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THE JEFFERSONIAN
Vol. 111. No. 18.
SKETCH OT HON. E. K. OVER SET
(Candidate for Congress in Ist Ga. District.)
E. K. Overstreet, or “Kinch,” as he is best
known among his friends, was born in Screven
county, on March 8, 1873. He received his
education in the old Sylvania Academy and
at the Nannie-Lou-Warthen Institute in
Wrightsville, Ga., where his uncle,
Rev. R. B. Bryan, was at that time
principal. Returning to Sylvania,
and having decided to devote him- I
self to the profession of the law,
he commenced his studies in the
office of Black & Dell in Sylvania,
and then completed his course in
the law department of the State I
University at Athens. He first I
went into the law office of Erwin,
dußignon & Chisholm in Savan
nah, remaining there for a year,
and gaining much experience in
looking after cases for that firm
in various parts of the country,
and also doing practice on his own
account. In 1893 he was married
to Miss Lucy Garnett, of Screven
county, and Iras one child, a boy. i
He opengd a law office and be
gan, in 1895, to practice among
the people who had known him
from his boyhood. Only two years
after, he was appointed judge of
the county court of Screven,
which place he filled with great
ability until the latter part of
1901.
In 1902 he was elected to the
Georgia legislature, being a mem
ber at the time the sessions were
changed from October to June.
It was during the next session aft
er this that Mr. Overstreet came
prominently before the people of
the state, and showed the stuff
that was in him. The lobbyists
were infesting the Capitol, as they
had been for years. Many good
men had become accustomed to
their presence, and looked upon
it as a necessary evil. But
not so the young legislator from
f * "WT • • 11 1 •
Screven. His sense of right and justice and
decency was outraged at what he saw, and
he did not hesitate to speak out in meeting.
An investigation followed, in which he took
the lead —unmoved by fear and uninfluenced
by power-—and when it was over, the atmos
phere had become clearer, and the doughty
young statesman from Screven had won a
warm place in the hearts of all Georgians who
love purity in politics.
He was re-elected to the lower house in
1904, without opposition, and in 1906, when
A Weekly Paper Edited by THOS. E. WATSON and J. D. WATSON.
IK-
1 1 L I 'MN 1 1I
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IBM!
IBfli |
HON. E. K. OVERSTREET.
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Atlanta, Ga., Thursday, April 30, 1908.
it was Screven’s time to name the senator in
the 17th senatorial district, he was chosen, as
if by common consent, to represent his district
in the senate. This place he now holds. When
the president of the senate, the late Judge
John W. Akin, made up his committees, he
recognized the ability of the young man from
the 17th, and made Mr. Overstreet chairman
of the general judiciary committee. Having
been a warm supporter of Gov. Hoke Smith
in the gubernatorial campaign of 1906, he was
selected by the governor to frame and intro
duce the' railroad bill, for the enlargement of
the powers of the railroad commission and to
give the people a fighting chance against the
greed of the big railroads, a privilege which
they had not heretofore enjoyed. With Hon.
C. M. Candler looking after the bill in the
house, the Candler-Overstreet bill became a
law.
Mr. Overstreet was an ardent supporter of
the prohibition bill. He has always been a
prohibitionist—in practice, as well as in poli
tics, and was a warm supporter of Hon. Du-
Ipont Guerry when he made the
race for governor on that plat
form.
Since his entry into political
rlife. Mr. Overstreet has ever been
a reformer, standing for purity
in politics, and always against
graft and corruption, wherever he
found it. He has the courage of
his convictions and there is never
any trouble in telling where he
stands. During the Hoke Smith
campaign, this quality cost him
his position as attorney for the
Central of Georgia Railway in
Screven county. An interview
was published in the Atlanta Jour
nal, in which E. K. gave his ideas
and opinions on things political,
and, incidentally, touched up the
railroads. When this was read by
the General Counsel in Savannah,
they became indignant at the
though? ,'hat a man who repre
sented them should have the te
merity to criticise the railroads,
even in a general way. They were
disappointed in their man, and
they were mad. So they wrote at
once, demanding the resignation
of this follower of Hoke Smith
and his wild vagaries. And they
got it-- and a warm one it was,
I too. He told them, in effect, that
| he never proposed to become a po
litical slave because he had agreed
to represent them, in a legal way,
in his county—that he preferred
k to do his own thinking on political
J matters, and that they all might
go to a warmer climate, and give
the attorney ship to somebody that
suited them better. And so he
was stricken from the Central’s
list, and his cousin, J. W. Overstreet, of Syl
vania, appointed in his place.
(Note: The .Jeffersonian is well acquainted
with Mr. E. K. Overstreet and considers him
not only a man of very superior intellect but
a man of extraordinary force of character.
He could never be intimidated in the dis
charge of his duties nor corruptly influenced
to depart from what he considered right. He
made a great fight against the professional
lobbyists in Atlanta and he would be a tow’er
(Continued on Page Five.)
Price Fiv* "ents.