Jared Irwin Whitaker (May 4, 1818May 3, 1884) was a

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

newspaperman, publisher of '' the Daily Intelligencer'' from 1864 to 1871, and earlier served as a politician. Defeating a three-term incumbent to become the 14th Mayor of

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

, during the early days of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, he left office early when appointed as

Commissary General A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

of Georgia.

Early life, education and marriages

Whitaker was born in Atlanta in 1818 and named for his maternal grandfather

Jared Irwin Jared Irwin (1750 – March 1, 1818) served twice as elected Governor of Georgia (1796–1798) and (1806–1809). He first was elected to office as a reformer based on public outrage about the Yazoo land scandal. He signed a bill that nullifi ...

, a two-term

Governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legi ...

. This was a small town until after the Civil War; he received a basic education. He married Susan Mabry Taliaferro (1831–1853) of Atlanta. After her death, in 1854 he married Nannie E. Allen (1830–1901), who was also considerably younger than he."J I Whitaker, 1870 United States Federal Census"
Ancestry.com In total Whitaker had several children by his two wives; his namesake Jared I. Whitaker died young. Children surviving infancy were Taliaferro, Nannie Logan, John T., Alice E. (married Charles H. Church), Colquitt, and Lee Whitaker.

Politics

Whitaker became interested in politics and ran for mayor of Atlanta. In 1861, he was elected after a contentious campaign, in which he defeated three-term incumbent mayor

William Ezzard William E. Ezzard (June 12, 1799March 24, 1887) was a Southern United States politician who served as the 11th, 13th and 19th Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, in the 19th century. Ezzard was born in Abbeville, South Carolina. He moved to Georgia and la ...

. Whitaker did not finish his term, as he was appointed by the governor as

's state troops during the Civil War. He was succeeded as Mayor of Atlanta by Thomas Lowe on December 13, 1861.

Publisher

In 1864 Whitaker bought and became publisher of the Atlanta newspaper, '' The Daily Intelligencer''. He continued to employ John H. Steele as editor, who had served in that position since 1860. Steele died in 1871. The newspaper closed shortly afterward in April 1871 as it was unable to compete financially with the new, larger Atlanta ''Constitution'', which had aggressively expanded. The ''Constitution'' bought all its mechanical equipment at auction in June 1871. Whitaker purchased the newspaper's archives and records.Garrett, Franklin, ''Atlanta and Its Environs'', 1954, University of Georgia Press Jared Whitaker died in 1884; he is buried in Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery, as are most of his family members.

References

Mayors of Atlanta People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War 1818 births 1884 deaths 19th-century American politicians Burials at Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta) {{GeorgiaUS-mayor-stub