John Benjamin Goodwin (September 22, 1850 – May 12, 1921) was born in Cobb County, Georgia, United States the son of and attended school in

Powder Springs Powder Springs is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 13,940 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population for 2019 of 15,758. In 2015, the city elected its first black mayor, Al Thurman. He was the first African- ...

. He moved to Atlanta in 1870 and studied law at Gartrell & Stephens and a year later was admitted to the bar. From 1872 to 1874, he was a reporter for Alexander St. Clair-Abrams at the ''

Daily Herald Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

'' after which he returned to law. He served on the city council off and on from then until 1883 when he was elected mayor, after which he served over ten years as city attorney, then served as mayor a second time during the

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...

. He left the city in 1901 and for 16 years served as the grand secretary of the Sovereign Grand Lodge,

Independent Order of Odd Fellows The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political and non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Order of Odd ...

.''Washington Post'', Saturday, May 14, 1921 He died in 1921 in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

References

* Garrett, Franklin, ''Atlanta and Its Environs'', 1954, University of Georgia Press. * Reed, Wallace, ''History of Atlanta, Georgia'', 1889, D. Mason & co., Atlant
On Google Books

Notes

1850 births 1921 deaths People from Powder Springs, Georgia Mayors of Atlanta Georgia (U.S. state) city council members American newspaper reporters and correspondents {{GeorgiaUS-mayor-stub