James R. Venable

His grandfather and namesake was the first "guinea pig" for surgeon Crawford Long, one of the pioneers of anesthesia.

The elder Venable later purchased land in the city of Marthasville which was later renamed Atlanta.

The Venable quarry operations produced, at one time, all of the curbstones for the city of Atlanta and outlying communities.

Most notably, he defended the bombers of the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple bombing, which he described as "perhaps one of the hardest cases because the Jewish people spent many thousands of dollars."

"[1] At the age of 13, Venable attended the 1915 revival of the KKK on top of Stone Mountain, alongside his uncle.

[1] Towards the end of his life, Venable became afflicted with various conditions, including cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and pneumonia.