Frampton Mikell Harper, 69, of 702 Taylor’s Chapel Road, Rabun Gap, GA, died Saturday, June 6, 2009, following a long illness. A native of Williston, SC, Mr. Harper was a graduate of Williston-Elko High School, where he was senior class president, The Citadel (1961), and the University of South Carolina School of Law. A captain in the U.S. Army, he served in Vietnam and was awarded The Bronze Star. Mr. Harper practiced law for more than 40 years in Williston, where he also served as Mayor, and in Beaufort, SC. Following retirement, he moved to Rabun Gap, Georgia, where he coached basketball, taught criminal justice at the college level, and engaged in independent research and writing. Fascinated with family history, he produced a private volume tracing the Harper family from Ireland in 1604 to the Augusta, Georgia, area. He was a member of the Augusta Genealogical Society, the Longstreet Society, and the Scotch-Irish Society of the United States. He authored two books relating to the Civil War. The Second Georgia Infantry Regiment (Indigo Publishing, 2005) is a written and pictorial history of this regiment, in which several Harper men served and which fought in the most famous and important campaigns of the Eastern theater of the Civil War. The book was nominated for the Benjamin Franklin Award. A companion volume, Catharine of Ivanhoe (2008) explores the human side of the war through the personal letters of one Georgia soldier and his wife’s remarkable journal. Mr. Harper is survived by his wife, Sharon Parker Harper, of the home; a sister, Jane Harper Thompson and husband James of Mount Pleasant, SC, Madeline McNair Harper of Beaufort, SC, and their children and grandchildren: a daughter, Fran Hill and husband Angus of Atlanta, GA, and children Graham and Madeline; two sons, Frampton Harper and wife Mary Heyward of Beaufort, SC, and their children Lawton and Luke; and Carl Harper and wife Anna Katherine of Beaufort, SC, and their children Henry and Kate; and stepsons, Jack Read of Greenville, SC, Dennison Read of Birmingham, AL, and Chris Read of Beaufort, SC. He was predeceased by his parents, Edna L. and Frampton Lawton Harper. A memorial service conducted by Rev. Don Barber will be held on Saturday, June 13, 2009, at 2 p.m. at Rabun Gap Presbyterian Church, with a reception following. Dr. Oscar Grablowski, Claude Baldwin III, Charles A. LaFitte, and A.W. (Bebo) Flynn will serve as honorary pallbearers. Interment will take place in Beaufort, SC, at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Rabun Gap Presbyterian Church Food Distribution Program, 8397 Wolffork Road, Rabun Gap, GA 30568. Beck Funeral Home, Clayton, GA, is assisting the family. An online Memorial Register is available at www.beckfuneralhome.com. Tags: 1961
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