Lemuel Pratt Grant and his older brother, James Harvey Grant (b. 1812), were originally from Frankfort, Maine, sons of James Grant, Jr., and Hannah Pratt. As young men, they worked for the Reading Railroad in Pennsylvania. In 1838, when construction of railroads began in Georgia, James came south and was joined two years later by Lemuel. The brothers were employed as rodmen and construction engineers on the Georgia Railroad. Later James moved out of state, but Lemuel remained in Georgia and became a civil engineer and officer in several railroads branching out from Atlanta. Throughout his long career, Grant played an important role in establishing Atlanta as a railroad center of the South. He was a public-spirited citizen and prominent in civic, business, and philanthropic endeavors.

Collection contains information about railroads (both in-state and out-of-state), railroad workers and their illnesses, railroad working conditions, family history, runaway slaves, local history and local, state, and United States news.