Background
William Fleming was born on February 18, 1727, at Jedburgh, Scotland, the son of Leonard and Dorothea Fleming, and was allied to several noble families.
William Fleming was born on February 18, 1727, at Jedburgh, Scotland, the son of Leonard and Dorothea Fleming, and was allied to several noble families.
Fleming studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
Then Fleming entered the British navy as a surgeon’s mate, and while in this service was captured by the Spaniards. Released after a rigorous imprisonment, he resigned from the navy to try his fortunes in Virginia; landed at Norfolk in August 1755; and proceeded to Williamsburg, where he obtained an ensign’s commission in the regiment commanded by Col. George Washington.
During the next eight years he was engaged in border warfare, serving as lieutenant and surgeon on Forbes’s and Abercromby’s campaigns and on the Cherokee Expedition of 1760 - 1761; was with Andrew Lewis at Fort Chiswell; and, as captain in Adam Stephen’s regiment, commanded at Vaux’s and Stalnaker’s frontier forts.
Following the peace of 1763 Fleming settled in Staunton, Virginia, where he resumed the profession of medicine.
Five years later he gave up active medical practise to farm his Botetourt (now Montgomery) County estate, "Bellmont, " where he passed the rest of his life.
In 1774 Fleming raised the Botetourt Regiment which he commanded, as colonel, at the battle of Point Pleasant. While leading the left column into action, he was twice struck, but continued on the field until compelled by a third, more serious wound to withdraw. As a recompense for his gallant behavior and the injuries which rendered him unable to practise surgery, the Virginia Assembly voted him £500. His wounds, from which he never entirely recovered, kept him from field service in the Revolution, but he was commissioned county lieutenant of Botetourt by the Committee of Safety, April 1, 1776, and again did valuable work in defending the frontier.
From May 1777 through October 1779, he represented the district of Botetourt, Washington, Montgomery, and Kentucky in the Virginia Senate; and in 1780 became a member of the Council. In both bodies he took an active part, especially in Western affairs, warmly supported the conduct of the war, and furthered various domestic reforms.
Fleming twice headed commissions to Kentucky, to settle land- titles, 1779, and to investigate public accounts, 1782; served in 1783 as commissary to the troops there ; and sat in the Danville Convention ( 1784), which initiated the steps leading to Kentucky’s separate statehood. As a member of the Virginia Council, he was, June 1-12, 1781, in the interim between Governors Jefferson and Thomas Nelson, the acting chief executive of Virginia ; and for his acts in this capacity, which included calling out the militia to oppose Cornwallis and taking other defensive measures, was subsequently indemnified by the Assembly.
His last appearance in public life was in 1788, when Fleming represented Botetourt in the state convention which ratified the Federal Constitution: here, under instructions, he voted to ratify, but on the final roll-call abandoned this position and sustained the qualifying amendments which the convention adopted.
In his person, the energetic soldier and practical man of affairs united with the pious and hospitable country gentleman. His large investments in land, increasing in value, made him wealthy.
Fleming possessed one of the finest libraries in western Virginia, and himself had a talent for naïve yet forceful expression, apparent in his letters, his Orderly Book and Journal indispensable among contemporary documents dealing with Dunmore’s War — and his account of his experiences and impressions in Kentucky in 1779. William Fleming died on August 5, 1795, at his home, in Bedford, Hollins, and was buried in the family graveyard in what decades later became Hollins, Virginia.
William Fleming was an enthusiastic advocate of popular education.
His dignity, courtesy, and engaging address combined with his intellectual attainments to make him a favorite in the social life of his day, which William Fleming greatly enjoyed.
On April 9, 1763, William Fleming married Anne Christian. The couple had three sons and four daughters.