Felix Gregory De Fontaine

Background

Felix Gregory De Fontaine was born in 1834 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. His father, Louis Antoine De Fontaine, a French nobleman attached to the court of Charles X, accompanied that monarch into exile in Edinburgh. In the latter part of 1830, he came to America, and about two years later he was married to a woman whose surname was Allen, said to have been of the family of Ethan Allen.

Education

Felix was educated by private tutors.

Career

De Fontaine was in Washington in 1859, acting as a reporter in the notorious trial of a congressman for shooting a district attorney. At about 1860 he founded in Columbia the Daily South Carolinian.

In February 1861, the New York Herald published his discussion of anti-slavery agitation and of conditions then obtaining in the South. These articles, completely Southern in view-point, soon appeared in a booklet, "A History of American Abolitionism" together with "History of the Southern Confederacy" (1861).

At the bombardment of Fort Sumter, his friendship with General Beauregard resulted in his being able to send out to the Herald the first account of that event to appear in the Northern press.

In May 1861, as a military correspondent with the rank of major, he went to the front with the first South Carolina regiment. He continued in this capacity throughout the war, signing all that he wrote, "Personne."

In 1864, he published under this name his Marginalia, a reprint of newspaper clippings selected from various sources, with the one fervent purpose of exalting the South and debasing the North. His press was burned in the fire that occurred when Sherman entered Columbia. In November 1867 he was secretary of a convention in Columbia, held to consider the abuses of the carpet-bag rule. Soon afterward he went to live in New York. For three years he was managing editor of the Telegram, and for the remainder of his active life, he was the financial editor and later the dramatic and art editor of the Herald. He did a considerable amount of writing aside from his routine work for his paper. "Shoulder to Shoulder, Reminiscences of Confederate Camps and Fields" appeared in the (Charleston) XIX Century, June 1869-January 1870. In 1873 he published his ponderous Cyclopedia of the Best Thoughts of Charles Dickens. A second edition, called The Fireside Dickens, appeared in 1883. In 1886 he published De Fontaine’s Condensed Long-Hand and Rapid-Writer’s Companion.

At the time of his death, Felix was preparing documents that fell into his hands early in 1865 a book on the missing records of the Confederate cabinet.

Achievements

• Felix Gregory De Fontaine is known as the founder of the Daily South Carolinian. He also became a prominent journalist of the New York Herald.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Golden Wheel Dream Book, and Fortune-Teller: Being the Most Complete Work on Fortune-Telling and Interpreting Dreams Ever Printed, Containing an ... and the Lucky Numbers They Signify
  • Birds of a Feather Flock Together or Talks With Sothern 1878
  • History of American Abolitionism 1861
  • The Fireside Dickens: A Cyclopedia Of The Best Thoughts Of Charles Dickens Comprising A Careful Selection Of His Best Writings 1883
  • Marginalia: Or, Gleanings from an Army Note-Book, by 'personne' 1864
  • Trial of the Hon. David E. Sickles for Shooting Philip Barton Key ... February 27, 1859 1859

Connections

About 1860, Felix married Georgia Vigneron Moore, daughter of the Reverend George W. Moore of Charleston, South Carolina. The couple had three children.

Father:

Louis Antoine De Fontaine

Mother:

Allen De Fontaine

Sister:

Zebina De Fontaine

Wife:

Georgia Vigneron Moore De Fontaine

1838-1897

Daughter:

Georgia A. De Fontaine Schuyler

1864-1907

Son:

Wade Hampton De Fontaine

1866-1931

Daughter:

Edith Moore De Fontaine Cypher

1875-1966

Friend:

Pierre Toutant-Beauregard

Felix was a close friend of General P.G.T. Beauregard and often received information for his stories from him.

References

• Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy
  1977