Comer, Hugh Moss, 1842-1900.

Dates:

Birth 1842

Death 1900

Biographical notes:

Hugh Moss Comer (1842-1900) was a Savannah, Georgia businessman. His businesses included Bates and Comer, cotton merchants, H. M. Comer and Company, cotton merchants, Comer, Hull, and Company, fertilizer, Savannah Hotel Company, Savannah Construction Company, and Bibb Manufacturing. He also served as president of the Central of Georgia Railroad, 1892-1900. He also served as president of the Cotton Exchange and was a member of the Hibernian Society for many years.

From the description of Hugh Moss Comer Festschriften and scrapbook, 1882-1900 (Georgia Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 175293160

Hugh Moss Comer (1842-1900) was born and reared in Alabama. He came to Savannah, Georgia in 1868 and quickly became a prominent businessman. He was involved in many businesses, including the Savannah Hotel Company, through which he helped establish the DeSoto Hotel. He also served as president of the Central of Georgia Railroad Company from 1882-1900 and as president of the Cotton Exchange. At the time of his death, he was an established business leader and millionaire. Comer married Mary E. Bates prior to coming to Savannah, and the couple had two surviving children, Hugh M. Comer, Jr. and Annie Comer. After his first wife's death in 1875, Comer married Lilla Hall of Connecticut around the year 1880. They had three children: John, Mary (who married Mills B. Lane in 1906), and Lilla (who married Dr. John Kirk Train). Lilla (d. 1957) and Dr. John K. Train (1880-1955) married in 1909 and had six children. The couple was known throughout Savannah for their generous philanthropy. Dr. Train established his medical practice in Savannah in 1904. Pauline De Caradeuc (1843-1914) came from an affluent Catholic French-Italian family in Charleston, South Carolina. Her family later moved to Montmorenci, a plantation near Aiken, South Carolina. She began keeping a journal in 1863 about the effects of the Civil War. In 1866, she married Jacob Guerard Heyward (1844-1888) of South Carolina. In 1869, the couple moved to Savannah where Guerard worked as a bookkeeper. In 1876, Guerard became a partner with Hugh M. Comer and Company, a Savannah cotton and rice factoring firm. Pauline's journals end with the death of her husband in 1888.

From the description of Hugh Moss Comer family papers, 1879-1934. (Georgia Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 43886872