Henry Harding & Bessie Willingham Tift

Henry Harding Tift (1841-1922) was a businessman and developer who founded the city of Tifton, Georgia. As a civic leader and benefactor, he contributed for a half century to the industrial, agricultural, financial, religious and educational growth of his city and to the well-being of its citizens. Bessie Tift (1860 - 1936) was actively involved in her husband’s development enterprises and in civic organizations and was instrumental in starting the first library in Tifton. The Bessie Tift College in Macon, Georgia, was named for her.