Colonel Nelson Tift State
Historical Marker
Located at Albany-Dougherty County Judicial
Building, Albany, Ga.
(Text)
COLONEL NELSON TIFT
Nelson Tift, founder of the
City of Albany, was born at Groton, Conn., July 23, 1810. In
1833 he established a mercantile business in Augusta, Georgia.
After a sojourn in Hawkinsville he moved to Albany, then in Baker
County, in 1836.
Politically active, Col. Tift
served as justice of the peace; delegate to the State Convention,
1840; justice of the Inferior Court; member Georgia House of
Representatives for several terms, member of Congress, 1868-1869.
He was re-elected but was not seated the next term. He was a
delegate to the State Constitutional Convention in 1877.
Founder of the Augusta Guards
in 1835, Tift was elected Colonel of the Baker County Militia
in 1840. During the War Between the States he operated a beef
and pork packing plant and hardtack factory in Albany without
remuneration.
Col. Tift owned an extensive
plantation, operated lumber, flour and corn-meal mills, promoted
the building of several railroads, and edited and published the
Albany Patriot.
He died November 21, 1891,
and is buried in Oakview Cemetery. Tift County is named for him.
047-4 GEORGIA
HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1959
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