William Ezzard

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William E. Ezzard (June 12, 1799 – March 24, 1887) served four terms as Atlanta's mayor in the 1800s.

Ezzard was born in Abbeville, South Carolina and represented Elbert County, Georgia in the Georgia legislature then was twice elected state senator from that district. After a full term as judge of the Coweta circuit, he settled in Decatur in 1822 being one of the first settlers in DeKalb County and was again sent to the legislature. ^[1] In 1826 a DeKalb County Academy was founded and the next year Ezzard as well as Judge Reuben Cone and nine others were named as trustees in the incorporation. ^[2] In 1827, at the age of 28, he was sent to the state senate from DeKalb. He served as Solicitor General of the Cherokee Circuit from December 8, 1832 to December,1835. Then he was Brigadier General of the First Brigade, 11th Division. He resigned in November 1840 and was Judge of the old Coweta Circuit from November 6, 1840 to November,1844. While there he administered the estate of Hardy Ivy and was responsible for subdividing his estate comprising land lot 51. ^[3]

He moved to Atlanta in 1850 where he was law partner to Judge John Collier and operated a dry goods and drug store Smith & Ezzard^[4] . He co-founded the Atlanta Bank in 1852 with John Mims, Clark Howell, Sr., Jonathan Norcross, Richard Peters, William Butt, Lemuel Grant, Joseph Winship, N.L. Angier, Joseph Thompson and others.^[5] He served three one-year terms as mayor in 1856, 1857 (this term included him visiting Charleston where Atlanta was named the Gate City^[6] and was the first time consecutive terms had been served), 1860. In 1861 he was defeated by Whitaker 695 to 452 and instead was a delegate to the Southern Congress principally in the failed effort to secure the Confederate capitol at Atlanta and he represented Atlanta in the Georgia General Assembly house from 1863 to 1865 where he offered a bill to raise soldiers pay to $25 per month which was passed. After the war he continued his law firm with William Hulsey and Judge Ezzard defeated republican William Markham 819 to 762 when he served as mayor for his fourth and last time in 1870 and in 1878 he was elected as tax receiver for Fulton County. He made his home on the future site of the Piedmont Hotel on Forsyth Street. ^[7] In April 1871 Ezzard joined fellow pioneers to found the Atlanta Pioneer and Historic Society of which he was voted president and Jonathan Norcross was vice president.^[8] He was buried at Oakland Cemetery in the family lot but the grave was not marked. He is remembered by Ezzard Street in the southern section of the Old Fourth Ward.

Of his sons, John F. Ezzard died at age 33 died in October 1864 in the war and William Lane Ezzard, co-founded the Gate City Guard in 1855 and he died in 1903.

Preceded by John Glen (acting)	Mayor of Atlanta 1856 – 1858	Succeeded by Luther J. Glenn
Preceded by Luther J. Glenn	Mayor of Atlanta 1860 – 1861	Succeeded by Jared Whitaker
Preceded by William Hulsey	Mayor of Atlanta 1870 – 1871	Succeeded by Dennis F. Hammond