Early Years
John Letcher was born on March 29, 1813, in Lexington, the first of four children born to a middle-class general store owner. The strict industriousness of his Welsh and Scots-Irish ancestors was not immediately apparent in the tall, gangly young man, for in 1833 he departed Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) after just one year of study. Letcher's father refused to support him and instead secured him an apprenticeship as a carpenter. A few months of carpentry helped decide Letcher's mind; he would pursue politics.
Jacksonian Democracy, with its emphasis on limited federal power and white male suffrage, appealed to the level-headed Letcher. He served as an aide for Lexington's leading Democrat (and later governor) James McDowell and as a law clerk and quickly proved himself an ambitious, involved politician. Letcher frequently wrote letters to state and federal officials and published editorials. He was nominated to run with McDowell for the county's two seats in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1838, but they lost. Letcher's fortunes quickly reversed when he was appointed editor of a new Democratic newspaper, the Lexington Valley Star, and he established a law practice in the town after passing the Virginia bar.
Although Letcher earned respect for being a fair and open-minded moderate, Democratic leaders repeatedly cited his youth and inexperience as reasons why he was not nominated to run for the U.S. Congress. He failed to win nomination to the House of Delegates in 1840, and focused instead on his law practice and personal life. On May 14, 1843, he married Susan Holt of Staunton. The couple had eleven children, seven of whom survived to adulthood.
East versus West
Letcher also advocated for the gradual abolition of slavery. In 1848 he endorsed the controversial Ruffner Pamphlet, an economic argument for the gradual emancipation and colonization of western Virginia slaves that Henry Ruffner, president of Letcher's alma mater, Washington College, had put forth in 1847. Ruffner was no William Lloyd Garrison; like George Tucker, he opposed slavery for practical, not moral, reasons and made sure to emphasize that "we do not censure our Eastern brethren for opposing this measure so far as their part of the State is concerned." Letcher, who had always opposed abolition in the Valley Star, was equally practical, signing on only as a way of supporting the West and frightening the East into reform. Still, in future years he would be dogged by his opponents for even briefly supporting Ruffner.
North versus South
Letcher's popularity soared after this political victory. His name was mentioned for the governorship, but he chose instead to run for Congress, winning a seat in 1851. Having seen his more liberal goals enshrined in the new state constitution, Letcher tacked to the right, confiding to a friend that "the less we do, the better for our constituents." He emphasized states' rights, strict constitutional construction, and thrifty government. Practical, friendly, and staunchly middle-class, he became popularly known as "Honest John." His moderation was tested, though, by the growing sectional crisis. Although he thought that the differences between northerners and southerners were exaggerated, he worried about the intentions of the new Republican Party where slavery and southern rights were concerned. "A sectional storm rages wildly," he warned in an 1856 speech, and hinted at secession by suggesting that "the Union is in imminent danger."
Civil War
Still, Letcher steered a middle course, supporting the Northern Democrat Stephen A. Douglas in the presidential election of 1860 and expressing hope that after the election "a spirit of conciliation and compromise will restore union and harmony in [the Democratic] party." During the Virginia Convention of 1861 that convened on February 13 to consider secession, Letcher continued to resist overtures from radicals until U.S. president Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers to suppress the rebellion. "You have chosen to inaugurate civil war," he wrote to the U.S. secretary of war in response to a call for troops from Virginia, "and having done so we will meet you."
For the duration of the war, Letcher attempted to balance the interests of the
state against those of the Confederacy. That the war was largely fought in
Virginia, where the Confederate
capital also was located, placed an immense strain on the state's
resources, particularly in terms of foodstuffs and salt. Inflation spiraled out of
control, a condition exacerbated by the Confederate policy of impressments. On the
Letcher ran for a seat in the Confederate Congress in 1863, but lost to John B. Baldwin, a result attributed primarily to backlash against Letcher's support of impressments and failure adequately to address inflation. Letcher left the governor's mansion on January 1, 1864, turning the Virginia government over to William "Extra Billy" Smith.
Later Years
Still, the postwar years were productive and relatively happy ones for Letcher. Although he was poor and often ill, he remained active in politics and Lexington affairs. He was elected to the House of Delegates and took office in December 1875. The elderly Letcher suffered a stroke just three months into his term, but initially recovered well. Still an able politician, he vehemently opposed William Mahone and the Readjuster movement. By 1880, Letcher was confined to bed, and by 1882 paralysis had begun to overtake his extremities. He died in his sleep on the morning of January 26, 1884. Letcher was buried in the Presbyterian (now Stonewall Jackson) Cemetery.
