Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1903-10-08
AMFRICUs. Ga. OCT. 8 1903.
CRISES COMES FOR a MORGAN
oF.THE SOUTH.

ciaI embarrassment was one of the
sensations of Wall street last week, is
one of the most picturesque figures IN
the railroad world He is known as
the 81. Pierpont Morgan of the
South" At the age of 80 he was the
president of q railroad, and by the
time he was 35 he was the head of
great railroad system with more than
5000 miles of track. He Is either
president of or director in more than
twenty-five corporations closely re-
lated to the financial and industrial
growth of the South. Cotton and
wooden mills, phosphate mines and
factories, street railways, truck gar
dening, ferryboats, electric lighting
plants, banks, nothing has been too
large or too small in Dixieland for
this energetic young son of Virginia.
He has accomplished practically every
thing without aid from Northern capt.
tai, and if he fails it is probable he
will blame no one but himself
Unremitting toll and boundless ca
pacity for hard work are two traits
that have characterized Mr.. Williams.
He is a son of John L. Williams, OF
Richmond, head of the banking house
of'John L. Williams & Sons. He had
five brothers and three. sisters, and In
stead of going to college as his father
had done, he went to work in the bank
ing house. This did not keep him
from obtaining an education. He stud
led the classics under his fathers tut
tion, and long before most boys are
we'll embarked on their academic ca
reers he had remarkable knowledge
Of Latin and Greek.
But he did not devote all his time to
scholarship. Bis career lay in the
world of business and he strove to per
feet himself in it. He worked at night
and until far into the morning, and
when he was 10 years old he had fin
ished the compilation of manual fer
investors, which by it's breadth, mi
nuteness and completeness, attracted
the attention of financiers in all the
great cities and brought added pres
tige to the banking house of John L.
Williams & Sons
From a scholar in finance he became
an energetic and forceful operator.
Under his direction the banking firm
acquired control of the Richmond
Traction Company and formed the
Norfolk Securities Company, which
owns the electric lines, ferryboats and
light facilities in that prosperous sec
ton known as Tidewater Virginia.
Before he was 80 this young Vir-
ginian turned his attention to the
railroad field. The South was webbed
with a lot of .inconsequential lines
whose abominable service made their
successful operation impossible About
Aine years ago Williams effected the
reorganization and obtained control
of the old Savannah, Americas and
Montgomery railroad, with 467 miles
of trackage. He became its president
q few months later.
A year or two later Mr.. Williams,
aided by Baltimore and Richmond
banking houses, surprised the railroad
world by the purchase of the old Sea,
board Air Line and planning an ex-
tens1ve and far-reaching property in
the South. The Seaboard represented
the consolidation of fourteen corpora
tons, from railroads of fair size to
mere spurs. It's combination with the
Georgia and Alabama and the Florida
Central and Peninsular system, with
$50 miles of track, made the names of
Williams and Middendorf widely
known in the railroad world.
But Mr.. Williams wanted more than
great railroad system. He wanted
business for it. He played phiIanthro-
pist to vast section of the South, al
though his efforts were not entirely
disinterested, He encouraged the pro-
ductlon Of cotton in certain sections
where agriculture was not thriving.
When the cotton was raised he aided
local capitalists in building miIls to
splnand weave it. He was great ad
vocate of good roads in order that the
farmers might more easily bring their
products to shipping points on his line.
$ him more than any other one man,
APPS, is due the credit for the posi-
e. garden truck industry of hhe
IDS today. All sorts OF vege- |
- IN the fertile Sc