Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

Carl Vinson Institute of Government

The University of Georgia

December 6

1847 Dr. William White, a supporter of Jonathan Norcross' movement to have the state capital moved to Atlanta, made a presentation to a meeting of Atlanta citizens on the proposal. In his diary, White noted: "And at closing was greeted with a storm of cheers."

1861 Gov. Joseph E. Brown signed an act changing the name of Cass County to Bartow County in honor of Col. Francis Bartow, who was killed in the First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) in Virginia on July 21, 1861. In explaining the reason for the change, the legislation noted that Gen. Lewis Cass [U.S. Secretary of War 1831-36] had "recently shown himself inimical to the South by voluntary denoations of his private property to sustain a wicked war upon her people, and by utterance of sentiments such as the South must be subjugated, the Union must be preserved; and has therefore become unworthy of the honor conferred by the naming of said county." The 1861 act also directed that the town of Cassville be renamed Manassas, but this part of the legislation was never implemented.

1889 Businessman and philanthropist Robert W. Woodruff was born in Columbus, Georgia. His family moved to Atlanta when he was four and Woodruff spent almost his entire life there. After attending (but not graduating) from Emory College at Oxford, Woodruff quickly worked his way up the corporate ladder working for White Motor Company, meanwhile investing a considerable amount of his earnings in hometown Coca-Cola stock. To help protect that investment, and to assure his living in Atlanta, he took the position of President of the Coca-Cola Company in 1923 (his father was president of Trust Company Bank and leader of the group that purchased Coca-Cola from the Candler family), leaving an $85,000 annual salary with White to take the $35,000 position in Atlanta.

Under his leadership, the Coca-Cola Company became an international and multi-faceted organization. Even after his retirement as president, Woodruff stayed on to chair the company's finance committee and was the driving force behind the soft drink firm's phenomenal success. Woodruff was noted for his influential, yet friendly, way with people and for looking at the "big picture" while trusting his employees for the details. His motto, engraved in his office, was: "There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit." 

Woodruff became renowned for his personal philanthrophy--and that of the Woodruff Foundation established by his parents. though his insistence on not being publicly recognized earned him the nickname, "Mr. Anonymous.". He and the foundation donated over $400 million to educational, artistic, civic, and medical projects. Among these were $110 million to Emory University to develop their medical center, another $100 million to Emory's endowment program, $8 million to the Atanta Memorial Arts Center, $10 million for the Arts Alliance, $7.5 million for the High Museum of Art, $9 million for Central City Park, $8 million for the Atlanta University Center's main library, and $1 million for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center. Woodruff was a close friend, confidante, and advisor to Atlanta mayors Willaim B. Hartsfield and Ivan Allen, Jr. He died on Mar. 7, 1985.

1998 Playing in the Georgia Dome, the Atlanta Falcons had to come from behind to beat the Indianapolis Colts 28-21 to go 11-2, establishing yet one more record for best start in franchise history -- though this record would be broken during the remainder of the 1998 season. Quarterback Chris Chandler, taken out of the game two weeks earlier with an ankle injury, ran for one touchdown and threw for two more in the Falcon's sixth straight win.

Georgia towns and cities created by acts approved on Dec. 6:

1861 Bellville (Richmond County)

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1864 Gen. Sherman's secretary, Maj. Henry Hitchcock, wrote in his diary for today:

"By dispatches of today we learn that XX's advance is now a little ahead of ours, on the Springfield road..Davis XIV advance was at Buck's P.O. last night and will be tonight at Sister's Ferry on Savannah River . . . . XVII is at Ogeechee Church - and Howard's XV w. of Ogeechee River, is at Branham's Store. Howard has all facilities for crossing the river if necessary, and there is nothing between him and us to interfere, nor can be. Tomorrow we move again 'on Savannah.'"

"I begin now to understand as never before what a science war is in the hands of a master, and what 'strategy' means. We have had an easy march, practically without opposition, because our movements have been directed as to utterly confound the enemy, and to circumvent him -- literally. They have done exactly right five times in abandoning their purpose to stand and fight, -- because each time our position gave us great advantage."

Source: M.A. DeWolfe Howe (ed.), Marching with Sherman: Passages from the Letters and Campaign Diaries of Henry Hitchcock, Major and Assistant Adjutant General of Volunteers, November 1864-May 1865 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995), pp. 148-149.

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© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

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