Nedom L. Angier

Who was Nedom L. Angier?

Nedom L. Angier was Mayor of Atlanta during the Rutherford B. Hayes visit of 22 September 1877. Hayes' visit was part of a "good-will" trip to continue post-Reconstruction reconciliation with the former Confederate States of America.

Born in New Hampshire, he came to Georgia in 1839 and taught school for four years in Coweta County, then completed his medical training at New York University before arriving as an early Atlanta settler in 1847 where he practiced that trade and a few others.

He spent the year 1850 gold-hunting in California, but returned to Atlanta amassing real estate wealth before the American Civil War, including a health spring near the current intersection of today's Ponce de Leon and Glen Iris.

With Georgia's secession in 1861, many pro-Unionists fled Atlanta. Heeding advice from U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward and with help from William Markham, Angier was able to escape the South with his family via Cuba to New York City. His son, Alton Angier also escaped, but only by crossing enemy lines and describing Atlanta's fortifications to Union officials in Tennessee. During the occupation of Atlanta, his home on Mitchell St. facing the Atlanta City Hall was occupied by Union Major General John M. Schofield.