Alonzo Franklin Herndon (June 26,1858-July 21,1927)

Was an African-American entrepreneur who founded and was the first president of Atlanta Life

Insurance Company.He was born in Walton,County Georgia to Frank Herndon, a white farmer,and Sophenie,his slave.By the time of his death Alonzo was Atlanta's wealthiest African American and one of the first black millionaires.Alonzo worked on his father's plantation near Social Circle,Georgia.Freed by the 13th Amendment,he and his mother,younger brother,and maternal grandparents became sharecroppers.He supplemented the family income by working as day laborer and peddler of peanuts and homemade molasses and axle grease.In 1878,at the age of 20, he left his family and moved to Jonesboro,Georgia where he opened up his first barbershop.Alonzo developed a great reputation as a barber and his business thrived.In 1883 he migrated to Atlanta, Georgia to continue in the barbering business in the largest city in the state.By 1904,Alonzo owned three barber shops in Atlanta,advertising one of them as the largest and best barbershop in the region.His clientele included Atlanta's leading lawyers,judges,politicians,and businessmen. As his business grew,he began to invest in real estate,purchasing more 100 rental houses,commercial property along Auburn Avenue in Atlanta,and a plantation near Tavares Florida.At the time of his death his real estate holdings were valued at nearly$ 325,000.In 1905 he purchased a failing insurance company,which he incorporated as Atlanta Mutual Insurance Association.He took over a company which had $5,000 in assets in 1905.By 1922 the company had more than $4000,000 in assets.That year he changed the name of the company to Atlanta Life Insurance Company.The Company rapidly expanded,establishing branches in Florida,Kansas,Kentucky,Missouri,Tennessee,and Texas.Alonzo saved other failing insurance companies by merging their company with Atlanta Life Insurance.Claiming his efforts were designed to build confidence in black business and save jobs for African American men and women.Regardless of the reasons,his acquisition strategy made Atlanta Life one of the most successful black businesses in the nation by the 1920's.Alonzo was active in a variety of economic and political causes.he was a founding member of Booker T.Washington's National Negro Business League in 1900.Five years later he was one of the original members of the W.E.B. Dubois-Niagara Movement.Alonzo also used his wealth to support local causes,such as the Young Men's Christian Association(YWCA),Atlanta University,the first Congregational Church,the Southview Cemetery,and the Atlanta State Savings Bank.In 1893,he married Adrienne Elizabeth Mcneil, a professor at Atlanta University,who influenced his cultural and educational growth.Alonzo and Adrienne had a son together,Norris.After Adrienne died in 1910,Alonzo married Jessie Gillespie of Chicago who became and active partner in Atlanta Life and who led the company along with her stepson,after Alonzo death.In 1910 Alonzo and Jessie built the Herndon home which at the time was one of the largest mansions in Atlanta.Today the home is registered as a National Historic Place.