View source for Max Corput

{{short description|American architect}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Maximilien van den Corput
|birth_date= September 24, 1824
|death_date= January 16, 1911
|birth_place= near [[Brussels]], [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]]
|death_place= [[Atlanta, Georgia]], US
|placeofburial= [[Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta)]]
|placeofburial_label= Place of burial
|image= Max Van Den Corput.jpg
|caption= Max van den Corput
|spouse= Marie ''Roberts'' van den Corput
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{flag|Confederate States of America}}
|branch= {{army|CSA}}
|serviceyears=1861–1865
|rank= [[File:Confederate States of America Major.png|25px]] Major
|commands= Cherokee Artillery
|unit=
|battles= [[American Civil War]]
*[[Vicksburg Campaign]]
*[[Chattanooga Campaign]]
*[[Atlanta Campaign]]
*[[Franklin–Nashville Campaign]]
*[[Carolinas Campaign]]
|awards=
|laterwork= architect, engineer
}}
'''Max Corput''', fully documented as '''Maximilien van den Corput''' (died 1911) was a [[Belgian-American]] architect. He designed the [[Atlanta Union Station (1871)|second Union Station]] in [[Atlanta, Georgia]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EGyf7XQeWEIC&pg=PA279 Wilber W. Caldwell, ''The courthouse and the depot: the architecture of hope in an age of despair'', p.279]</ref> Van den Corput also served as an officer in the [[Confederate States Army]] during the [[American Civil War]].
[[File:Atlunion2.jpeg|thumb|Atlanta's [[Atlanta Union Station (1871)|1871 Union Station]]]]
==Name==
The "van den" (Dutch: ''from the'') is very common in Dutch and Belgian surnames, and references to Corput regarding the civil war usually include his full last name. However, later references including one in the ''[[Atlanta Constitution]]'' omit the "van den", suggesting that he later went simply by "Corput".<ref>[https://archive.today/20120604025455/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/ajc_historic/access/523652792.html?dids=523652792:523652792&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&date=Apr+23,+1869&author=&pub=The+Constitution&desc=MAJOR+CORPUT.&pqatl=google "Major Corput", ''Atlanta Constitution'', April 23, 1869]</ref>
His first name has, in additionally to alternative spelling, also been documented as "Maxwell" and occasionally "Joseph John" as middle names.
==Early life and civil war==
Corput was born near [[Brussels]] in [[Belgium]]. His exact date of birth is unknown, and has variously been put between 1824 and 1826. In 1848 he belonged to a group of Belgians who emigrated to the United States after the incorporation of [[Belgium]] into the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]], which caused dissatisfaction among the French-speaking Belgian elite.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xvbTT88nRmoC&pg=PA355 George Magruder Battey, ''A History of Rome and Floyd County'', pp.355-6]</ref> The group, that included several family members like Corputs younger brother Felix, traveled via [[New York City|New York]] and Charleston. As the [[Cherokee Indians]] had recently been dispossessed of Northwest [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], freeing the land for further settlement, the Corputs settled as farmers in the area at [[Cave Spring, Georgia|Cave Spring]].<ref name=Oakland>{{cite web|last1=Upthegrove|first1=Larry|title=Oakland Resident Spotlight: Maximilien van den Corput|url=http://www.oaklandcemetery.com/oakland-resident-spotlight-maximilien-van-den-corput/|website=Historic Oakland Foundation|accessdate=17 March 2016|date=October 31, 2014}}</ref>
When the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] started in 1861 Corput joined the [[Confederate States Army]]. He was commissioned as a Third Lieutenant (1861)<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xvbTT88nRmoC&pg=PA365 George Magruder Battey, ''A History of Rome and Floyd County'', p.365]</ref> in the ''Cherokee Artillery'' battery; a unit recruited from the [[Floyd County, Georgia|Floyd]] and [[Cherokee County, Georgia|Cherokee counties]]. Several of his relatives joined the unit, too, his brother Felix being the Quartermaster Sergeant. The unit was surrendered during the [[Siege of Vicksburg]], but quickly returned to the field afterwards. By 1864 Corput had been promoted to captain and commanded the battery. At the [[Battle of Resaca]] its four 12-pounder Napoleons were captured.<ref>[http://www.resacabattlefield.org/FoRMay15.htm "May 15", ''Friends of Battle of Resaca'']</ref><ref>[http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3567 "Battle of Resaca", ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'']</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=l3YwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hzsDAAAAIBAJ&dq=max-van-den-corput&pg=3244%2C2917804 "Resaca... now is time", ''Rome News-Tribune'', January 12, 2007, p.3]</ref> Corput himself became a prisoner of war on April 12, 1865 at Salisbury, [[North Carolina]]. He was held prisoner at [[Camp Chase]], [[Ohio]] until paroled in October.<ref name=Oakland/>
==Later life==
After the war Corput settled in Atlanta and founded the architectural firm of Van den Corput and Fay. He had previously been involved in the firm Corput and Bass, where he had begun his career as an engineer, but became known for his architectural designs.
[[File:DeGive Opera House building.jpg|thumb|[[DeGive's Opera House]] building toward the end of its life, doing business as the Bijou Theater]]
Corput died on January 16, 1911, in Atlanta and was buried there in [[Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta)|Oakland Cemetery]]. His grave was unmarked until 2014. His wife, and mother of their six children, Marie, was 24 years younger than him and died in 1920.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120714123858/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/ajc_historic/access/514344392.html?dids=514344392:514344392&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&date=Oct+23,+1920&author=&pub=The+Atlanta+Constitution&desc=Obituary+1+--+No+Title&pqatl=google Obituary, ''Atlanta Constitution'', October 23, 1920]</ref> Corput and his battery are the namesakes of the [[Sons of Confederate Veterans]] ''Capt. Max van den Corput's Battery Camp #669''.<ref name=Oakland/>
==Buildings designed==
* [[Georgia Railroad Freight Depot]] (1869), the oldest building in [[Downtown Atlanta]]
* [[DeGive's Opera House]] (1870–1921)
* Atlanta's second [[Atlanta Union Station (1871)|Union Station]] (1871–1930)
* The [[Clayton County Courthouse (Jonesboro, Georgia)|Clayton County Courthouse]]
* The [[Old Bartow County Courthouse]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{find a Grave|75878290}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corput, Max}}
[[Category:1820s births]]
[[Category:1911 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American architects]]
[[Category:Belgian architects]]
[[Category:Confederate States Army officers]]
[[Category:Belgian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Foreign Confederate military personnel]]
[[Category:American Civil War prisoners of war]]
[[Category:People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Architects from Atlanta]]
[[Category:Burials at Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta)]]