[citation needed] Born in Acworth, New Hampshire,[1] he came to Georgia in 1839 and taught school for four years in Coweta County.

He spent the year 1850 gold-hunting in California, but returned to Atlanta amassing real estate wealth before the American Civil War, including a health spring near the current intersection of today's Ponce de Leon and Glen Iris.

His son, Alton Angier (1855–1913) also escaped, but only by crossing enemy lines and describing Atlanta's fortifications to Union officials in Tennessee.

After the war, Angier was rewarded for his loyalty with an appointment as U.S. collector of revenue and was elected state treasurer in 1868, where he battled fellow Republican Rufus B. Bullock over public funds.

Angier was mayor during U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes' visit of September 22, 1877, which was part of a goodwill tour to continue post-Reconstruction reconciliation with the former Confederate States of America.