Francis Fontaine Diary (SMC 97)

Biographical Note

Francis Fontaine was born May 7, 1845 in Columbus, Georgia to John Fontaine, the first mayor of Columbus, and his wife Mary Ann Stewart. Francis Fontaine was a student at the Georgia Military Institute in Marietta when the Civil War began. Though only a boy, he enlisted in the Confederate army and served as a private and an aide-de-camp, suffering a severe hearing loss in the field. After the war, he returned home and managed his father's large planting interests. In 1874, he and an associate founded the Columbus Times and in 1877 he was elected to the convention to draw up a new state constitution. He was the author of numerous works, including Etowah: A Romance of the Confederacy in 1887. Fontaine was twice married, first in 1870 to Mary Flournoy ( b. 1852) of Columbus with whom he had two children, Francis Maury and Mary Flournoy. His second marriage in 1885 was to Natalie Hamilton of Athens. He died on May 3, 1901 at his home in Atlanta and is buried in the Fontaine plot in Linwood Cemetery in Columbus. (See the New Georgia Encyclopedia for more information.)

Scope and Content

The collection consists of one leather bound diary with the starting date of August 11, 1868. Fontaine wrote on a variety of subjects, political, cultural, economic, including his 1870 Rules for the Plantation.

1868-1870 1 folder (.1 l.f.)

Provenance

This collection came to the CSU Archives when the Columbus Public Library transferred it to the CSU Archives in October 2013. The Francis Fontaine Diary Collection was donated by the director of the Columbus Public Library in October, 2013.

Permission to Publish

Permission to publish material from the Francis Fontaine Diary Collection must be obtained from the Columbus State University Archives. Use of the following credit line for publication or exhibit is required:

Francis Fontaine Diary Collection (SMC 97)Columbus State University Archives|Columbus State UniversityColumbus, Georgia

Item List

Item 1 - Leather bound diary inscribed with name Francis Fontaine, August 11, 1868-1870s