FLEEK, WM H. H.

FLEEK, WOODLING, CADD, FREEMAN, BROWN

Posted By: Helen Benter (email)
Date: 5/17/2002 at 20:35:23

William Henry Harrison FLEEK has many claims to the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens, for he is not only a veteran of the Civil war but also an early settler in Butler county and a man who has contributed in substantial measure to the agricultural growth and development of his locality. He was born in LaFayette, Indiana, July 4, 1841. and when he was thirteen years of age went with his uncle, E. T. Fleek, to Green County, Wisconsin, and there grew to manhood on the latter's farm. On the 22d of April, 1861, he joined Company C, Third Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and went into camp at Fond du Lac. After drilling for some time the regiment was sent east and joined the army of the Potomac, later taking part in General Banks' retreat. Mr. Fleek was taken prisoner and sent to Bell Island, where he was held for three months and then paroled. He rejoined his command at Antietem and participated afterward in the battle of Gettysburg. His regiment was sent to New York city at the time of the draft riots there and was later transferred to Tennessee, where it took part in the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. Upon the close of his first term Mr. Fleek re enlisted and after a thirty-day furlough rejoined his regiment at Fayetteville. He took part in the Atlanta campaign, during which there was a fight or a skirmish every day for over a month, and after the fall of Atlanta he joined Sherman on his march to the sea. Before leaving the city he was detailed orderly and served in that capacity until the close of the war, his regiment taking part in the grand review at Washington. Afterward Mr. Fleek returned home on a veteran's furlough, receiving his honorable discharge at Madison, Wisconsin, in 1865.
With a creditable military record Mr. Fleek returned to Green county and located on a one hundred acre farm which he operated and developed for some years, after which he sold the property and moved to Iowa, settling in Butler county in 1877. He purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres on section 21, Dayton township, and has since carried on the work of improving and developing this property, which he has made one of the finest and most productive in the township. Mr. Fleek engages in general farming and stock-raising, keeping a high grade of horses, cattle and hogs.
While home on a furlough, on the 22d of February, 1864 (really Jan 17, 1864), at Brodhead, Wisconsin, Mr. Fleek was united in marriage to Miss Sarah WOODLING, who was born in Indiana, a daughter of Francis Woodling, a pioneer in Green County, Wisconsin. Mrs. Fleek passed away in California, April 15, 1906, leaving four children: J. G. and Marion [Marvin] of Los Angeles, California; Ruth. the wife of Alvin Codd [CADD], also of Los Angeles; and Gertrude, a resident of California. Mr. and Mrs. Fleek lost one son and three daughters. Ty [ T. Y.] grew to maturity and married George FREEMAN. Her death occurred in 1897. Bertha passed away in Highland, California. Ord C. met death by accident in Highland. Belle married William BROWN and resided for a number of years in Waterloo, where her death occurred.
Mr. Fleek cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864 and has supported every republican nominee for president since that time. Fraternally he is a Master Mason and a member of the Grand Army post of Greene. He is interested in the betterment of the community where he has so long resided and has borne an important part in promoting general progress. He is a man of many sterling traits of character, capable in business, progressive in citizenship and at all times trustworthy and reliable.

Taken from the HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY IOWA, A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement By IRVING H. HART, VOL. II, p. 372 - 4, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1914.