CONFEDERATE BIOGRAPHY: MARCUS L. FLEISHEL - Smith County, TX 

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Submitted by Doris Peirce - ginlu@home.com
14 October 2001 
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TEXANS WHO WORE THE GRAY by Sid S. Johnson

MARCUS L. FLEISHEL

Marcus Leopold Fleishel was born near Vienna, in the Kingdom of 
Austria, November 19, 1839.  His parents dying when he was a child, 
he came with his brothers to America, landing in New York City, 
where he attended school two or three years.  His brothers again 
changed their residence, this time going South, and finally, at 
the age of fifteen years, he took up his residence in Dadeville, 
a small town in the hill country of North Alabama.  Here he 
followed mercantile pursuits until the winter of 1859-60, when, 
in company with the late B. K. Smith, he came to Tyler, Texas, 
where they established themselves in the mercantile business under 
the firm name of Fleishel & Smith.  From the first they took 
vigorous hold of the trade of this young and rapidly growing 
section; but in the midst of it all the spirit of the great civil 
conflict then brewing between the states began to fill the air, 
and Fleishel, like most other young men, soon caught the infection.  
He early attached himself to the group that two or three nights in 
each week were carried through the infantry drill, James Howard, 
a young architect from Ohio and who was a skilled tactician, 
being the drill master.  Later Mr. Fleishel became one of a quota 
of fifty men that James P. Douglas was authorized to enlist for 
the artillery company being recruited by Capt. John J. Goode, of 
Dallas.  About the middle of June, 1861, the company was organized 
and mustered in, with Mr. Fleishel as First Sergeant.  Henceforth 
he was thoroughly identified with the life and service of that 
well-known battery, participating in every battle and incident-at-
arms in which it was engaged during the whole of the war.  At the 
battle of Richmond, Ky., on the 30th of August, 1862, Lieut. J. M. 
Boren being killed and Lieut. Ben Harlan being disabled from a 
wound, Sergeant Fleishel, the next  in rank, was put in charge of 
a section of the guns and fought them like a veteran.  A few days 
later, on account of the death of Lieut. Boren and the accession 
by capture of two new guns, two additional lieutenants were elected 
which capacity he served through the remainder of the war.  He was 
surrendered and paroled with others of his company at Gainesville,
Ala., May 12, 1885.*

In the circumstances of his life, it was not possible that Liet. 
advantages; and yet such was the innate fineness of his nature, 
that from observation, contact and attrition with men, he became 
the polished and courtly gentleman, with a large and readily 
available fund of information.  As a soldier and officer, he was 
distinguished for his intelligent over sight of the interests 
committed to his care and his fearlessness in the hours of danger.  
His fearless exposure of himself, against the protest of his men, 
in the battle of Resaca, Georgia, will be readily recalled by any 
surviving member of the battery.

Lieut. Fleishel returned to Tyler after the surrender and resumed 
his connection with B. K. Smith in the mercantile business, 
afterwards becoming the senior member of the firm of Fleishel,
Smith & Goodman, which enjoyed a lucrative trade for many years.  
Later he became cashier of the well known banking house of E. C. 
Williams & Co., and held this position until his death, 
August 31, 1885.  He was married November 11, 1868, to Miss 
Florence Smith, whose family are prominently identified with 
Tyler, and of this union there were born seven children, four sons 
and three daughters, six of whom survive.  Percy, the eldest son, 
married Miss Ruth Weller, of Omaha, Nebraska, and was a prosperous 
business man of that city until his death there on May t, 1907.  
Marcus married Miss Marie Louise Brode, of Memphis, Tenn., and is 
an official in one of the large lumber concerns of St. Louis, Mo.  
Fred, who married Miss Annie Heard, of Bernice, La., is in business 
in Shamrock, La. Travis is in business in St. Louis, Mo.  Pauline 
married Marshall C. Cooley, a well known young lawyer of Tyler; 
Allie is the wife of James M. Seale, of Nacogdoches, and Nelle, 
the youngest daughter, lives with her mother at the old family 
home on North Bois d'Arc street in Tyler.

The Fleishel family is one of the first families in Tyler in
business, church and social circles, and the name of its honored 
head, who sleeps  in Oakwood cemetery, will always be held in 
affectionate remembrance by his comrades who wore the gray.

*This is what the book says but we believe this is a typo and
should be 1865.  MLB