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William H. Fleming

American politician (1856-1944)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 27, 2026
Entity authorityQ1418423 ↗
Source-derived summary

William Henry Fleming (October 18, 1856 – June 9, 1944) was an American politician and lawyer from the U.S. state of Georgia.

Early years

Fleming was born in Augusta, Georgia. He attended Summerville Academy and Academy of Richmond County and the University of Georgia in Athens where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Literary Society. After graduation in 1874, Fleming served as the superintendent of the Augusta and Richmond County, Georgia, public schools from 1877 until his resignation in 1880. He studied law, gained admittance to the state bar in 1880 and began practicing law in Augusta. Fleming, known as "Willie" to close associates, was a friend of Alexander H. Stephens, the 50th governor of Georgia and vice president of the Confederacy. He borrowed $100 from Stephens in 1874. The payoff of this loan is the first piece of correspondence in the a collection maintained by the Atlanta Historical Society. Money borrowing continued to be the topic of many of the letters in the collection.

Political career

From 1888 to 1896, Fleming served in the Georgia House of Representatives and was that body's speaker in 1894 and 1895.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “William H. Fleming” as american politician (1856-1944). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1856, 1944, 1874, 1877—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1856-10-18. The account is most persuasive where William, Fleming and American can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american politician (1856-1944). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1418423. VIAF identifies the subject as 43935822. The Library of Congress control number is no99053874. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1856, 1944, 1874 and 1877.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “William H. Fleming”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow William H. Fleming primary sources, William H. Fleming archive and William research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “William H. Fleming”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “William H. Fleming” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.