Max Corput, fully documented as Maximilien van den Corput (died 1911) was a Belgian-American architect. He designed the second Union Station in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. Van den Corput also served as an officer in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Name

The "van den" (Dutch: ''from the'') is very common in Dutch and Belgian surnames, and references to Corput regarding the civil war usually include his full last name. However, later references including one in the ''

Atlanta Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in Atlanta metropolitan area, metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Jo ...

'' omit the "van den", suggesting that he later went simply by "Corput". His first name has, in additionally to alternative spelling, also been documented as "Maxwell" and occasionally "Joseph John" as middle names.

Early life and civil war

Corput was born near

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. His exact date of birth is unknown, and has variously been put between 1824 and 1826. In 1848 he belonged to a group of Belgians who emigrated to the United States after the incorporation of

into the

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed from 1815 to 1839. The United Netherlands was created in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars through the fusion of territories t ...

, which caused dissatisfaction among the French-speaking Belgian elite. The group, that included several family members like Corputs younger brother Felix, traveled via

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and Charleston. As the

Cherokee Indians The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

had recently been dispossessed of Northwest

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, freeing the land for further settlement, the Corputs settled as farmers in the area at Cave Spring. When the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

started in 1861 Corput joined the

. He was commissioned as a Third Lieutenant (1861) in the ''Cherokee Artillery'' battery; a unit recruited from the Floyd and Cherokee counties. Several of his relatives joined the unit, too, his brother Felix being the Quartermaster Sergeant. The unit was surrendered during the

Siege of Vicksburg The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Major General Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed th ...

, but quickly returned to the field afterwards. By 1864 Corput had been promoted to captain and commanded the battery. At the

Battle of Resaca The Battle of Resaca, from May 13 to 15, 1864, formed part of the Atlanta Campaign during the American Civil War, when a Union force under William Tecumseh Sherman engaged the Confederate Army of Tennessee led by Joseph E. Johnston. The battle ...

its four 12-pounder Napoleons were captured. Corput himself became a prisoner of war on April 12, 1865 at Salisbury,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. He was held prisoner at

Camp Chase Camp Chase was a military staging and training camp established in Columbus, Ohio, in May 1861 after the start of the American Civil War. It also included a large Union-operated prison camp for Confederate prisoners during the American Civil Wa ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

until paroled in October.

Later life

After the war Corput settled in Atlanta and founded the architectural firm of Van den Corput and Fay. He had previously been involved in the firm Corput and Bass, where he had begun his career as an engineer, but became known for his architectural designs. DeGive Opera House building

Corput died on January 16, 1911, in Atlanta and was buried there in Oakland Cemetery. His grave was unmarked until 2014. His wife, and mother of their six children, Marie, was 24 years younger than him and died in 1920.Obituary, ''Atlanta Constitution'', October 23, 1920
/ref> Corput and his battery are the namesakes of the

Sons of Confederate Veterans The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) is an American neo-Confederate nonprofit organization of male descendants of Confederate soldiers that commemorates these ancestors, funds and dedicates monuments to them, and promotes the pseudohisto ...

''Capt. Max van den Corput's Battery Camp #669''.

Buildings designed

* Georgia Railroad Freight Depot (1869), the oldest building in

Downtown Atlanta Downtown Atlanta is the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The largest of the city's three commercial districts (Midtown Atlanta, Midtown and Buckhead being the others), it is the location of many corporate and region ...

DeGive's Opera House DeGive's Opera House was the main venue for opera in the U.S. city of Atlanta from 1871 until 1893. History and location The Atlanta History Center describes how Belgian consul Laurent DeGive purchased an unfinished building at the corner o ...

(1870–1921) * Atlanta's second

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

(1871–1930) * The Clayton County Courthouse * The Old Bartow County Courthouse

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Corput, Max 1820s births 1911 deaths 19th-century American architects Belgian architects Confederate States Army officers Belgian emigrants to the United States Foreign Confederate military personnel American Civil War prisoners of war People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War Architects from Atlanta Burials at Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta)