WILLIAM C. FLEMING as born January 18, 1825, at Fairmount, Marion county,
West Virginia: removed with his parents to Indiana in the
spring of 1831: was educated in the common schools, except two sessions, one at New Castle, Henry county,
Indiana, and one at Muncie, Delaware county, Indiana, at
the county seminary of each county. In 1848 and ’49 he read law with Judge David Kilgore, and was admitted to
the bar, but did not afterwards practice to any great extent.
In 1850 he was the candidate of his party for delegate to
the constitutional convention of Indiana, but was defeated
by Judge John Davis by one hundred majority. In 1852 he
was nominated and elected to the legislature of Indiana by
a majority greater than his party strength by one hundred.
In the legislature he was a member of the committee on education, and took an active part in the interest of our common schools. He was nominated for re-election in 1854,
but being in the mercantile business at the time, declined
the nomination. He was married to Catharine Thumma
September 25, 1855, and in the Spring of 1857 removed to
the then Territory of Nebraska. In 1858 he was elected to
the territorial lezis'ature of Nebraska from the district
composed of the counties of Richardson and Pawnee. At
that election there were five hundred and twenty votes cast
in the two counties, of which Mr. Fleming received four hundred and twenty-four. In his own precinct in Richardson
county he received one hundred and thirty votes out of one
hundred and thirty-three. There were ten candidates and
three to elect. Mr. Fleming received the largest vote of
any candidate. On the meeting of the legislature he was
made the Democratic candidate for Speaker of the House,
and was defeated by three votes, but would have been
elected by one majority had all the members been present
at the time of the organization. About the middle of the session the Speaker was given leave of absence for three
weeks, and Mr. Fleming was unanimously elected Speaker
pro tem. In 1860 he was elected to the territorial council
trom the same district, but was counted out by the County
Clerks of the two counties, who were both opposed to Mr.
Fleming in politics. A contest was the result, and Mr.
Fleming was kept out of his seat by a tie vote of the council. The vote to admit him was a strict party vote, except
the vote of John M. Thayer, the present Governor of Nebraska, a Republican, who voted to admit Mr. Fleming to
his seat.
In December, 1861, Mr. Fleming removed back to
Madison county, Indiana, where he still resides. In 1863
he was elected Real Estate Appraiser for the county, and
in May, 1865, was appointed Clerk of the Madison Circuit
Court, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the Clerk,
and was elected to the office in October, 1865, which position he held until October, 1870. He was nominated for
re-election, and his election was assured, but he declined
the nomination. At one time he was the editor and proprietor of the Anderson Democrat, the political organ of
the Madison county Democracy, but did not continue in the
newspaper business long until he sold out and purchased the
Moss Island Mills, located near Anderson, of which he
was the sole proprietor for several years. On the 15th of
April, 1888, he was appointed Justice of the Peace of Anderson township, to fill the unexpired term of E. M. Jackson, deceased, and is now acting in that capacity. Mr.
Fleming is a prominent Mason, and has always taken an
active interest in the welfare of the Democratic party. He
is a member of no church, and is liberal in his religious
views as he is in everything else. |