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Eugene Gordon
Biography
Eugene Cornelius Gordon was born on June 17, 1845, in Georgia.
Gordon, the brother of Confederate Gen. John Brown Gordon, served as a major in the Confederate army during the Civil War. He later founded and led the Decatur Land Improvement and Furnace Company near Decatur, Alabama.
Gordon was instrumental in constructing several railroads in the southern United States, including the Indiana, Alabama & Texas Railroad, which built a narrow-gauge line between Clarksville, Tennessee, and Gracey, Kentucky.
Gordon died in July 1913 while taking the train from Memphis, Tennessee, to his home in Amarillo, Texas. The Decaturs Daily called Gordon “a big hearted, big brained man” in his obituary.
James Oscar Greenwell
Engineer
H
Frank Hamby
Biography
Frank Hamby joined the Western and Atlantic Railroad circa 1865.
Luther Claude Hames , Sr.
Motorman
Biography
Luther C. Hames (November 1, 1892-November 13, 1968) joined the Atlanta Northern Railway in 1910 at 17 years old.
On Monday, January 2, 1928, Hames was the motorman of an Atlanta Northern interurban car when it crashed in the Jonesville community south of Marietta, Georgia. Six people died in the wreck or soon afterward.
The wreck did not harm his standing within the community. After his tenure with the railroad, he was elected as Cobb County’s tax receiver in 1948 and served as the county’s deputy tax commissioner from 1956 to 1963. His son later served as a judge in Cobb County.
Thomas Haney
Machinist
Biography
Thomas Haney (1812-July 20, 1901), a native of Belfast, Ireland, came to Atlanta in 1852 and began working for the Western & Atlantic Railroad’s shops shortly after his arrival.
During the Civil War, Haney ran on the Western & Atlantic as an engineer. At the war’s close, he returned to the shops, where he proved valuable as a machinist. He spent more than 28 years with the Western & Atlantic.
In 1867, he was elected to represent the first ward on the city council.
Haney died on July 20, 1901, and held membership in the old Volunteer Company No. 1 at his death. He had been an active member for many years.