History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/William H. Fleming
WILLIAM H. FLEMING was born in the City of New York on the 14th of April, 1833. His education was acquired in the schools of that city and in the printing offices where he was employed. He came to Iowa in 1854, stopping in Davenport where he worked at his trade. A few years later he went to Le Claire where for three years he published a paper. He was later city editor of the Davenport Gazette, and soon after the beginning of the Civil War he became a clerk in the office of Adjutant-General Baker. In 1867 he was appointed by General Ed. Wright, deputy Secretary of State, remaining in that position until appointed private secretary to Governor Merrill. He has served as private secretary also to Governors Carpenter, Kirkwood, Newbold, Gear, Drake and Shaw. No man in Iowa has a more thorough knowledge of the State affairs and public men of the times than Major Fleming. He has been employed in superintending the State census upon several occasions. In 1883 he purchased an interest in the Iowa Weekly Capital and soon after established the daily edition. During his residence in Iowa he has done a large amount of newspaper work on various papers, and has long been regarded as high authority on all matters relating to Iowa history. In 1903 he received an appointment in the Treasury Department at Washington. He is a Republican in politics and has been a life-long worker in the temperance cause. He was one of the founders of the Unitarian church in Des Moines.