Western and Atlantic Railroad » Key Figures in Railroad History

Joseph Mackey Brown (December 28, 1851–March 3, 1932) was the 59th governor of Georgia and served two terms, one from 1909 to 1911 and the other from 1912 to 1913. He has been implicated posthumously as one of the leaders involved in the lynching of Leo Frank.

Brown, also known as “Little Joe Brown,” was born in Canton, Georgia, the son of Joseph E. Brown, Georgia’s Civil War Governor. After graduating from Oglethorpe University in 1872, he studied law at Harvard University. Although Brown passed the bar in 1873, but never practiced law because of poor eyesight. Later, he attended a business college in Atlanta, Georgia, and became a clerk with the Western and Atlantic Railroad and eventually the traffic manager.

In 1904, Governor Joseph M. Terrell appointed Brown to the Georgia State Railroad Commission. In 1907, Governor Hoke Smith removed Brown over disagreements about passenger fares.

Julius L. Brown was a well-known attorney from Atlanta, Georgia. He was also one of the founders of the Metropolitan Street Railroad and the brother of Georgia’s governor and senator, Joseph E. Brown.

Brown was born in Canton, Georgia, on May 31, 1848. He enlisted in the Confederate States Army in 1864 and served until the Civil War ended.

He attended Georgia State University and was admitted to the bar in September 1869. Later, in June 1870, he graduated from Harvard Law School. Brown became the Western and Atlantic Railroad general counsel in 1872.

He lived in the Washington–Rawson neighborhood in Atlanta, which no longer exists, and passed away there on September 4, 1910.

Hiram A. Butler began his career with the Western and Atlantic Railroad as a water boy at Noonday Fill near Brushy Mountain, Marietta. He advanced through the ranks and served as roadmaster for nearly 50 years.

He purportedly played a small role in the Great Locomotive Chase (or Andrews Raid) of 1862.

He retired from the railroad in 1904.