Alfred Austell (1814-1881) was born in eastern Tennessee to Jane Wilkins and William Austell. He married Francina Cameron of LaGrange, Georgia, in 1853, and they had four children: Alfred, Jr., Janie, Leila, and William. In 1865, Austell and E. W. Holland purchased the Bank of Fulton and he also established the Atlanta National Bank. He served as president until his death. Austell was also a partner in a number of cotton brokerage firms including Austell and Camp, Austell and Inman, and Austell and Swann. In addition to his dealing in the cotton trade, Austell invested in real estate in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as in railroads in several southern states. Austell also served on Atlanta's first board of education and on the finance committee of the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. Although he was opposed to secession, Austell supported Georgia when it voted to secede. Upon the conclusion of the Civil War, he was a member of the committee that passed resolutions celebrating the end of the Civil War, condemning the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and obeying the laws of the United States. He died on December 7, 1881, in Atlanta, Georgia.