Livingston Mims (1833March 4, 1906) was an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as the 37th

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

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 ...

during the early 20th century.

Biography

Born in Edgefield,

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, Mims later moved to

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and represented

Hinds County Hinds County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. With its county seats ( Raymond and the state's capital, Jackson), Hinds is the most populous county in Mississippi with a 2020 census population of 227,742 residents. Hinds Cou ...

in the

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

from 1859 to 1861. He was the eldest child of Henry Mims and Susan Burr Read of Edgefield, South Carolina. He had 14 siblings. During the

United States 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 ...

, Major Mims served with the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

under General

John C. Pemberton John Clifford Pemberton (August 10, 1814 – July 13, 1881) was a career United States Army officer who fought in the Seminole Wars and with distinction during the Mexican–American War. He resigned his commission to serve as a Confederate Stat ...

and saw action in the Battle of Jackson,

Champion Hill Champion Hill is a football stadium in East Dulwich in the London Borough of Southwark. It is the home ground of Dulwich Hamlet. History Dulwich Hamlet began playing at the ground in 1912. 'The Hill' was formerly one of the largest amateur gro ...

and

Vicksburg Campaign The Vicksburg campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi Riv ...

. He served on the staffs of

and

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 seceded ...

and shared friendship with Johnson along with continued business interests until Johnson's death in 1891. After the war, he became southern manager of the

New York Life Insurance Company New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is the third-largest life insurance company in the United States, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and is ranked #67 on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United State ...

(since 1868) and he was charter member and served 20 years as president of the

Capital City Club The Capital City Club is a private social club located in Atlanta, Georgia. Chartered on May 21, 1883, it is one of the oldest private clubs in the South. History According to its charter, the purpose of the club is "to promote the pleasure, ki ...

, where he entertained notables such as President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

. Following his death in 1906, he was buried in

Westview Cemetery Westview Cemetery, located in Atlanta, Georgia, is the largest civilian cemetery in the Southeastern United States, comprising more than , 50 percent of which is undeveloped. ( Georgia National Cemetery, for military veterans and their families, ...

. In observance of his death, Atlanta's City Hall was closed for one half day, and free carriage rides were offered from City Hall to the Westview Cemetery. Politically he was an old school

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

and he was elected mayor of Atlanta in October 1900. The election came in the midst of Atlanta's streetcar war; he was supported by

Joel Hurt Joel Hurt (1850–1926) was an American businessman. He was the president of Trust Company of Georgia, and a developer in Atlanta. He was one of the many founders of SunTrust Bank. Early life Hurt was born on July 31, 1850, in Hurtsboro, Ala ...

(

Atlanta Consolidated Street Railway Company The Atlanta Consolidated Street Railway was an attempt by Joel Hurt to take over the various Atlanta streetcar systems. Incorporated in May 1891, Hurt began negotiations to consolidate widely overlapping competing companies. On September 21, 189 ...

) and opposed by Henry M. Atkinson ( Georgia Electric Light Company). On October 9, 1901 he rode in the inaugural streetcar over the Peachtree-Whitehall viaductbefore then it was a dangerous

at-grade crossing An intersection or an at-grade junction is a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet or cross at the same height, as opposed to an interchange, which uses bridges or tunnels to separate different roads. Major intersections a ...

of many busy railroad tracks. His two-story residence was on the northeast corner of

Peachtree St Peachtree Street is one of several major streets running through the city of Atlanta. Beginning at Five Points in downtown Atlanta, it runs North through Midtown; a few blocks after entering into Buckhead, the name changes to Peachtree Road a ...

and

Ponce de Leon Avenue Ponce de Leon Avenue ( ), often simply called Ponce, provides a link between Atlanta, Decatur, Clarkston, and Stone Mountain, Georgia. It was named for Ponce de Leon Springs, in turn from explorer Juan Ponce de León, but is not pronounced ...

(current location of the

Georgian Terrace Hotel The Georgian Terrace Hotel in Midtown Atlanta, part of the Fox Theatre Historic District, was designed by architect William Lee Stoddart in a Beaux-Arts style that was intended to evoke the architecture of Paris. Construction commenced on July 2 ...

Personal life

Mims married Sue Harper, a native of

Brandon, Mississippi Brandon is a city in and the county seat of Rankin County, Mississippi, United States. It was incorporated on December 19, 1831. The population was 21,705 at the 2010 census. Brandon is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is lo ...

, in 1866. Mrs. Mims developed a serious incurable illness that lasted 15 years until in early 1886 Sue Harper Mims was healed through

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...

. She later became a Christian Science Practitioner and later a Teacher of Christian Science. Mrs. Mims also became a lecturer of Christian Science, traveling around the United States giving talks on Christian Science and

Mary Baker Eddy Mary Baker Eddy (July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) was an American religious leader and author who founded The Church of Christ, Scientist, in New England in 1879. She also founded ''The Christian Science Monitor'', a Pulitzer Prize-winning s ...

, the Discover and Founder of Christian Science. She was instrumental in the development of Christian Science in Atlanta, Georgia, ultimately hosting church services in her home before the first Christian Science church in Atlanta was built. Regarding his own religion, Livingston Mims said: :"I do not know exactly the church to which I owe allegiance, as I am a contributor to several. My wife is a Christian Scientist, my daughter is an Episcopalian, my father was a Baptist, my mother was a Presbyterian, and I am a confederate Veteran with inclinations to the Salvation Army."

Legacy

Livingston's onetime Atlanta home became the site of a restaurant by Gary Mennie in 2009. The restaurant is named "Livingston" after the former mayor. The former Mims Park in

Vine City English Avenue and Vine City are two adjacent and closely linked neighborhoods of Atlanta, Georgia. Together the neighborhoods make up neighborhood planning unit L. The two neighborhoods are frequently cited together in reference to shared ...

was named after Mims. The park became the site of an elementary school.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mims, Livingston Mayors of Atlanta Members of the Mississippi House of Representatives 1820 births 1906 deaths 19th-century American politicians