William and Anne Fleming Family papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library
Special Collections and Archives
James G. Leyburn Library
Washington and Lee University
204 W. Washington Street
Lexington, VA 24450
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Tom Camden
Phone: (540) 458-8649
Phone: (540) 463-8109
Fax: (540) 463-8964
Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Terms of access:

The materials from Washington and Lee University Special Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with the source.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], William and Anne Fleming Family Papers (WLU Coll. 0009), Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA.

Summary

Extent:
9.5 Linear Feet four boxes, five oversize folders, one account volume and 1 Reels 1 microfilm reel. Contains index.
Creator:
Baxter, Anne Christian Fleming and Fleming, William
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], William and Anne Fleming Family Papers (WLU Coll. 0009), Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains papers created by or related to William and Anne Fleming and several family members on Anne's side, including her parents, Israel and Elizabeth, and her brother, William.

The subjects include Fleming's accounts of his trips to Kentucky, his journal of the first Kentucky convention of which he served as chair, letters about business, Kentucky land claims, and family affairs. There are commissions, wills and estate inventories, land surveys and indentures, a manuscript map, and documents related to Indigenous nations. Other documents mention enslaved people, usually those who were to be inherited. One folder holds items specific to Kentucky but there are other documents throughout the collection that also have relevance to Kentucky, such as correspondence, land records, and receipts. Daniel Boone's name can be found throughout the collection as he was hired to survey land within what is now Kentucky. Notable signatures within the collection include Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, James Monroe, and Benjamin Harrison. The collection also includes an account book kept by Fleming between 1765-1783. Some accounts are medical in nature. Lastly, the collection holds George Baxter's honorary degree from the University of South Carolina dated circa 1812.

There are transcriptions for correspondence and other items which were done in 2000.

Biographical / historical:

William Fleming was born in Scotland on Feburary 18, 1729. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and served in the British navy. He moved to the colony of Virginia in 1755, landing first in Norfolk before moving to Williamsburg. There, he was commissioned as an ensign to serve under Col. George Washington. He engaged in border warfare. Fleming eventually settled in Staunton where he married Anne Christian on April 9, 1763. He gave up medicine for farming in Botetourt County (now Montgomery) at his estate called Bellmont. From 1777-1779, he represented several districts, including Kentucky, in the Virginia Senate. He took an active part in Western Affairs, twice heading commissions to Kentucky. In his last appearance as a public servant, Fleming represented Botetourt in the state convention which ratified the Federal Constitution. Fleming died on August 5, 1795.

Anne Christian Fleming was born in 1744 in Staunton, Virginia to Israel and Elizabeth Christian. She had two siblings: William and Rosanna. Anne and William Fleming married in 1763. They had two children: Ebenezer and Annie.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard