Background
James C. Fletcher was born on April 15, 1823, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of Calvin Fletcher, Sr. and Sarah Hill, and a brother of William Baldwin Fletcher.
(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
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James C. Fletcher was born on April 15, 1823, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of Calvin Fletcher, Sr. and Sarah Hill, and a brother of William Baldwin Fletcher.
Fletcher prepared for college at the Indianapolis Seminary, and at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, and graduated from Brown University in 1846. While in college he became a member of the Richmond Street Congregational Church of Providence, Rhode Island.
After one year at home, Fletcher entered Princeton Theological Seminary and took the full course there.
Toward the close of his senior year, on April 25, 1849, he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Fletcher spent the following year in theological study at Paris, Franсe, Geneva, and Switzerland.
On his return to America shortly thereafter, Fletcher took service for a year with the American and Foreign Christian Union.
Fletcher was ordained on February 13, 1851, by the Presbytery of Muncie, Indiana, and at the close of the same year went to Brazil as missionary of the Christian Union and chaplain of the Seaman’s Friend Society.
During the year 1852 - 1853 he was first secretary pro tern, and then acting secretary of the United States legation at Rio de Janeiro, a position which brought him into intimate relations with the Emperor Dom Pedro II. In 1854, after a visit to Chile, Fletcher returned to the United States for several months.
During 1855 - 1856 Fletcher was agent in Brazil for the American Bible Society, traveling about 3, 000 miles in the service, visiting certain German and Swiss colonies south of Rio, and journeying north as far as Pernambuco. On hearing at Pernambuco of the illness of his wife in Europe, whether she had gone from Rio, Fletcher sailed to join her.
From 1856 to 1862 Fletcher lived in Newburyport, Massachusetts, engaged in writing, preaching, and lecturing. In particular he collaborated with the Reverend D. P. Kidder in the publication in 1857 of their important volume, Brasil and the Brasilians.
In 1862 - 1863 Fletcher was agent in Brazil of the American Sunday School Union, cooperating with the American Bible Society. He made a journey of miles up the Amazon to the borders of Peru, gathering natural history specimens for Prof. Louis Agassiz — a journey which led to an expedition by Agassiz himself in 1865.
During 1864 - 1865 Fletcher went on a semi-official mission to the Brazilian government and induced it to join with the United States government in establishing and subsidizing the United States and Brazil Mail S. S. Company.
In 1868 - 1869 he was Brazilian agent of the American Tract Society.
From 1869 to 1873 Fletcher resided in Portugal as United States consul at Oporto for the full period and during the year 1870 acted also as United States charge d’affaires at Lisbon.
From 1873 to 1890, save for a brief visit to the United States, Fletcher resided in Naples, Italy, engaging in voluntary missionary work with the Waldenses and the Free Church of Scotland; and contributing numerous articles to American newspapers and magazines. He prepared an article on Naples for the Encyclopedia Britannica.
He returned to the United States in 1890 and took up his residence in Los. Angeles, California, serving as stated supply of the Presbyterian Church at Wilmington, California, during 1892, and at La Crescenta, California, from 1893 until his death.
During the last six years of his life Fletcher was president of the Los Angeles School of Art and Design. He died on April 23, 1901, in Los Angeles, California, and was buried at Los Angeles.
(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
On August 28, 1850, in Geneva, James C. Fletcher married Henrietta, daughter of the Reverend Doctor Cesar and Jenny Malan. The couple had a a son and a daughter.
On October 22, 1872, Fletcher married at the consulate in Oporto his second wife, Frederica Jane Smith.
On January 2, 1897, he married Mrs. Elizabeth Curryer of Oakland, California.