Mrs. Atkinson ran the Lexington Hotel at 13th and Main Streets. Atkinson, a Bedford County native, came to Richmond from Lynchburg, Virginia with her husband. On his death, she took over the business. By all accounts she was a feisty woman, making sure that hotels were taxed fairly, instead of favoring the Jefferson Hotel. If not, she threatened to locate in another city where "taxes were not so high." At the time, the "Richmond Times-Dispatch" called her the "personification of energy, industry and luck. Her business hours are from sunrise to sunrise" and is "tireless as a swallow on the wing."