Joseph Anderson Fuqua

Notes:

Louisville Times, 27 May 1915:

Joseph Anderson Fuqua, steward of the Central State Hospital at Lakeland and father-in-law of United States Senator, J. C. W. Beckham, succumbed to cardiac asthma at 4 o'clock Wednesday afternoon, at his apartment at the hospital. The funeral will be conducted from the institution at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon and at 3:30 o'clock at the grave at Cave Hill Cemetery. The Rev. Dr. Henry Sluyter, pastor of the Anchorage Presbyterian Church, will officiate. Mr. Fuqua had been confined to his room three weeks. His health had been declining several months. He was sixty-six years of age and a native of Cumberland, Va., being a son of Dr. William Fuqua. When of age he went to Owensboro, Ky., and engaged in the tobacco business. Later he represented P. Lorillard & Co., of New York, in the tobacco trade in that city. He was appointed steward at the asylum in 1905. He was a member of the Owensboro Lodge of Elks, the Owensboro Commandery, Knights Templar, and Kosair Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Eleanor R. Fuqua; four sons, Hampden Fuqua, of Owensboro; Joseph A. Fuqua, Jr., of Jacksonville, Fla.; George M. Fuqua, of Owensboro; Thomas L. Fuqua, of this city, and two daughters, Mrs. J. C. W. Beckham, of Frankfort, and Mrs. W. E. Gardner, of Louisville. Three sisters also survive, Mrs. Bryant Strother, of Chester, Va.; Mrs. Mamie W. Vaughan and Mrs. Ellen J. Embrick, the latter two of Cumberland, Va.

Family/Spouse: Eleanor Raphael Smith. Eleanor was born on 1 Sep 1853; died on 27 Nov 1928; was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: John Crepps Wickliffe Beckham, Governor of Kentucky; Senator from Kentucky. John (son of William Netherton Beckham and Julia Wickliffe) was born on 5 Aug 1869 in Wickland, Nelson, Kentucky; died on 9 Jan 1940 in Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky; was buried in Frankfort Cemetery, Frankfort, Franklin, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was a brother-in-law of Kentucky Governor and U.S. Senator J. C. W. Beckham, who was himself related by blood or marriage to a variety of other 19th-century political figures.

Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, 7 Dec 1968, p. 15:

George M. Fuqua, who died Dec. 14, 1960, joined Urey Woodson's Messenger in 1904. His rise to a position of importance was rapid. He was soon named temporary business manager and later business manager of The Messenger. He performed a vital role in the consolidation of the Messenger and Inquirer in 1929, in negotiations for which he acted in behalf of his employer, Woodson.

In January, 1929, he was made vice president of Owensboro Publishing Co. and business manager of the Messenger and Inquirer.

He was elected secretary-treasurer of Owensboro Broadcasting Co. when he helped organize it in 1936 to launch radio station WOMI.

He was an active newspaperman from 1904 until his death in 1960, except for the time spent in service of his country in World War I.

The following is taken from an editorial tribute at the time of his death:

"As a business executive, George Fuqua had few peers in the newspaper profession. In dealing with personnel and the public he made friends and admirers, without ever sacrificing any principles, or relaxing firmness when to compromise meant to yield to pressures he believed to be wrong. He aroused in those who worked for him a loyalty and devotion that bordered on worship."

George married Margaret Martine O'Bryan on 11 Jun 1928. Margaret (daughter of James Monroe O'Bryan and Margaret Marcelline Newton) was born on 29 Oct 1900 in Newman, Daviess, Kentucky; died on 21 May 1984 in Owensboro, Daviess, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]