Name/Title
Three Men Standing on Umbrella Rock PhotographEntry/Object ID
2020.109.001Description
A photograph showing three men standing on top of Umbrella Rock at Point Lookout on Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, waving their hats in the air.
The men are identified (Left to right) as John McNeil, George Milton, and William G. McAdoo. The rear reads "L to R. John D. McNeil Birmingham A438 George F. Minton Editor of the Chattanooga News Mr. McAdoo (George 7"
Perched atop Point Lookout, Umbrella Rock is one of the most famous locations in the Chattanooga area. This unusual geological formation consists of several large stones topped by a large, flat slab. The rock has hosted innumerable visitors over the years, perhaps most famously Ulysses S. Grant. Formerly a popular location for photographs, erosion has made it unstable, and it is now closed to the public.
William Gibbs McAdoo, Jr.
(October 31, 1863 – February 1, 1941)
An American lawyer and statesman. McAdoo was a leader of the Progressive movement and played a major role in the administration of President Woodrow Wilson. A member of the Democratic Party, he also represented California in the United States Senate.
Born in Marietta, Georgia, McAdoo moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in his youth and graduated from the University of Tennessee. He established a law practice in Chattanooga, Tennessee before moving to New York City in 1892. He gained notoriety as the president of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company and served as the vice-chairman of the Democratic National Committee. McAdoo worked on Wilson’s successful 1912 presidential campaign and served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1913 to 1918. He married Wilson’s daughter, Eleanor, in 1914. McAdoo presided over the establishment of the Federal Reserve System and helped prevent an economic crisis after the outbreak of World War I. After the U.S. entered the war, McAdoo also served as the Director-General of Railroads. McAdoo left Wilson’s Cabinet in 1919, co-founding the law firm of McAdoo, Cotton & Franklin.
McAdoo sought the Democratic presidential nomination at the 1920 Democratic National Convention but was defeated by Governor James M. Cox. In 1922, McAdoo left his law firm and moved to California. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination again in 1924, but the 1924 Democratic National Convention nominated John W. Davis. He was elected to the Senate in 1932 but was defeated in his bid for a second term. McAdoo died of a heart attack in 1941 while traveling to the third inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
George Fort Milton
(????-1924)
George Milton with wife Abby, their three daughters, and Joanie (last name unknown).
George F. Milton, Chattanooga newspaper publisher, and Democratic political activist was born in Macon, Georgia, and educated in Chattanooga. After attending the University of the South at Sewanee, Milton entered the banking business in Chattanooga. He left banking to become the editor and manager of the Taxpayer, a monthly publication devoted to tax reform and political issues. In 1895 he moved to Knoxville to edit the Knoxville Sentinel. Three years later, he accepted an appointment as first lieutenant in the Sixth United States Volunteer Infantry and remained with his regiment until the conclusion of the Spanish-American War.
In 1899 Milton returned to Knoxville and bought a two-thirds interest in the Sentinel; in 1901 he acquired the paper’s remaining stock. While at the Sentinel Milton led the fight to pass Knoxville’s prohibition law in 1907. The next year he supported former U.S. Senator Edward Ward Carmack in his race against Governor Malcolm Patterson for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. In 1909 he bought a two-thirds interest in the Chattanooga News. After managing both papers for three years, Milton sold the Sentinel and returned to Chattanooga. In 1910 he supported the fusion movement, a coalition of Republicans and prohibition Democrats, which resulted in the election of Republican Ben W. Hooper as governor.
Milton continued to be interested in tax reform and served on a state tax commission in 1915 and 1917. He also supported Henry Ford’s efforts to bring about peace in Europe prior to the United States' entry into World War I in 1917. He visited Europe in 1915 and 1916 with the Ford Peace Party, which worked to end the war.
Milton, whose second wife, Abby Crawford Milton, was president of the Tennessee Equal Suffrage League, served on the Men’s Ratification Committee in support of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. He also worked for improvements in the Tennessee River to make it navigable. Milton died in 1924 in Murfreesboro while campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate William G. McAdoo. He is buried in Chattanooga.Photograph Details
Subject Person or Organization
John McNeil, George F. Milton, William McAdooSubject Place
* Untyped Subject Place
Umbrella Rock, Point Lookout, Point Park, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military ParkCollection
Lookout Mountain CollectionRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
John McNeil, George F. Milton, William G. McAdooRelated Places
Place
* Untyped Place
Lookout Mountain, TennesseeRelated Events
Event
Battle of WauhatchieCopyright
Type of License
Copyright Not Evaluated
