From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Moses W. Formwalt
(1820 ? May 26, 1852
[1]
) was the first mayor of the city of
Atlanta
, which was then in
DeKalb County, Georgia
. Atlanta was chartered in December 1847 (the name had been changed from
Marthasville
in December 1845), and the first election of officers took place on January 29, 1848. Formwalt drew a larger share of the 215 votes than
Jonathan Norcross
and was elected mayor, representing the
Free and Rowdy Party
. First meeting of the city council followed on February 2 at the
Jonas Smith
grocery
(site of the
Howard Johnson
hotel near
Five Points
). Things proceeded pretty normally throughout his one-year term: roads were cut, wells dug, law and order somewhat maintained (a jail was built); and on January 17, 1849,
Dr. Benjamin F. Bomar
succeeded him as mayor.
Born in
Tennessee
, Formwalt came to Decatur in 1836 and established a
tin shop
on Decatur St. in Atlanta in 1846 where one of his most popular products were
stills
. He became mayor at age 28. Two years after leaving office, he began serving as deputy
sheriff
of DeKalb County; a short time later he was stabbed to death by a prisoner while escorting him from the council chamber.
[2]
Monument erected at his burial site in
Oakland Cemetery
.
He was buried at
Oakland Cemetery
and is honored by Formwalt Street just southwest of downtown.
References
[
edit
]