Asa Candler rose from a rural background to reap a fortune. His windfall came from purchasing the Coca-Cola formula in 1888 and establishing the company that became a national phenomenon in less than a decade. In Formula for Fortune, author Ann Uhry Abrams narrates the life and times of Candler-from his ancestral background to the death of the last of his five children. Formula for Fortune not only shows how he turned his entrepreneurial genius into an empire, but also relates his status in Atlanta, Georgia, as a prominent banker, realtor, philanthropist, civil servant, and mayor. Painting a lively portrait of the past, this biography tells a fascinating American story that covers a century of American and Southern life as seen through the eyes of a middle-class family elevated to prominence by their patriarch's incredible success. It not only provides a peek into the horse-and-buggy days of one of the nation's major corporations, but also follows Coca-Cola's fascinating transformation from patent-medicine to international phenomenon. Family dynamics weave through this drama of love, disappointments, and disaster played out against the background of four wars, a race riot, technological revolutions, and numerous courtroom dramas. Formula for Fortune How Asa Candler Discovered Coca-Cola and Turned It into the Wealth His Children Enjoyed By Ann Uhry Abrams iUniverse, Inc. Copyright © 2012 Ann Uhry Abrams All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4620-7168-5 Contents Preface............................................................xiChapter One Farming and Praying...................................1Chapter Two Mixing Concoctions....................................21Chapter Three Serendipity.........................................37Chapter Four Leaving Home.........................................54Chapter Five Changing World.......................................81Chapter Six Creating Families.....................................99Chapter Seven Visions of Grandeur.................................118Chapter Eight Prominence and Prosperity...........................139Chapter Nine In Control...........................................159Chapter Ten Losing Control........................................183Chapter Eleven Misbehavior........................................205Chapter Twelve Trials and Tributes................................226Chapter Thirteen Wild and Unfathomable Things.....................248Chapter Fourteen Murder in Druid Hills............................270Chapter Fifteen And So It Goes....................................284Acknowledgments....................................................299Selected Bibliography..............................................301Abbreviations in Notes.............................................301Endnotes...........................................................307Index..............................................................333 Chapter One Farming and Praying Shortly after Asa Griggs Candler opened his gleaming skyscraper in downtown Atlanta in 1906, he orchestrated a ceremony to be held each year on December 6, the birthday of both his parents, an event that merited a brief write-up in the Atlanta Constitution in 1910. Although the article gave only facts and figures, a small stretch of the imagination—enhanced by information about the principal players—brings the ceremony to life. So let's begin this foray into the past by imagining that gathering. First we notice a milling crowd standing around the elegant marble lobby. The group watches hopefully as Asa Candler Sr.—a short, wiry man, with gray hair and rimless glasses, looking remarkably hardy for a successful businessman pushing sixty—smiles down on the group from his post on the first landing of the staircase. Except for the elegance of his attire and his commanding manner, unknowing observers would have never suspected he was one of the city's wealthiest citizens. Not only has he made a fortune from Coca-Cola, but he is also a prominent banker, realtor, philanthropist, and civil servant. Recently he so successfully completed a two-year term as chairman of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce that people were suggesting he run for mayor. Despite all his accomplishments, Asa Candler managed to retain his distinctive southern drawl and the many colloquialisms that hinted of his humble origins. His own children, along with most of his grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, are present that morning, as are several of his siblings and his dignified wife, Lucy Elizabeth. Near her is their only daughter, Lucy, along with her husband, Bill Owens, an officer in his father-in-law's bank, and their young daughter Elizabeth. Asa's four sons dared not miss this command performance. Although each of the young men acts friendly and cordial to his brothers, the tension between them is palpable. That is especially true of the two oldest, Howard, vice president of the Coca-Cola Company, and the