Carey Wentworth Styles

Carey Wentworth Styles (October 7, 1825 – February 23, 1897) was an American lawyer and journalist who either founded or wrote for "at least" 21 newspapers in his career. He is best remembered as the founder of The Atlanta Constitution. During a lifetime divided in nearly equal measure between the states of South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas, Styles, a veteran of two wars, developed a reputation for finding his way into political frays and military adventures. He was briefly a member of the Georgia Senate, after having killed a Georgia State Representative earlier in his career.

Early years and education Carey W. Styles was born October 7, 1825, near Spartanburg, South Carolina, the son of Gabriel and Rebecca Farrow Smith Styles. He spent his early years on his father's plantation, which prospered from cotton farming and cattle. In 1846, when he was 21 years old, Styles enlisted in the Palmetto Regiment of the South Carolina Volunteers, to fight in the Mexican–American War.

Journalism While living in Edgefield, Styles became convinced that a railroad was needed to link Columbia, South Carolina, with Augusta, Georgia. In an effort to bring the matter to public attention, and to rally support for the proposal, Styles began publishing a pro-railroad weekly newspaper, the Edgefield Informer. It marked the beginning of a career in journalism that would consume Styles for the rest of his life. It also marked the decline of his interest in the practice of law.

After finishing his term as mayor, Styles moved the family inland to nearby Waresboro, then the county seat of Ware County, prior to the establishment of Waycross. There, he opened a law office and announced plans to publish a weekly newspaper, the Georgia Forester. In 1861, Styles was elected as a delegate from Ware County to the Georgia Secession Convention where, along with the other delegate from Ware, Col. William Angus McDonald, Styles voted to secede. Sensing a story, and historic events in the making, Styles proceeded to Charleston, South Carolina, where he was able to attach himself to the Hagood Regiment staff. This provided Styles with an insider knowledge of events, and first hand view of the Battle of Fort Sumter. After the fall of the fort, Styles returned to Georgia, where he enlisted in the 2nd Georgia Volunteers, and organized the Wiregrass Minutemen in Savannah, later designated as Company L, 26th Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia. Styles was elected Captain of the company. He was commissioned Colonel in August 1861, and placed in charge of the coastal defense of Georgia, commanding a force of 4,000. Styles latter transferred to an artillery battalion and participated in the Battle of Atlanta. Styles believed them to be little more than organs for the Radical Republican reconstruction agenda. He resolved to bring a paper aligned with the Democratic party viewpoint to the Atlanta market, one supporting his constitutional reconstruction ideals. On June 16, 1868, the "new Democratic daily" (as he described it) printed its first edition, under the name The Constitution. In 1870, Anderson sold his one half interest in the paper to Col. E. Y. Clarke.

Legislative service

Styles returned to Albany as editor of the News. In 1872, he was elected to the Georgia Senate in an ironic turn of events, having killed a member of the Georgia House of Representatives in his earlier years. While a member of the Georgia General Assembly, Styles advocated for an unpopular cause. Public opinion overwhelmingly supported an attempt to repudiate bonds issued by the State, during the Bullock administration. Styles took an opposite position, arguing that value had been received, and that the bonds were "honest debts" of the state and should be paid. Passions on this issue ran high, and Styles nearly had another "personal encounter" with a political opponent, as well as the editor of the Atlanta Herald. But the prospect of a duel never materialized. Other Styles war mementos and papers are retained in a collection held by the University of Texas at Arlington Special Collections archive.