- Benjamin Bomar
Benjamin Franklin Bomar (
August 9 ,1816 -February 1 ,1868 ) was the second mayor ofAtlanta, Georgia . Bomar was born inSpartanburg, South Carolina and studied medicine in Charleston. He practiced medicine in America's firstgold rush town ofDahlonega, Georgia for a number of years until he tired of the winters in theAppalachian Mountains . He heard good things aboutTexas from his brother, Dr.Alexander H. Bomar who was serving in theMexican-American War and decided to move his family there. On the way with his wife and two children, he arrived in Atlanta onApril 30 ,1847 , fell in love with the bustling young town and settled there, running a general merchandise business on Whitehall St.The young town soon-after received its first charter and elections were held December 1847 and Moses Formwalt was made mayor, Bomar its alderman and five were elected councilmen all for one year terms. The next year, Bomar was elected mayor at the age of 32.
In 1849, he co-founded Atlanta's first successful newspaper, "The
Daily Intelligencer ".That same year, he was elected mayor and during his term he selected and purchased 6 acres (24,000 m²) at $75 per acre to serve as the newOakland Cemetery .He never practiced medicine regularly again.When Fulton County was formed as Atlanta's new home in 1854, he became the first clerk of its Superior Court.
He was 44 at the outbreak of the
American Civil War . He volunteered and served as thepaymaster of the Georgia's 28th Infantry at a rank of captain.At the evacuation of the city following theBattle of Atlanta , his family refugeed toMacon, Georgia . After Lee's surrender, he rejoined the family in Atlanta but by then his health was broken and he died less than three years later.He was buried at Oakland Cemetery.
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