FLEET, Alexander Frederick, educator, was born in King and Queen county, Va., in 1843 ; son of Dr. Benjamin and Maria Louisa (Wacker) Fleet. His father, Dr. Benjamin Fleet, born Jan. 25, 1818, and died March 8, 1865, was a physician and magistrate in King and Queen county, state of Virginia. His first ancestor in America was Capt. Henry Fleet, who came to Virginia about 1621, and was a member of the Maryland legislature and of the Virginia house of burgesses. He received his education at Fleetwood and Aberdeen academies, Va., and -at the University of Virginia, which he left in 1861 to enter the military service of the Confederate states. He remained in the service throughout the entire period of the war, and at its close he returned to the university, where he studied, 1865-67. He was a teacher at Kemnore school, Fredericksburg, Va., 1867-68; and had charge of the department of Greek in the William Jewell college 1868-73. He also served as chairman of the faculty. He was president of the Baptist female college at Lexington, Mo., 1873-79; was professor of Greek in the Missouri state university, Columbia, Mo., 1879-90, and in 1890 founded and became superintendent of the Missouri military academy at Mexico, Mo. In 1891 he was president of the Missouri state teachers association. In 1896, upon the destruction by fire of the Missouri military academy, he transferred his school to Culver, Ind., and united with the Culver military academy, of which he had twice been superintendent. This school in 1900 had an enrollment of 220 cadets.
