Frank Flanner

Frank W. Flanner (December 5, 1854 – February 17, 1912) was an American mortician, woodcarver, philanthropist and humanitarian.

Frank Flanner
Born(1854-12-05)December 5, 1854
Mount Pleasant, Ohio
DiedFebruary 17, 1912(1912-02-17) (aged 57)
Indianapolis, Indiana
OccupationMortician
Spouse(s)
Mary Ellen Hockett
(
m. 1886)
Children3

Early life and family

Francis (Frank) William Flanner was born in Mount Pleasant, Ohio to Henry Beeson Flanner (1823–1863) and Orpha Annette Tyler (1824–1914). Frank came from a long line of Quakers and was raised in the small Quaker community of Mount Pleasant until he was 9 years old. His father served as a musician in the 113th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Upon the death of Henry Beeson Flanner in 1863, Frank, his mother and five siblings moved to Indianapolis, Indiana.[1]

Frank Flanner married Mary Ellen Hockett, a school teacher and actress, in Marion, Indiana in 1886. The couple had three daughters Janet Flanner, Marie Flanner and Hildegarde Flanner.[2][3]

Career

Despite his education as a Latin teacher, Flanner opened a funeral parlor in downtown Indianapolis and became Indiana's first licensed embalmer in 1881. Frank's brother-in-law, Charles J. Buchanan, joined the business a few years later and this partnership formed what was later named Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Centers. Renamed Flanner Buchanan in 2017, the business is still in operation and is owned by the Buchanan family.[1][4][5]

Philanthropy

In 1898, Flanner donated some property that he owned in Indianapolis to the Charity Organization Society for use as a settlement house called Flanner Guild. After Flanner's death in 1912,[6] it was renamed Flanner House, serving as an African-American community service center to promote social, moral and physical welfare through educational and self-help programs; this coincided with a change in leadership and goals.[7][8]

gollark: How bizarre. I didn't get a single ridiculous offer on my 4 purple siyats.
gollark: WHY, four thing per trade limit.
gollark: I'll probably just ask for two coppers/xenos or one silver and see how far that goes.
gollark: Wait, no, 1d8.
gollark: Well, I guess I have five days eight hours to decide what to do with my siyat pile.

References
  1. Taylor, Stephen J. (June 1, 2015). "Misc Monday: The Rapid Rise and Tragic Fall of Frank W. Flanner". Historic Indianapolis. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  2. Guide to the Hildegarde Flanner Papers The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
  3. Wineapple, Brenda (1992). Genêt: A Biography of Janet Flanner. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 1–10. ISBN 9780803297401.
  4. "About Us: Our History". Private Label Caskets. 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  5. "Our History". Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Centers. 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  6. "F. W. Flanner Drinks Poison; Dies in Chapel". Indianapolis News. February 17, 1912. p. 1. Retrieved June 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Crooker, Ruth (1992). Social Work and Social Order: The Settlement Movement in Two Industrial Cities, 1889-1930. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. pp. 82–84. ISBN 9780252017902.
  8. Hornsby, Alton Jr., ed. (August 23, 2011). Black America: A State-by-State Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 262. ISBN 9781573569767.
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