John Brown Gordon (February 6, 1832 - January 9, 1904) served as one of Robert E. Lee's most trusted Confederate generals during the American Civil War. After the war, he was a U.S. Senator, a railroad executive, and the Governor of Georgia from 1886 to 1890. Gordon was descended from an ancient Scottish lineage, the fourth child of twelve, born on his father's plantation in Upson County, Georgia. Many Gordon family members fought in the Revolutionary War. He was an outstanding student at the University of Georgia, but left before graduating. He studied law in Atlanta and passed the bar examination. Gordon and his father invested in a series of coal mines in Tennessee and Georgia. He also practiced law. He represented Georgia in Congress for many years after the Civil War. Gordon married Fanny Haralson, daughter of Hugh Anderson Haralson, in 1854, and they had a long and happy marriage.
