Album page: W. Huger FitzSimons family — obituaries, war-service clippings, and family portraits

A composite scrapbook page entirely concerned with the family of W. Huger FitzSimons of Charleston and his son Samuel Gaillard FitzSimons. Clockwise from upper left:

Upper far left — photograph and pencilled caption:

A young man in U.S. Army uniform, three-quarter portrait, cap held in his hand.

Samuel G. Fitz. Simons World War I.

Upper left — newspaper clipping:

LT. S. G. FITZSIMONS [CITED] Charleston Aviation [Officer] Wins Distinction [In] Hot Action

First Lieut. Samuel G. F[itzSimons] of Charleston, a son of W. H[uger Fitz]Simons, and a pilot in the [50th Aero] Squadron, U. S. A., has [it is just] learned, been cited by orde[r of Col.] Milling, commanding the 1st [Army Air] Service command, in recogniti[on of his] gallant work in the St. Mihiel and Ar[-]gonne-Meuse offensives.

The citation reads as follo[ws:]

"1st Army Air Service C[ommand,] Nov. 30. — The Air Service C[ommand]er, 1st army, cites for excep[tional de]votion to duty:

"First Lieut. Samuel G. F[itzSimons,] pilot of the 50th Aero Squadr[on by his] work in the St. Mihiel and [Argonne-]Meuse offensives, has c[ontributed] greatly to the value of the s[quadron.]

"By order of Col. Milling,

"W. C. She[rman,]

"Lt. Col. G. S., U. [S. A.,]

“Chief [of Staff.”]

[Body continues: FitzSimons received his [t]raining for aviation at [Kelly Field?], and with eight or [other class]mates of the ground … — partly illegible.]

Left centre — newspaper clipping (sub-head “Finder of Lost Battalion”):

FINDER OF 'LOST BATTALION’ DIES IN FLAT ROCK

S. G. FitzSimons Was Charleston Lawyer and World War Veteran.

[Body text cropped at right edge — partly illegible.]

Upper centre — small torn cream-paper fragment, brown ink:

A loose handwritten scrap, right edge torn off. What survives reads:

Frank was very ni[ce] myself over to din[ner] Certainly in love w[ith] I sincerely trust t[hat] troublesome time we you have the past

[The remainder of every line is lost where the paper is torn. Author and recipient not identified.]

Upper centre — printed War & Navy Departments V-Mail envelope:

WAR & NAVY DEPARTMENTS V—MAIL SERVICE

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

PENALTY FOR PRIVATE PAYMENT OF POSTAGE. (PMGC)

[Window-frame address panel:] The address must NO[T extend below this line] TO: — MRS. J. P. WALKER 3657 Richmond Jacksonville, Florida.

Pencil annotation below the envelope, in the compiler’s hand:

Xmas card from Reg[inald?] — from over seas

Upper right — cabinet portrait of a small blond child in a white dress, three-quarter length:

Studio imprint at the lower margin of the mount:

Lidloff’s Studio 249 & 251 KING ST. CHARLESTON, S.C.

Pencil caption beside the portrait:

Lily FitzSimons

Centre — yellowed clipping with pencilled date and Latin sub-head:

[Pencilled at top:] Funeral, August 9

Friday, August 3,

    Samuel Gaillard Fi[tzSimons]

    Ave atque Vale

Very occasionally, th[ere came across the path of a] man in our midst who[se body was] constructed of the same common clay as our own but whose spirit shines with a light so clearly-bright as to be incomprehensible to us and whose devotion to principles of honor, duty and goodness in the face of adversity is so great that we are amazed, for we realize that were we tried in such [terrible fires we should capitulate, and] find some plausible excuse [for our] action.

Such a man was Samuel Gailla[rd FitzSimons …]

[Several more paragraphs of obituary text; portions illegible due to fading and the cut edges.]

