Background
Thomas C. Fletcher was born on January 22, 1827, at Herculaneum, Missouri, the son of Clement B. Fletcher and Margaret Byrd, emigrants from Maryland to Missouri in 1818, and both descended from early colonial ancestors.
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Thomas C. Fletcher was born on January 22, 1827, at Herculaneum, Missouri, the son of Clement B. Fletcher and Margaret Byrd, emigrants from Maryland to Missouri in 1818, and both descended from early colonial ancestors.
Fletcher received his education in the subscription school at Herculaneum, where he had for a teacher Willard Frissell, an emigrant from Massachusetts.
At the age of seventeen Fletcher was given work in the circuit clerk’s office and in 1846 was appointed deputy circuit-clerk. Three years later, at the age of twenty-two, he was elected to that office.
Fletcher was admitted to the bar in 1856, and appointed land agent for the Southwest Branch of the Pacific Railroad (now the St. Louis & San Francisco), whereupon he moved to St. Louis. Politically, he was a Benton Democrat, and a strong opponent of slavery, although he came of a slave-owning family.
After 1856 Fletcher became a Republican and, as a delegate to the Chicago convention, was an ardent supporter of Abraham Lincoln for the nomination in 1860. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was appointed by Gen. Lyons as assistant provost-marshal-general with headquarters at St. Louis. He became colonel of the 316t Missouri in 1862, was wounded and captured at Chickasaw Bayou but exchanged in May 1863, was present at the fall of Vicksburg and the battle of Chattanooga, and commanded a brigade in the Atlanta campaign.
Returning home on account of illness in the spring of 1864, he recovered in time to organize the 47th and 50th Missouri regiments and to command the Union army which, at the battle of Pilot Knob, Missouri, checked General Price’s army and probably saved Saint Louis from capture. For this achievement, Fletcher was given a vote of thanks by the Missouri legislature and brevetted brigadier-general by President Lincoln.
While with Sherman he was nominated by the Republicans for governor over Charles D. Drake. He was elected by a large majority and reelected in 1866.
Thus Fletcher served as governor of Missouri from January 1865 to January 1869, during the most trying period of reconstruction. His administration was confronted with many serious problems; notably: amnesty for those who had fought against the United States; the disposal of the railroads which the state had acquired through the failure of the railroad companies to pay interest on the bonds which the state had guaranteed; and the reorganization of public education. The roads were sold under a guarantee of early completion and the state debt materially reduced; the public-school system was thoroughly reorganized and great progress was made in free education for all children of the state. The governor was unsuccessful, however, in his repeated efforts to obtain a constitutional amendment abolishing the test oaths as a qualification for voting and for engaging in the professions. Subsequent events soon proved the wisdom of his recommendations.
Upon the conclusion of his term as governor, Fletcher returned to Saint Louis and practised law for a time and then moved to Washington, District of Columbia, where he engaged in the practise of this profession until his death on March 25, 1899.
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
Politically, Thomas C. Fletcher was a Benton Democrat, and a strong opponent of slavery, although he came of a slave-owning family.
Then Fletcher was instrumental in forming the state’s Republican Party, as well as serving as a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention and chairing the 1868 Republican State Convention.
After his military service, Fletcher returned to his political career. He secured the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and was elected governor on November 8, 1864. He was inaugurated on January 2, 1865. During his tenure, an emancipation proclamation was issued on January 11, 1865; railroad company interests were diversified; the state deficit was cut; and the Lincoln Institute for Negroes was founded. After completing his term, Fletcher left office on January 12, 1869, and retired from public service.
Thomas C. Fletcher strongly advocated normal schools for training teachers, greater support for the state university, and especial attention to agricultural education.
In addition, Fletcher an ardent abolitionist since his boyhood.
In 1851, Thomas C. Fletcher married Mary Clara Honey. They had two children.