Upshur County, West Virginia Biography of REV. WALLACE B. FLEMING, PH. D. This file was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 430 Upshur REV. WALLACE B. FLEMING, PH. D., president of the West Virginia Wesleyan College at Buckhannon, Upshur County, has a record of splendid achievement both in the ministry of the Methodist Church and in the field of edu- cational service. He was born at Cambridge, Ohio, Novem- ber 22, 1872, and is a son of William A. and Mary (Glenn) Fleming, the former of whom was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1840, and the latter at Sharon, Ohio, in 1841. The father was afforded the advantages of a well ordered academy in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania, and thereafter became a successful teacher in the public schools. He followed the pedagogic pro- fession in the State of Ohio for twenty-five years, and he and his wife now reside at Newark, Licking County, Ohio, where he retired from the office of county recorder in September, 1921, after having served in that office from the year 1917. He is a democrat in political allegiance, and at the time of the administration of Governor James E. Campbell he served as clerk of the State Senate of Ohio. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of their eight children six are living: Ida, a graduate of Muskingum College at New Concord, Ohio, is now the wife of Prof. Paul Fin- frock, and they reside in the City of Houston, Texas; Miss Ella remains at the parental home; Clara is the wife of Dr. Walter G. Roller, of Lancaster, Ohio; Rev. Wallace B., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Ira David is sales manager for the George P. Ide Company, the great collar manufacturers at Troy, New York; and Wil- liam A. is an interested principal in a glass manufactur- ing company at Utica, Ohio. Wallace B. Fleming gained his earlier education in the public schools at New Concord, Ohio, and after leaving tlie high school he there entered Muskingum College, in which he was graduated in 1894, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1897 he graduated from Drew Theological Seminary at Madison, New Jersey, from which institu- tion he received the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. He did post-graduate work at this institution and later in Columbia University, New York City, from which latter he received, in 1914, the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Upon his graduation in the theological seminary Doctor Fleming was duly ordained to the ministry of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church and became a member of the New- ark Conference of the church in the State of New Jersey, where he served as pastor of the Methodist Church at North Paterson from 1897 to 1899. From 1899 to 1904 he held an important pastoral charge at Bayonne, New Jersey, and his next pastorate was at Maplewood, that state, where he remained until 1911. Doctor Fleming then returned to his alma mater, Drew Theological Seminary, where he served as assistant professor of Greek and Hebrew until 1915, when he came to Buckhannon, West Virginia, and assumed the presidency of the West Virginia Wesleyan College, his vigorous administration having involved effec- tive employment of his fine scholarship and also his dis- criminating executive ability, with the result that the work of the institution has been signally advanced under his regime. Doctor Fleming has written much along edu- cational and religious lines, and is the author of a valuable work entitled "The History of Tyre." He is a republican in politics, and is affiliated with the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery of the Masonic fraternity in his home city. He is a liberal and broad-minded citizen who takes loyal interest in community affairs and who is well fortified in his convictions concerning economic and governmental policies. On April 8, 1897, was solemnized the marriage of Doc- tor Fleming and Miss Bertha G. Baldwin, and they have two children: Paul, who was born April 3, 1898, graduated in West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1920, with the de- gree of Bachelor of Arts, and is now teacher of science in the high school at Montgomery, this state; Bertha Jane, who was born September 29, 1905, has profited by the ad- vantages offered in the academy connected with the West Virginia Wesleyan College, and she remains at the parental home, a popular figure in the social and church life of the community.