Arthur Otis Granger (February 14, 1846July 30, 1914) was an American industrialist and soldier. He manufactured and installed
gasworks
A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space.
Early gasworks
Coal ...
in Philadelphia and served as general manager of the
United Gas Improvement Company, before serving as president of multiple fuel and gas light companies in the United States and Canada. He was later a mining engineer and railroad executive, and was reported to be a millionaire as of 1889. He established the Etowah Iron Company in
Bartow County
Bartow County is located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 108,901, up from 100,157 in 2010. The county seat is Cartersville.
Traditionally considered part of northwest Georgia, B ...
, had mining interests in South America, and was a business partner to
Joseph M. Gazzam.
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
, Granger was a private in the
15th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment, and became the secretary to General
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...
. Granger served as part of the
March to the Sea, and wrote the papers for General
Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was an American career army officer, serving with distinction in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and the Seminole Wars. After Virginia secede ...
's surrender in 1865. Granger was an amateur astronomer, and his home included the largest
observatory and telescope in the southeastern United States. He was a life member of the
Franklin Institute
The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...
, the
American Institute of Mining Engineers
The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) is a professional association for mining and metallurgy, with over 145,000 members. It was founded in 1871 by 22 mining engineers in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Uni ...
, the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the
Royal Society of Arts.
Early life and military career
Arthur Otis Granger was born in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...
, on February 14, 1846.
His parents were Sarah Rowan and the Reverend Arthur Granger,
the latter of whom died before Granger's birth.
In 1858, Granger began working as a cashier in a dry goods store in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
.
At age 16 on September 8, 1862,
Granger enlisted as a private in the
15th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment for the
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
.
He participated in the
Battle of Stones River
The Battle of Stones River, also known as the Second Battle of Murfreesboro, was a battle fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the Am ...
under the command of General
William Rosecrans
William Starke Rosecrans (September 6, 1819March 11, 1898) was an American inventor, coal-oil company executive, diplomat, politician, and U.S. Army officer. He gained fame for his role as a Union general during the American Civil War. He was ...
.
Granger wrote in his memoirs that he was treated six weeks for
typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
at a hospital in
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as a result of the battle. While recovering, the hospital's operators learned of his legible handwriting, and assigned him to light duty as the chief clerk at the hospital for one year.
As a clerk, he served under General
Washington Lafayette Elliott
Washington Lafayette Elliott (March 31, 1825 – June 29, 1888) was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He led a division of IV Corps at the Battle of Nashville in 1864. In 1866, he was awarded the honorary ...
.
![General William T](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/General_William_T._Sherman_%284190887790%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
After leaving the hospital, Granger reported for duty to General
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...
. He departed from Atlanta on November 16, 1864, and was part of
Sherman's March to the Sea
Sherman's March to the Sea (also known as the Savannah campaign or simply Sherman's March) was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by William Tecumseh Sherman, maj ...
.
Granger later became the private secretary to Sherman during the war.
Granger wrote that he was made a "confidential clerk" to Sherman upon arriving in
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...
, and that he also served as Sherman's "private orderly" until his discharge in July 1865.
Granger wrote the papers for General
Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was an American career army officer, serving with distinction in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and the Seminole Wars. After Virginia secede ...
's surrender to Sherman on April 26, 1865, then kept the
inkstand
An inkstand is a stand or tray used to house writing instruments, with a tightly-capped inkwell and a sand shaker for rapid drying. A penwiper would often be included, and from the mid-nineteenth century, a compartment for steel nibs, which replac ...
and pen as mementos of the occasion.
Industry and business career
After the war, Granger became an entrepreneur and
mining engineer
Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...
.
He was involved with the manufacture of
gasworks
A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space.
Early gasworks
Coal ...
for approximately 10 years as of 1886. His A. O. Granger & Company of Philadelphia, was a subsidiary of
United Gas Improvement Company as of 1883, and installed
Lowe's process carburetted
water gas
Water gas is a kind of fuel gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. It is produced by "alternately hot blowing a fuel layer okewith air and gasifying it with steam". The caloric yield of this is about 10% of a modern syngas plant. F ...
devices.
He later served as general manager of the United Gas Improvement Company,
and was its president as of 1886.
Granger was president of the
Coney Island Fuel, Gas and Light Company as of 1886, and was president of the
Welsbach Light Company, and the
Chautauqua Lake
Chautauqua Lake is located entirely within Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The lake is approximately long and wide at its greatest width. The surface area is approximately . The maximum depth is about . The shoreline is about of w ...
Railroad Company as of 1888.
He was one of several trustees to erect a building to serve as
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
headquarters in
Chautauqua, New York
Chautauqua ( ) is a town and lake resort community in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 4,017 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Chautauqua Lake. It is the home of the Chautauqua Institution and the birthplace ...
