The origin of this book came from my wife and fellow historian, Lorri Glover, who years ago pointed out that someone needed to write a book about Elijah Fletcher, the young antislavery New Englander who moved to Virginia in 1810 to become a schoolteacher, only to turn into a major slave-holding planter. Elijah’s history is a great fish-out-of-water story that plays a prominent role in these pages, but it didn’t seem quite large enough for a book. But then I encountered Calvin Fletcher, Elijah’s younger brother, whose massive diary spans nearly fifty years and almost five thousand pages. Soon a provocative individual story evolved into a family saga.
Along the way to uncovering the Fletcher family story, my own journey has been made easier and more useful thanks to a number of good people who know the Fletchers extremely well themselves. At the J.V. Fletcher Library in Westford, Massachusetts, Ginny Moore deserves thanks for her helpful local history insights into the family. Many thanks also to Layne Herschel, chairman of the board of the Fletcher Farm School for the Arts and Crafts in Ludlow, Vermont, who graciously walked the grounds with me and answered my questions—right where Jesse and Lucy and their children first began their odyssey. Likewise, Jill Tofferi, director of the Fletcher Memorial Library in Ludlow, led me to some little-known Fletcher materials. The hardworking research assistants at the Indiana Historical Society patiently guided me to the most useful portions of the Fletcher Family Papers. And at a once embattled but now triumphant Sweet Briar College—which has successfully waged a valiant struggle to stay open despite an administration in the spring of 2015 that prematurely gave up on the remarkable commitment of the school’s founder, Indiana Fletcher Williams—I want to thank Lisa Johnston, Director of Libraries, and Karol Ann Lawson, Director of the Sweet Briar Museum, for all their sound advice and knowledge regarding the “southern” Fletchers. Finally, thanks to my physician brother, Dr. Steven Smith, for wise counsel on how to assess various ailments and treatments in nineteenth-century medicine.
I am also happy to acknowledge the shrewd and faithful work of my agent, Geri Thoma of Writer’s House, in finding a good home for this book. At St. Martin’s, my editor, Elisabeth Dyssegaard, has been encouraging and helpful at every stage—a dream editor for any writer. I also want to thank Sarah Vogelsong for her thorough and insightful copyediting, and Donna Cherry for effectively guiding me through the production of the book.
This book is dedicated to my parents, Emerson Smith and Marjorie Megivern, who early on showed me the adventure of life and the love of learning.