James W. English

Who was James W. English?

James Warren English was an American politician, bank president, and a staff officer during the American Civil War. He was a postbellum mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, from 1881 until 1883.

English was born in Orleans Parish, Louisiana. His father died when he was 12 and his mother two years later. At the age of 15, he became an apprentice carriage-maker and worked at it industriously for four years while attending night school when he moved to Griffin, Georgia. He married Emily Alexander and raised a family.

He enlisted in the Confederate Army on April 20, 1861, and served in Virginia, rising to the rank of captain. On the night of April 7, 1865, in the company of Colonel Heman H. Perry, assistant adjutant general of Moxley Sorrel's brigade, English received the first written communication from Grant to Lee about a surrender, which happened soon after at Appomattox Court House.

Following his parole, English arrived in Atlanta, on May 14, 1865 where he later became a banker. On December 1, 1880 he defeated developer H. I. Kimball to become mayor, taking office in January. He served as president of the American Trust and Banking Company for thirty years.