# William Fraley

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{{Infobox person
| name               = William Fraley
| image              = William Fraley.png
| caption            = Oil painting thought to depict Fraley
| birth_date         = {{Birth year|1795}}
| birth_place        = 
| death_date         = {{Death year and age|1877|1795}}
| death_place        = [Sparta, Georgia](/source/Sparta%2C_Georgia), U.S.
| alma_mater         = [Princeton University](/source/Princeton_University) (did not graduate)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Psi |first=Chi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1t4CAAAAYAAJ |title=The Sixth Decennial Catalogue |date=1902 |pages=300 |language=en}}</ref>

| era                = [Antebellum South](/source/Antebellum_South)
}}
{{Short description|American planter and industrialist (1795–1877)}}
'''William B. Fraley<ref name=":1" />''' (1795 – 1877) was an American [planter](/source/Planter_class)<ref name=":0" /> and industrialist who specialized in [coachbuilding](/source/Coachbuilder).<ref name="friendsofcems">{{Cite web |title=William Fraley |url=http://www.friendsofcems.org/hancock/SpartaCemetery/MoreInfo.php?050A097002&PersName=William%20%20%20Fraley |access-date=2024-09-14 |website=www.friendsofcems.org}}</ref>

== Career ==
William Fraley moved from [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania) to [Sparta](/source/Sparta), [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(U.S._state)), where he established a carriage business<ref name="friendsofcems" /> and later managed a family [plantation](/source/plantation) with his brother-in-law, Ingram. After jointly purchasing the plantation in 1832, they acquired more land and slaves, who formed [intermarried](/source/Miscegenation) families on the estate. Fraley handled the outside business and cotton sales, while Ingram [managed the farm](/source/Plantation_overseer).<ref name=":0" /> 

Following the death of Ingram, Fraley successfully defended his claim to the estate in court, with the ruling affirming that Ingram intended to leave him the property.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Court |first=Georgia Supreme |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uw5CAQAAMAAJ |title=Reports of Cases in Law and Equity Determined in the Supreme Court of Georgia: 1859/1860 |date=1906 |publisher=Franklin Printing and Publishing Company |pages=555–559 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1852, Fraley, along with his associates, planned to build a hotel in the town, with their firm, the Sparta House Company, being officially [incorporated](/source/Incorporated_company) on January 14.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Georgia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4xhC33OA5oC |title=Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia: 1851-1852 |date=1852 |publisher=Samuel J. Ray, state printer |pages=477–478 |language=en}}</ref>

== Education ==
Fraley was a member of [Princeton University](/source/Princeton_University)'s class of 1853, though he did not complete his studies.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Psi |first=Chi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1t4CAAAAYAAJ |title=The Sixth Decennial Catalogue |date=1902 |pages=300 |language=en}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Fraley was married and had children. He was a board member of the Sparta Female Model School, where his daughter Rebecca was enrolled in the 1830s.<ref name="friendsofcems" />

He was involved in local community affairs, being appointed as a [trustee](/source/trustee) of the Sparta Camp Ground in [Hancock County](/source/Hancock_County%2C_Georgia) in 1841; the act to incorporate the Sparta Camp Ground granted him and the other trustees the authority to establish [by-laws](/source/By-law) for the [governance](/source/governance) of the camp "as they may deem fit."<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cNRJAQAAMAAJ |title=Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly |date=1841 |pages=32 |language=en}}</ref>

During the [Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War), his wife served as president of the Ladies Soldiers Aid Society of Hancock—a [Confederate](/source/Confederate_States_Army) organization dedicated to providing support and supplies to soldiers and their families. His son-in-law, Henry Culver, also served as a captain for the Southern Army and is said to have aided in diverting [William Tecumseh Sherman](/source/William_Tecumseh_Sherman) and his troops from Sparta during his [March to the Sea](/source/Sherman's_March_to_the_Sea).<ref name="friendsofcems" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sparta - Georgia Historical Society |url=https://www.georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/sparta/ |access-date=2024-09-19 |language=en-US}}</ref>

He died in 1877.<ref name="friendsofcems" />

== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraley, William}}
Category:1795 births
Category:1877 deaths
Category:People from Philadelphia
Category:Coachbuilders of the United States
Category:American industrialists

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [William Fraley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Fraley) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Fraley?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.