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William Jackson Flesher
A member of the Canyon City bar since 1909, Mr. Flesher has been successful in
practice, has been honored with official promotion, and is one of the enterprising
and public spirited men of Randall County.
William Jackson Flesher was born
at Reedy, Roane county, West Virginia, September 14, 1882. On his father's
side his ancestors came from Germany, and his mother's ancestry was Irish.
The father, Andrew L. Flesher, was a native of West Virginia, and his grandfather
John Flesher was an old West Virginia farmer, and when the Civil war came on,
enlisted with Breckenridge's mounted troopers, and served from the West Virginia
campaign, early in the war, until the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. His death
occurred soon after the war, partly a result of the wounds and hardships which
he had undergone as a soldier. Andrew L. Flesher, the father, who now resides
at Rock Island, Texas, brought his family from West Virginia to Missouri in
1888, and in 1900 came to Texas. He is a contractor and builder, and in
politics is a Democrat. The family are Methodists in religion. The maiden
name of the mother is Henrietta Summerville, who was born in Jackson County,
West Virginia, and has been the mother of seven children, three deceased, and the four now
living being residents of Texas.
William Jackson Flesher had his early schooling in Sullivan County, Missouri,
and spent one year in the Kirksville Normal in that state. When eighteen
years old the family came to Texas, and from 1902 to 1904
he was a student in the Texas State Normal School at Denton.
His early career was spent on a farm and in the fall of 1900 he filled his first regular position
as a teacher. He taught a country school in Colorado County for three years, resigning to enter the
State Normal at Denton and from there moved out to Mason County, Texas, where
he was elected superintendent of schools. He filled that important office for three years. He had depended upon his own exertions
to advance his education, and early in his career it was his ambition to become a lawyer. With the
means acquired as a teacher he finally entered the law department of the University of Texas, and after studying two years was admitted to the bar in the fall
of 1908.
In June, 1909, he opened his office in Canyon City, and was soon recognized as one of the rising young attorneys of the
Randall County bar. In November, 1910, he was elected to the office of county attorney, and by reelection in 1912, still holds that office. Mr. Flesher is also a stock holder and director
of the First State Bank of Canyon. In politics he is one of the workers for
Democratic support. During the recent campaign, he was one of the active advocates of the amendment to the state constitution, providingfor state-wide prohibition,
and while the campaign was unsuccessful great headway has been made, and with a view to securing the final elimination of the liquor traffic from Texas Mr. Flesher determined to devote much time and laborto extending the work which
was so well begun previous to the last election on that question. Fraternally
he is affiliated with the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and the Woodmen of the World, also belonging to the Eastern Star. He is a trustee and steward in the Methodist church and one of the teachers of the Sunday school.
On December 25, 1910, he married Miss May Ballard, who was born in Texas, a daughter of J. W. Ballard. Her father was one of the old
settlers of Wise County, having come across the country with an ox team to that region. For the past twenty-two
years he and his family have resided in Swisher County, Texas. To Mr. and Mrs. Flesher have been born one son and one daughter: William James Jr., born September 21, 1911, and Henrietta May, born June 6, 1913.
[A history of Texas and Texans, Volume 4 by Francis White Johnson, 1914 – Transcribed
by AFOFG]
Submitted by Therman W.
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