Time Line
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March 29, 1813 - John Letcher is born in Lexington, the son of merchant William Houston Letcher and Elizabeth Davidson Letcher.
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1832 - John Letcher enrolls at Washington College in Lexington. He approaches his studies with little enthusiasm and departs the college after just one year. He apprentices as a carpenter for several months before pursuing his interest in politics and law.
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1838 - Democrats James McDowell and John Letcher run for the two Lexington County seats in the House of Delegates; they lose the election.
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February 1839 - John Letcher is appointed editor of the new Democratic newspaper, the Lexington Valley Star. He serves the paper off and on for the next decade.
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April 26, 1839 - John Letcher receives license to practice law.
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1840 - John Letcher is nominated and then defeated in his run for the Virginia House of Delegates.
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May 14, 1843 - John Letcher marries twenty-year-old Susan Holt of Staunton.
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1844 - John Letcher is elected one of Lexington's seven trustees. He also temporarily returns as editor of the Lexington Valley Star to foster support for U.S. presidential candidate James K. Polk, a Democrat.
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1847 - At a series of meetings held by Lexington's debate society, John Letcher defends the interests of western Virginia against the more politically and economically powerful eastern part of the state. He even advocates secession if all other remedies fail.
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1848 - John Letcher signs his name to the Ruffner Pamphlet, which argues for the gradual emancipation and colonization of enslaved people in western Virginia.
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1850 - John Letcher is appointed commissioner of the North River Navigation Company, which plans to extend the James and Kanawha Canal up the North River to Lexington to stimulate commerce and ease transport.
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August 22, 1850 - John Letcher wins a seat representing the Shenandoah Valley district at the Constitutional Convention of 1850–1851, where he serves on the Executive Committee and is instrumental in developing the adopted legislation.
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January 7, 1851 - The Richmond Republican Advocate, a liberal weekly newspaper, begins publication with John Letcher's support.
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March 4, 1851 - John Letcher is elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Congress. He serves for four consecutive terms, leaving Congress on March 3, 1859.
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1859 - While serving in the U.S. Congress, John Letcher warns that a "sectional storm rages wildly" and hints at secession by suggesting that "the Union is in imminent danger."
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May 1859 - After successfully seeking the Democratic nomination, John Letcher is narrowly elected governor of Virginia over the Whig Party candidate, William Goggin.
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January 1, 1860 - John Letcher is sworn in as Virginia's governor in Richmond. He serves through December 31, 1863.
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March 1862 - Hoping to control what has become an extremely violent guerrilla war in Virginia, Governor John Letcher authorizes the Virginia State Rangers, partisan guerrillas under the state's control. The law becomes the model for a Confederate bill passed a few weeks later.
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March 12, 1862 - Governor John L. Letcher issues an executive order authorizing Confederate authorities to incorporate the Virginia militia into existing Confederate units. In the Shenandoah Valley, Confederate general Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson eagerly awaits these recruits.
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April 2, 1863 - Denied a meeting with Governor John Letcher, a group of Richmond women begin looting shops downtown to protest insufficient food, initiating what came to be known as the Bread Riot. One account claims Letcher calls out the Home Guard and threatens to have the women shot unless they disperse.
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January 1, 1864 - John Letcher leaves the office of Virginia governor and is succeeded by William "Extra Billy" Smith.
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May, 15 1864 - John Letcher's eldest son, Samuel Houston Letcher, a freshman cadet at the Virginia Military Institute, fights in the Battle of New Market.
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June 10, 1864 - Fleeing from Union troops under David Hunter, John Letcher hides in the mountains southeast of Lexington. The troops burn his home and all his possessions.
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May 20, 1865 - On Union general-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant's order, John Letcher is arrested as a "particularly obnoxious" political leader. He is held in the Old Capitol Prison for forty-seven days, and meets with President Andrew Johnson before departing for Lexington.
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1866–1880 - John Letcher is elected to the Virginia Military Institute board of visitors and serves as its president for ten years.
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January 15, 1867 - President Andrew Johnson grants John Letcher a full pardon for his activities during the war.
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1875–1877 - John Letcher serves as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. He suffers a series of strokes, beginning just three months after entering office, which limit his involvement.
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January 26, 1884 - John Letcher dies in bed at his home. He is interred in the Lexington Presbyterian Cemetery.
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First published: January 27, 2010 | Last modified: March 8, 2014