William Hemphill

William Arnold Hemphill (May 5, 1842 – August 17, 1902) was an American businessman and politician.

Biography

Early years and education

Hemphill was born on May 5, 1842 in Athens, Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Literary Society and earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1861.

Business ventures

At the beginning of the Civil War Hemphill joined the Confederate Army, rising to the rank of colonel. He suffered a serious head wound at the Battle of Gettysburg. After the war, he moved to Atlanta in 1867, to teach. Within one year, Hemphill accepted an offer from Carey Wentworth Styles, to become the business manager and co-owner in a new joint venture with Styles and James Anderson. They had just purchased a small newspaper, the Atlanta Daily Opinion which they re-named The Constitution. The Atlanta Consitution was first published under that name on June 16, 1868. Styles quickly fell into financial difficulty, when he was unable to sell his interests in a struggling Albany, Georgia newspaper, The Albany News. Unable to sell the Albany newspaper, Styles could not pay for his interest in the 'Constitution, handing his interest in the paper over to Anderson and Hemphill. Hemphill, who became Anderson's son-in-law in the subsequent six months was placed in full charge of the Atlanta publication. Hemphill's business acumen helped get the fledgling newspaper on sound financial footing. Anderson subsequently turned his shares over to Hemphill who was the controlling stockholder until 1876. In 1876 Hemphill sold half of his interest in the paper to Evan Howell. Howell's family would come to own The Constitution from 1902 to 1950.

In 1883, Hemphill was one of a group of investors who incorporated the Fulton County Street Railroad (horse cars), which was later electrified, and became famous for its Nine-Mile Circle route to what is now Virginia-Highland.

Political service

He began a political life as city councilman-at-large in 1887, the same year he began an unsuccessful banking career. The next few years he served as president of board of education and in 1889 added alderman duties.

While still in control of the Constitution in 1890 he defeated a Black mayoral candidate known now only as "McKinley" and took office the next year.

During his tenure the first building of what became Grady Memorial Hospital was built and a fresh-water pumping station was established on the Chattahoochee River replacing the need for various wells and cisterns (for fires). Part of the 55 acres (220,000 m²) purchased for the associated reservoir included a newly built street named in his honor – Hemphill Ave.

After leaving office, Hemphill read about the Cotton Palace in Waco, Texas and suggested that Atlanta could stimulate growth by hosting what would become the Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895. He later served as vice president and director of the Exposition.<ref name="Cooper1896">Walter Gerald Cooper (1896). The Cotton States and International Exposition and South, Illustrated: Including the Official History of the Exposition. Illustrator Company. p. 143.</ref

Death and legacy

Hemphill died suddenly on August 17, 1902 from injuries sustained in a fall. He is buried at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta.

External links

• History of the University of Georgia by Thomas Walter Reed, Thomas Walter Reed, Imprint: Athens, Georgia : University of Georgia, ca. 1949, p.684
• Photograph: Carey Wentworth Styles, founder of The Atlanta Constitution