George W. Olivier

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George W. Olivier
20180519 George W. Olivier mayor.JPG
Mayor Olivier, c. 1906

Aldermen

Mayor
Term Start September 1, 1904
Term End August 31, 1906
Preceded by J. Samuel McCue
Succeeded by E. G. Haden

Biographical Information

Date of birth August, 1844
Date of death July 15, 1923
Place of birth Prince George County, Va.
Place of death Charlottesville, VA
Spouse Katharine "Kate" Roy (née Pollard) Olivier (1848-1910)
Children (Charles Pollard Olivier (1884-1975); Katharine Roy Pollard Olivier Maddux (1887-1989), wife of Major Cabell M. Maddux.
Residence 1021 W. Main
Profession Book merchant (University Bookstore)
Religion Episcopal
University of Virginia Magazine, 1894

George Wythe Olivier (August 1842 –July 15, 1923) and his wife Kate owned the University Book Store and operated a large boarding house in their home near the gates of the University of Virginia on Main Street. They were parents of famed meteor scientist Dr. Charles Pollard Olivier (1884 – 1975). George was elected Charlottesville's city-wide mayor in 1904.

George W. Olivier, 1916

George Wythe Olivier was born in Prince George County, Va., in August, 1844, a son of Warner Lewis Olivier, of "Warner Hall," and Frances Ann Fox, of Gloucester County.

George enlisted in the service of the Confederacy in Pegram's famous battery and was in the Battle of the Crater and all the other engagements in which the battery took part. After the war, he was in business in Petersburg, Va. Marrying Miss Katherine Rey Pollard, he came to Charlottesville and purchased from Dr. M. McKennie the book business established by the McKennies at the founding of the University of Virginia and continued in it to the end of his life.[1]

George Wythe Olivier was elected by the City at-large to the office mayor. He served from September 1, 1904 to August 31, 1908. George was father of the future meteor scientist Dr. Charles Pollard Olivier (1884 – 1975). A year before his son was born, the university dedicated the Leander McCormick Observatory and its 26-inch Alvan Clark Refractor.

University of Virginia Magazine, 1894

George and and his wife, Kate, owned the University Book Store, purchased with the proceeds of her family estate and operated a boarding house in their home. Kate had been raised in the surrounding Albemarle County, and the couple knew most of the university faculty well. [2]

George Olivier met Katharine Pollard in Petersburg and married on May 29, 1880, in Baltimore Maryland. In 1881, they built a large brick house at 1021 West Main Street, just outside of the University of Virginia’s main gate. The building was designed with rental apartments for University faculty and visitors to the area. George was also freight agent for Adams Express at the University railway station and operated a college bookstore. In 1883, they joined the Christ (Episcopal) Church; George was elected the Church’s Vestry. In 1884, their son, Charles Pollard Olivier was born followed by their daughter, Katharine Roy on March 14, 1887. According to the 1900 census, the Olivier household employed a 76-year-old African American women. Kate and George knew many of the university professors, including Charles Scott Venable. Several of Kate’s female relatives were married to University instructors and professors.

George served in Pegram's Battery and was at the Battle of The Crater in Petersburg. His wife, Katharine Olivier, was active in the Daughters of the Confederacy and Confederacy memorial organization. Kate joined the Albemarle Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy, in April 1895. Her father, Charles W. Pollard of Charlottesville was killed at the battle of Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864. Kate remained a member until she died in 1910. She was elected Secretary of the Daughters’ Albemarle Chapter in 1908 and President shortly before her death on December 25, 1910.

Civil War historic context
Cold Harbor (May 31-June 12, 1864): In the overland campaign of 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant with the Army of the Potomac battled General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia for six weeks across central Virginia. At the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna and Totopotomoy Creek, Lee repeatedly stalled, but failed to stop, Grant's southward progress toward Richmond. The next logical military objective for Grant was the crossroads styled by locals Old Cold Harbor.[3]

George died on July 15, 1923 and was buried next to Kate in the family section of Maplewood Cemetery.

Son (Charles Pollard Olivier) standing in front of family home on West Main Street, ca. 1894

References

  1. from the "Richmond Times-Dispatch," Richmond, Va., Tuesday, June 19, 1923 issue
  2. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-0-387-30400-7_1033 The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, 2007 Edition, Editors: Thomas Hockey, Virginia Trimble, Thomas R. Williams, Katherine Bracher, Richard A. Jarrell, Jordan D. MarchéII, F. Jamil Ragep, JoAnn Palmeri, Marvin Bolt
  3. https://www.nps.gov/rich/learn/historyculture/cold-harbor.htm
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