes

References

* * *Mellus, Edward (Ed.) (1900)The Record of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. (Vol. XX. No. 1.) Atlanta, Georgia:Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, Charles 1848 births 1900 deaths Mayors of Atlanta Atlanta City Council members Fulton County commissioners 19th-century mayors of places in Georgia (U.S. state) Accidental deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) Burials at Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta) Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers University of Georgia alumni 19th-century American lawyers