{"id":315,"date":"2018-09-28T00:41:59","date_gmt":"2018-09-28T00:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wp\/?p=315"},"modified":"2018-08-31T01:09:12","modified_gmt":"2018-08-31T01:09:12","slug":"william-j-flournoy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wp\/?p=315","title":{"rendered":"William W. Flournoy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"While it is erroneous to state that faithful public service always meets with due appreciation and reward,\u00a0there are some cases in which those who give to their constituents and their interests the care and\u00a0attention they would bestow upon private affairs, receive appropriate honors. It is well for a community when a man has proven his worth and reliability to show material appreciation of such service and to continue such a man in office, for in this way it discharges a debt and secures for its people the continued services of one who will violate a trust or fail to carry out the will of those who placed their faith in him. In this connection mention is due Hon. William W. Flournoy of DeFuniak Springs, a leading member of the Walton County bar, who has filled several important offices with capability, and who at this writing is a candidate for Congress from the Third Congressional District.<\/p>\n

Senator Flournoy was born on his father’s farm in the Euchee Valley of\u00a0 Walton County, December\u00a05, 1874, a son of John and Mary Elizabeth (Knowles) Flournoy. His father, a native of\u00a0North Carolina, went to Georgia in young manhood, and later to Alabama, where he was married. While residing there. the War between the\u00a0States came on and he enlisted under Captain\u00a0Lee, at Elba, in an Alabama cavalry regiment, in\u00a0the Confederate service. He was wounded in the\u00a0leg during his service, but recovered from his injury and rejoined his regiment, with which he\u00a0served until the close of hostilities. He then\u00a0returned to Alabama, but in 1867 came to Florida\u00a0and settled in the Euchee Valley, near Euchee\u00a0 Valley Church. In his later years he was a\u00a0merchant and farmer at Summerville, Walton\u00a0County. where his death occurred in 1893. Mrs.\u00a0Flournoy, who was born in Alabama, survived\u00a0her husband until 1916. They were the parents\u00a0of twelve children, of whom William W. was\u00a0the youngest.<\/p>\n

William W. Flournoy remained under the\u00a0parental roof until lie was eighteen years of age,\u00a0and attended the public schools at Euchee Valley\u00a0Church, Freeport and Summerville. In addition\u00a0to assisting in the management of his father’s\u00a0merchandise enterprise, he engaged in the sawmill business and learned all the details thereof. In 1892 he enrolled as a student at the Southern\u00a0University, at Greensboro, Alabama, where he was engaged in study at the time of his father’s\u00a0death. This threatened to put a stop to his\u00a0acquirement of an advanced education, but through\u00a0the efforts and self-sacrifice of his devoted mother, and his own exertions, he was enabled to continue his studies. Entering the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College, at\u00a0Lake City, he secured employment as janitor and\u00a0librarian, and later became an assistant instructor\u00a0in mathematics. These employments, together\u00a0with a small loan from friends, enabled him to\u00a0finish the full course, and in 1896 he was graduated and received the degree of Bachelor of\u00a0Arts. For several years he served as professor\u00a0of military science and tactics and as commandant of cadets, of the college, but in 1899 resigned from these positions and spent a year (making up\u00a0a two-year course) at the Law Lebanon School, the law department of the Cumberland University, Lebanon. Tennessee, from which he was\u00a0graduated with high honors and the degree of\u00a0Bachelor of Laws, in 1900. He began his professional career at Pensacola, where he made\u00a0rapid progress, but after a year acquiesced to the\u00a0request of friends and sought enlarged opportunities at DeFuniak Springs, which has since\u00a0been his home. He soon was in the possession\u00a0of\u00a0a valuable law library, a large law practice and\u00a0desirable properties, and June 28, 1900, founded\u00a0a home of his own when he was united in marriage with Miss Marie Alice King, daughter of\u00a0Thomas M. and Martha L. (Sawyer) King,\u00a0natives of Alabama, the former of whom is deceased after a career of merchandising at DeFuniak Springs. Eight children have been born\u00a0to Mr. and Mrs. Flournoy: Marie Alice; Louise\u00a0Elizabeth, who is deceased; Gracie Claude, William Walton, John Thomas, Willie Louise, Mary\u00a0Elizabeth and Eleanor Beatrice. The family belongs to the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Flournoy is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and a man of strict morality and probity, making use of neither alcohol or tobacco in any form, and conducting all his relations with his fellow-men on principles of the strictest integrity.<\/p>\n

Not long after his arrival at DeFuniak Springs, Mr. Flournoy began to interest himself in public issues, and in 1908 was elected mayor of the city, an office in which he served until 1910. During his administration he secured for the city the construction of a number of desirable public utilities, including a sewerage system, water works, electric light and power plant, and the erection of a splendid complete brick public school building. His military record is one of which he\u00a0can be justly proud. Beginning with his command of the Cadet Corps and his professorship of military science and tactics at the Florida\u00a0Agricultural and Mechanical College, where he prepared and published the Cadet Regulations, and his serving with the rank of colonel on the staff of the late Gov. William D. Bloxham, he has retained a profound interest in the military establishment of his native state. During his brief residence at Pensacola he was chosen to the command of one of that city’s finest military companies, the Escambia Rifles, and on his removal to DeFuniak Springs was the first captain of Company K, First Infantry, Florida State Troops, which later became Florida National Guard. The official report of\u00a0<\/em>the adjutant-general in 1905 very highly commended the efficiency of Company K., remarking that if “the other companies of the state’s military\u00a0would manifest the same degree\u00a0of enthusiasm in attaining perfection, Florida could soon boast of a modern brigade.” While serving as state senator he was ever alive to the value and needs of the state militia, taking the lead in the sessions of 1909 and 1911 in all legislation in its interest and being largely instrumental in securing adequate appropriations for the improvement of the state camp site, and for the expenses of the annual encampments. During the World war he took a leading and prominent part in all war movements, held several prominent positions and was a generous contributor to the various drives.<\/p>\n

In 1908 Senator Flournoy was elected without\u00a0opposition as state senator for the Third District,\u00a0comprising the counties of Walton and Holmes,\u00a0and completed the four-year term by service in\u00a0the Legislatures of 1909 and 1911. In addition to\u00a0being frequently and prominently regarded as a\u00a0candidate for election as president of the Senate,\u00a0he was appointed on many of the most important\u00a0committees of that body, notably the chairmanship of Finance and Taxation and Judiciary committees and was in 1909 chairman of the Senate\u00a0caucus for the nomination of its officers and employes. In 1912 Senator Flournoy first became a\u00a0candidate for Congress from the Third District,\u00a0but met with defeat by a narrow margin. He\u00a0continues as one of the leaders of the democratic\u00a0party in Florida, and the confidence in which he\u00a0is held by the people is such that still greater\u00a0honors undoubtedly await him in the future.<\/p>\n

Cutler, H. G., ed.\u00a0History of Florida: Past and Present<\/em>, Volume III. Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1923, pp. 6-7.<\/p>\n

Burial: Magnolia Cemetery<\/a>, DeFuniak Springs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While it is erroneous to state that faithful public service always meets with due appreciation and reward,\u00a0there are some cases in which those who give to their constituents and their interests the care and\u00a0attention they would bestow upon private affairs, receive appropriate honors. It is well for a community when a man has proven his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","hide_page_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[135,4,136,123,93,133,134,137],"class_list":["post-315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-people","tag-bloxham","tag-defuniak-springs","tag-euchee-valley","tag-flournoy","tag-freeport","tag-king","tag-sawyer","tag-summerville"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":325,"href":"https:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waltonpast2present.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}