Ira Oliver McDaniel (January 19, 1807 – August 28, 1887) was a cotton merchant, farmer and newspaper man in early

Atlanta, Georgia 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 ...

Personal life

In the 1830s he lived in

Monroe, Georgia Monroe is a city in Walton County, Georgia, United States, serving as the county seat. It is located both one hour east of Atlanta via US 78 and GA 138 to I-20 and east of Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport and is one of the exurban ci ...

with his wife Rebecca Walker (November 10, 1819 – April 19, 1854) where their son, Henry McDaniel, a future Governor of Georgia was born. There he was one of the first professors at the new Mercer Institute.

Career

The family moved to Atlanta in 1847 and two years later he co-founded its first successful daily newspaper, the '' Daily Intelligencer''. In 1849, he did critical research to resolve the ownership claims on the central land lot 77, part of which had been donated to serve as the first rail depot and park in the town. In 1852 he was elected to the city council where he served with mayor

Thomas Gibbs Thomas Gibbs may refer to: * Thomas Mannington Gibbs (died 1720), translator of Gomberville * Thomas Gibbs (mayor) (1798–1859), mayor of Atlanta *Thomas Nicholson Gibbs (1821–1883), Canadian politician * Thomas Van Renssalaer Gibbs (1855–1898) ...

. That same year he was one of the incorporators of the Atlanta National Bank which was founded on a stock of $300,000. On January 15, 1855, he ran for mayor as a

Know Nothing Party The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

candidate but was defeated by

Allison Nelson Allison Nelson (March 11, 1822 – October 7, 1862) was the ninth mayor of Atlanta, serving from January until July 1855, when he resigned from office. He died of disease in Prairie County (present-day Lonoke County), Arkansas, during the ...

who ran as a Democrat and days later the Know Nothing faction unsuccessfully contested the election. In 1857, he represented the Fifth

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

in city council with Dr. James Alexander.

Death

He is buried with his wife and parents at Oakland Cemetery. McDaniel Street which connects the

Castleberry Hill Castleberry Hill is a neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia, adjacent to and southwest of Downtown Atlanta. It is a federally recognized historic district since 1985 and became a City of Atlanta Landmark District in 2006. History The area in the cit ...

and the Mechanicsville neighborhoods in Atlanta is named for him.

References

* Garrett, Franklin, ''Atlanta and Its Environs'', 1954, University of Georgia Press.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDaniel, Ira O. 1807 births 1887 deaths Businesspeople from Atlanta Georgia (U.S. state) Know Nothings People from Monroe, Georgia Burials at Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta) 19th-century American businesspeople

Ira Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...