, in 1889. He once operated a mercantile business in
Helena, Montana, and was reported to be a millionaire as of 1889.
During his Civil War service, Granger became familiar with the area near
Cartersville
Cartersville is a city in Bartow County, Georgia, Bartow County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States; it is located within the northwest edge of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city ha ...
.
He established the Etowah Iron Company in 1888, in
Bartow County
Bartow County is located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 108,901, up from 100,157 in 2010. The county seat is Cartersville.
Traditionally considered part of northwest Georgia, B ...
,
and owned of
iron ore mining lands in Georgia.
As of 1889, he also had mining interests in South America, and was associated with patent #779,091, for the "process of making
silicofluoride of lead".
He was a business partner with Senator
Joseph M. Gazzam, and operated the Dobbins mine in 1891. Granger constructed a railroad from the mine to the
Etowah River away, where he also built a
manganese
Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...
processing facility. The Etowah Iron Company became the Blue Ridge Mining Company in 1900.
In October 1893, Granger operated companies in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
and
Halifax. In the same year, he was suspended as general manager of the Auer
Incandescent Light
An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxidat ...
Company in Montreal, amid charges that he forged
power of attorney
A power of attorney (POA) or letter of attorney is a written authorization to represent or act on another's behalf in private affairs (which may be financial or regarding health and welfare), business, or some other legal matter. The person auth ...
on customs documents for supplies imported from the United States. Later in the year, he was re-elected manager of the company, began a libel suit against the stockholders who wanted to oust him, and a criminal suit charging conspiracy against him. He later served as president of the company .
Granger retired from business for health reasons.
At the time, he was also president of the American
Gold Dredging Company, the Caribbean Company, and the Marles Carved Molding Company.
Personal life
Granger married Caroline Dickson Gregory on August 15, 1870,
and subsequently lived in Philadelphia, Montreal, and Quebec.
They had six children, including five sons and one daughter.
His oldest son Henry, was a
consular agent for the United States in Colombia, where he had mining and agricultural interests. His second son
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
, was a businessman in Montreal, general manager and secretary of the Auer Incandescent Light Manufacturing Company,
and later president of the
Montreal AAA
Montreal Amateur Athletic Association is Canada's oldest athletic association, located in Montreal, Quebec. It was renamed as the ''Club Sportif MAA'' or just ''MAA'' (Montreal MAA) in 1999 after a brush with bankruptcy, but is still widely known ...
, the
Quebec Amateur Hockey Association
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, and the
Canadian Amateur Hockey Association.
![A](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/A._O._Granger_home_and_observatory.gif)
The Grangers moved to Cartersville, Georgia, in 1890,
and purchased land on the hill where he camped while in the Union Army.
They lived at the west end of Main Street, later known as Granger Hill, and became involved in the social and cultural scene in Cartersville and
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
.
His wife was a founder and president of the
Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs.
He was an amateur astronomer, took inspiration from the
Franklin Institute
The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...
in Philadelphia, and entertained and educated house guests on astronomy. He expanded his two-room house to include three floors and an
observatory.
Their home, named "Overlook", included twenty-eight rooms and the largest observatory and telescope in the southeastern United States.
Granger died on July 30, 1914, in Philadelphia.
He had taken a trip to New York City a month prior to his death, then took ill and briefly recovered.
His cause of death was listed as
diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...
, and complications from
cardiac fibrosis
Cardiac fibrosis commonly refers to the excess deposition of extracellular matrix in the cardiac muscle, but the term may also refer to an abnormal thickening of the heart valves due to inappropriate proliferation of cardiac fibroblasts. Fibrotic ...
.
He was interred at
Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Honors and legacy
Granger was a life member of the Franklin Institute, the
American Institute of Mining Engineers
The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) is a professional association for mining and metallurgy, with over 145,000 members. It was founded in 1871 by 22 mining engineers in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Uni ...
, the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the
Royal Society of Arts.
He was posthumously recognized with a scholarship in his name, donated by his widow at the
Tallulah Falls Industrial School.
His telescope was sold to a traveling circus, and later purchased by the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...
. His observatory was moved to
Agnes Scott College in Atlanta.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Granger, A. O.
1846 births
1914 deaths
19th-century American astronomers
19th-century American businesspeople
19th-century American railroad executives
20th-century American astronomers
20th-century American businesspeople
American energy industry executives
American industrialists
American mining businesspeople
American mining engineers
Burials at Mount Moriah Cemetery (Philadelphia)
Businesspeople from Georgia (U.S. state)
Businesspeople from Philadelphia
Businesspeople from Providence, Rhode Island
People from Cartersville, Georgia
People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War
Union Army soldiers
William Tecumseh Sherman