Centre — handwritten note on cream paper, blue/brown ink, in the compiler’s hand:

Letter to W. H. Fitz Simons from Mr. — Nat. Barnwell [ex]pressing sympathy over the loss of [his] W. H. F. S’s brother Samuel Gaillard FitzSimons

[i.e. a sympathy letter from Mr. Nat[haniel] Barnwell to W. H. (William Huger) FitzSimons on the death of his brother Samuel Gaillard FitzSimons. Note: this is a different Samuel Gaillard than the Lt. S. G. FitzSimons of the upper photograph — that one was W. Huger’s son; this one is W. Huger’s brother.]

Right centre — long printed clipping in two columns headed:

FitzSimons Services Are Held in Magnolia

Attorney, Once Acted as Leader of Democrats in County

[Funeral] services for W. Huger [Fitz]Simons, who died Saturday [after]noon in Hendersonville, N.C., [were] held yesterday at noon in [Mag]nolia cemetery, the Rev. David [Ben]nett officiating. Burial was di[recte]d by Connelley’s.

[Mr.] FitzSimons, a native of [Char]leston, was born in 1860, a son [of] Christopher FitzSimons and Susan Barker FitzSimons. De[scribe]d by a friend as “a most fin[e] lawyer and an able advocate,” [Mr.] FitzSimons was counsel for the [Char]leston division of the Atlantic [Coast] Line railroad for a number [of year]s, terminating that connect[ion] about 1932. He went to North [Carol]ina about eleven years ago.

[Mr.] FitzSimons was chairman of [the C]harleston county Democratic [execut]ive committee during an im[portant] period in that organization’s [history …]

[Surv]iving are a daughter, Mrs. [Robert] Preston; three sons, James [C., W]illiam Huger, and Reginald [FitzSi]mons; a sister, Miss Ellen M. [FitzSi]mons, and two brothers, Theo[dore] FitzSimons and Gaillard [Stoney] FitzSimons.

[Pallb]earers were George E. Grim[b]all, Arthur J. Stoney, T. Allen [Legare,] Henry Rivers and Dr. Frank [G. Cain.]

Second column of the same clipping, headed in italic:

W. Huger FitzSimons

Not only one of the ablest and most accomplished lawyers of Charleston passed when W. Huger FitzSimons died. He was more than that. He was a pattern of what a lawyer should be in conception of the profession. One bears of “professional ethics” and so much abused have been practices of many lawyers with clients that sometimes the public sneers at the phrase. Huger FitzSimons illustrated it in its truest and purest significance — he was the nephew of Major Theodore G. Barker and was like him. The News and Courier can think of no higher word of praise to print.

Mr. FitzSimons served his people in other than professional ways. We have heard him stand up and speak with power after the fashion of the man that he was in the “face” of an intolerant and angry majority of overwhelming numbers in a state convention. With brave fidelity he spoke for Charleston — not only for Charleston but for the people of South Carolina.

A long time ago Mr. FitzSimons lost his health and retired to Flat Rock where he died. There he suffered uncomplainingly, a gentle spirit, loving his friends and lovable to all who knew him. Not many of the present later generation in Charleston well remember him. There are those of us who do, and we call it a privilege that we knew him and were counted among his friends.

Lower centre — small black-and-white snapshot of a man holding a baby beside a porch / tree.

Pencil caption beneath:

Robert Preston

Lower centre — handwritten note on cream paper, in the compiler’s hand:

Letter from W. Huger Fitz. Simons to his mother telling her of the birth of his daughter, Marguerite —

[i.e. W. Huger FitzSimons writes to his own mother, Susan Barker FitzSimons, on the birth of his daughter Marguerite.]

Lower right — small studio portrait of a young girl in profile (cabinet vignette):

Ann[e?] Preston

[Likely Anne Pringle, daughter of Marguerite FitzSimons and Dr. Robert Pringle. The compiler’s pencil caption gives the surname as ‘Preston’, but the family name is Pringle.]

Lower right — larger studio portrait of a smiling young woman in a striped dress:

Marguerite Fitz-Simons — m — Robert Preston