Fishburne Military High School - Taps Yearbook (Waynesboro, VA)

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3lam?s A. iPtBlThunt X THE death of Mr. James A. Fishburne, who passed away November 11th, at 2:00 p. m., Waynesboro has lost one of its most valued, cultured, and useful citizens, and the Church of Christ on earth, one of its most consecrated, devout, and faithful members. jMr. l- ' ishburne was Ixjrn in Waynesboro on April 10, 1850 He was the son of Daniel Fishburne and his wife, Margaret Guthrie, both of tliem descendents of the sturdy Scotch-Irish stock that has added so nuich to the llirifl, energy, and advancement of the Valley of Virginia. He was but a vouth when the great struggle raged between the North and South, but. like well-nigh every Southern bov of his time, life for him took on a sterner hue because of the sufferings and privations that all were called on to endure. The money with which he pursued his higher education was all earned by him. Rut despite handicaps, he pursued with diligence and unusual success, his course at what is now Washington and Lee Cniversity, where he graduated with honors in 1870. General Robert E. Lee was then president of that institution and there is still a letter extant written bv that distinguished general to Mr. Fish- burne ' s mother, in which he commends highly the young student. After teaching for a time in several schools and academies, Mr. F ' ishburne returned to his native town, antl, in 187 , opened a school of his own. Later he purchased the present location and erected on it the handsome brick building, in which he afterwards resided. Still later, he built the barracks, which have only recently been removed and which were for their time both large and commodious. The school had now become the famous Fishburne Military School, and was, of course, for young men only. This school was the apple of Mr. F ishburne ' s eye, and one of his last conscious utterances was a prayer for his boys. Starting at a time when the South was still prostrate, without endowment and aided only by his indomitable energy, business sagacity, and linguistic lore, he established and developed the splendid institution that still bears his honored name. On August 29, 1882, he was most happily married to Miss Mamie Fiunt Amis, of Oxford, N. C. Rarely have two such congenial spirits been thus united, hand in hand, heart to heart, they gave themselves each in their appointed way to the development of Christian character in the School and to the worship and service of God in the chiu-ch, which they both loved with a whole soul ' s devotion and served with a whole heart ' s fervor. Mr. Fishburne united with the Presbyterian Church while at college, and in 1875 brought his membership to the church of that denomination in this town. I le was first made a deacon and then, many years ago, an elder in this church, and to the day of his death, he continued to serve it and the Kingdom of God in general, with an unswerving piety, zeal, love, and liberality. Kind, gentle, modest, unas- suming, yet firm as the granite rocks where principle was involved, he has fallen asleep in Jesus and most truly entered into rest.

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