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Georgia Genealogy Trails "Where your Journey Begins" |
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Fleming, Frank E., president
of the
Hardwood Lumber Company of Augusta, was born in
that city Jan. 12, 1855, a son of Porter and Catharine B. (Moragne)
Fleming,
the former born in Lincoln county, Ga., Nov. 27, 1808, and
the latter in Abbeville county, S. C., in 1823. The
father was a successful cotton merchant, located in
Augusta in 1830, and there passed the
remainder of his life, his death occurring on Sept. 8, 1891. His devoted wife died Dec. 9, 1903. Frank E. Fleming was afforded the advantages
of that old admirable Augusta institution, Richmond academy, in which
he continued a student until he had attained the age of sixteen years,
when he
took a clerical position In his father’s cotton office.
From 1877 to 1886 he was employed in the
Georgia Railroad bank of Augusta,
first as a clerk and later as teller. In
1886 he became a member of the banking firm of Fleming, Thomas &
Co., which
successfully continued operations until 1897, when a consolidation was
effected
with the Commercial bank, of which Mr. Fleming became president. In 1890 he was elected president of the
Augusta and Summerville Railroad Company, which did a very successful
business
through its control of the street car lines and all tracks connecting
the
different steam railroads entering Augusta. The
company
equipped the street care lines
with electricity and subsequently sold out to the Augusta Railway
Company. In 1903 the Commercial bank was
sold in its
entirety to the National Exchange bank, whereupon Mr. Fleming and Mr.
Albert J.
Twiggs, who had been for several years partners in a general
contracting
business, also engaged in the manufacturing of hardwood lumber,
establishing a
fine ban-saw mill in South Carolina, just
across the Savannah river from Augusta. The
business
of rapidly expanded in scope and
importance that in March, 1904, it was found expedient to incorporate
the same
under the title of the Hardwood Lumber Company of which Mr. Flemings
has since
been president. He is a director of the
Langley Manufacturing Company of Langley, S. C.; is a member of the
Augusta
Commercial club, and is one of the trustees of Summerville academy,
located in
the beautiful suburb of Summerville, where he has his fine modern home. Mr. Fleming is a stance Democrat in his
political
proclivities. On Feb. 24, 1891, he was
united in marriage to Miss Lila Twiggs of Augusta,
and of their five children four are living—Marion, Frank E., J., John
M. and
Erwin. Sarah T. died in infancy. Fleming, Robert Alexander,
who died at
his home in the city of Augusta,
Feb. 9, 1890, was one of the able and influential business men of that
city and
left the impress of a noble manhood on the history of his times, having
also
been a loyal soldier of the Confederacy during the civil war. Mr. Fleming was born in Lincolnton, Lincoln
county, Ga.,
April 9, 1825, being a son of Robert A. and Thursa Fleming, both of
whom were
likewise natives of that county, and representatives of old and honored
families of the state. Mr. Fleming
secured his educational discipline in the schools of his native town
and
located in the city of Augusta when a young man, having been a
prominent cotton
factor in this city prior to the Civil war, as well as after its close. On Nov. 23, 1862, he tendered his services in
defense of the cause of his loved Southland, enlisting as a private in
the
Sixty-third Georgia infantry, with which he served until the close of
the great
internecine conflict between the states. He
took p-art in a number of important battles and
campaigns, was a
participant in the battles of Recaca, new Hope Church, Kennesaw
Mountain,
Peachtree Creek, Atlanta and Jonesboro, and was with General Hood in
the
campaign to Nashville. From that point
he went out in the campaign to Murfreesboro,
under General Forrest, in the rear guard of Hood’s army.
His record as a soldier was one of
unfaltering fidelity and utmost gallantry, his loyalty to what he
believed
right being as pronounced in this relation as was it in all other
associations
of his life.-a loyalty absolutely inviolable. After
the close of the was Mr. Fleming returned to Augusta
and resumed
his operations as a cotton factor, bravely facing the depressed
conditions
which obtained throughout the south thought the ravages of war and
bending all
his masterful energies to recoup his fortunes and to aid in rebuilding
the
industries and institutions of his home city and state.
He continued in the cotton business until
about 1883, and was very successful in his operations.
In 1886 he became associated with Landon
Thomas, Jr., and Frank E. Fleming is founding the banking house of
Fleming,
Thomas & Co., which built up a large and representative business
and with
which he continued actively identified until his death.
He was also largely interested in cotton
mills in this part of the state, as a stockholder in the Graniteville
Manufacturing Company and the Langley Manufacturing Company. He was a stanch Democrat in his political
proclivities, and his life was guided and guarded according to the
Golden
Rule. He was a true humanitarian, just
and tolerant, finding an element of good in every man.
He was an appreciative member of the Masonic
fraternity. On Nov. 5, 1867, Mr. Fleming
was united in marriage to Miss Louise Anderson, daughter of Isaac and
Lucinda
(Baker) Anderson, of Warren county, Ga., and she survives him, as do
also their
five children, namely: T. Henry, Edward
C., Mary Lou (Mrs. William Martin), Robert A., Jr., and Claude A. One who knew the subject of this memoir long
and well has given the following beautiful and consistent estimate of
his
character; “Mr. Fleming was quiet and retiring was successful in his
various
business undertakings because of careful planning and correct methods. He was his own counselor.
In the serene quietude of a masterful
personality he possessed rare abilities that guided and crowned a
career that
brought to his preeminence among his associated and contemporaries. Beautiful in character, chaste in ambitions,
his life was characterized by a nobility and exaltation of purpose
refreshing
to contemplate. As a man among men he stood ‘four square to every wind
that blows,’
and his generosity and his kindness of heart gained him the
affectionate regard
of all who came within the sphere of his gracious influence.” Ashmore,
Otis, educator, lecturer, astronomer, author, was born March 6,
1853, in Lincoin County, Ga. His life work has been in the educational
field; and he has had a wide experience in the best schools of Georgia.
For ten years he was a scientific teacher in the Savannah high school;
and since 1896 has been superintendent of schools of that city. He is a
well-known writer and lecturer on educational and scientific subjects.
He is the author of Grier's Almanac, the best known publication of its
kind in the south; and is also the author of A Manual of Pronunciation.  ©Genealogy Trails
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