John Benjamin Goodwin (September 22, 1850 – May 12, 1921) was born in

Cobb County, Georgia Cobb County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, and is a core county of the Atlanta metropolitan area in the north-central portion of the state. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 766, ...

, United States the son of and attended school in

Powder Springs Powder Springs is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 13,940 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population for 2019 of 15,758. The 12,000-capacity Walter H. Cantrell Stadium is located in Powder Springs. It is ...

. He moved to

Atlanta 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 ...

in 1870 and studied law at Gartrell & Stephens and a year later was admitted to the bar. From 1872 to 1874, he was a reporter for Alexander St. Clair-Abrams at the '' Daily Herald'' after which he returned to law. He served on the city council off and on from then until 1883 when he was elected mayor, after which he served over ten years as city attorney, then served as mayor a second time during the

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States. It began in February 1893 and officially ended eight months later. The Panic of 1896 followed. It was the most serious economic depression in history until the Great Depression of ...

. He left the city in 1901 and for 16 years served as the grand secretary of the Sovereign Grand Lodge,

Independent Order of Odd Fellows The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political, non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Odd Fellows, Order ...

.''Washington Post'', Saturday, May 14, 1921 He died in 1921 in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

References

* Garrett, Franklin, ''Atlanta and Its Environs'', 1954, University of Georgia Press. * Reed, Wallace, ''History of Atlanta, Georgia'', 1889, D. Mason & co., Atlant
On Google Books

Notes

1850 births 1921 deaths 19th-century mayors of places in Georgia (U.S. state) People from Powder Springs, Georgia Mayors of Atlanta Georgia (U.S. state) city council members American newspaper reporters and correspondents {{GeorgiaUS-mayor-stub