Elliot H. Fletcher (deceased) was a native of
Charlottesville, Va., born in the year 1805, and was the fifth child
born to the second marriage of Thomas Clark and Susan (Jouette)
Fletcher. These families trace their genealogy back to colonial times,
and took an active and important part in the early history of Virginia.
One of the ancestors on the mother's side, John Jouette, is remembered
for his timely warning to the Virginia legislature and to Gov.
Jefferson, of Gen, Tarleton's purpose to surprise and capture them.
They [p.495] made their escape, and Mr. Jouette was presented with a
handsome sword. At the present time there are a number of prominent
artists descended from this family. Until fourteen years of age Elliot
H. Fletcher spent his time in his native State, attended a private
school, and clerked in his brother's store. At that age he went to
Tennessee to live with an elder brother, Thomas H. Fletcher, one of the
most celebrated lawyers in the annals of that State, and whose literary
and legal attainments and achievements have often been mentioned in the
literature of the Southwest. There he began a thorough course of study
under his brother's advice, and his intimate association with this most
eminent man of Tennessee, who then resided in Nashville, gave him means
of improvement which supplied the lack of a regular collegiate
education. When he arrived at man's estate, he was appointed aid-de-
camp to Gen. William H. Carroll. At about the age of twenty he engaged
in mercantile pursuits in Fayetteville, under the firm title of
Fletcher & Carr. This firm did an extensive business, and bought and
sold cotton in large quantities. At the age of twenty-six he was united
in marriage with Miss Frances Hickman, of Fayetteville. This lady was a
great-granddaughter of Gen. Thomas Eaton, of North Carolina, a
distinguished officer of the Revolutionary War, who married Miss Anna
Bland, the sister of Frances Bland, who was the mother of the
celebrated John Randolph, of Roanoke. Miss Hickman's grandfather was
Col. Guilford Dudley, who commanded a regiment of Continental troops
under Washington, and who distinguished himself as a brave and gallant
officer. About 1836 Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher came to Crittenden County,
Ark., and he held some office in the Real Estate Bank of Arkansas. In
1840 he moved to Mississippi County, Ark., where he bought a small farm
on Mill Bayou, afterward known as Fletcher's Landing. At that time the
immense tract of country embraced within the limits of Mississippi
County extended as far west as the St. Francis River, and had a
population of about 900 souls. All were living in plain huts, very
little superior to those of the Indians among whom these white people
resided. Such were the surroundings of Col. Elliot H. Fletcher and his
fine and accomplished wife. They took up their residence in their log
cabin on the banks of the Mississippi River, and there began a hand-to-
hand struggle for existence, against obstacles before which a less
brave and determined man would have failed. For many years the
encroachments of the “Father of Waters,” by overflows and caving banks,
brought him to the verge of ruin. But as time passed he gradually
leveed-in his own river front, and thus having overcome his greatest
enemy, the high water, he extended and developed his farm until he
found himself in easy and independent circumstances. Col. Fletcher's
noble bearing and pleasing manners, together with his evident talent
for business, soon attracted the attention of the people of the county,
and in 1846 he was induced to become a candidate to represent the
county in the legislature. He was elected, and served his county and
State with distinguished ability, taking rank at once with the foremost
men of the State. He was re-elected in 1848, and again in 1850, at
which session he was the chief member in organizing the public levee
system of the State. In the meantime his judicious management of his
private affairs, and his investment in lands, had made him independent,
financially, and although his talents for political employment were
known and recognized throughout the State, the fact of his being a
devoted Whig amounted to political disfranchisement, for the Democratic
party then, as now, reigned supreme in the State. Being a lawyer,
though never having engaged in the practice, he was urged to accept the
office of circuit judge, but declined, although he would have been
promptly elected had he been willing to serve. His three terms in the
legislature ended his political career, though to this day, among those
who still survive and who knew him, the mention of his name will start
many an old man to speaking of his grandeur of manner and appearance,
his nobility of soul, and the marvelous magnetism about him. Col.
Fletcher was an ardent sympathizer with the South, and when the war
began he equipped a company known as “The Fletcher Rifles,” at his own
expense. This company was commanded by [p.496] his eldest son, Elliot
H. Fletcher, a youth scarcely twenty-one years of age, and his only
other son, Thomas, a mere boy of fifteen, became sergeant in the
company. This company was attached to the Third Confederate regiment,
commanded by Col. Marmaduke, in Hindman's legion, and after the
hardships of a campaign, it was present at the battle of Shiloh, in
which great battle Capt. Fletcher and his brother Thomas were killed.
Capt. Fletcher was in the act of waving his sword and leading his men,
when he was informed that his brother had just been killed. In another
moment he fell dead, pierced with a bullet, and both were buried in the
trenches opened for the reception of the dead heroes who wore the blue
and the gray.

Under the sod and the dew, Waiting the judgment day, Tears and prayers
for the Blue, Prayers and tears for the Gray.

After learning of the death of his boys, Col. Fletcher was seized with
a settled melancholy, and was rarely known to smile or take interest in
passing events. He was afterward visited by both Federal and
Confederate officers, and it is but simple justice to say that the
Federal officers, even in the midst of the war, treated him with the
greatest respect and kindness, especially those on the gun-boats. On
one occasion a Federal cavalry command passed by his house, and a young
officer, the surgeon of the regiment, stopped and asked if he was Col.
Fletcher; on being answered in the affirmative, the officer replied
that his name was Fletcher also. A little investigation proved that he
was a nephew, a son of his brother. After a touching interview they
bade each other adieu, never to meet again. Such was the respect
inspired by Col. Fletcher that it often happened that, while
Confederate officers would be in the house, Federal gun-boats would
land, officers come ashore and be entertained under the Colonel's roof,
with the full knowledge that there were Confederate officers in another
room. The close of the war found him prostrated in mind and body, and
his fortune swept away, but retaining the devoted friendship of every
one who knew him. His last days were passed in comparative peace and
comfort. It quite often happened that boats would land and passengers
come ashore to visit him. He died July 2, 1867. A very beautiful and
touching sketch of his life and character was written and published by
Albert Pike. His estimable wife survived him many years and died
February 29, 1884. They left three daughters: Anna, wife of John W.
Williams, now residing near Elmot; Frances (or Fannie), unmarried, and
Susan, wife of H. M. McVeigh, a lawyer of Osceola (whose sketch may be
seen in another part of this volume). Col. Fletcher possessed talents
and accomplishments that would have given him a national and enduring
reputation, had he lived in, or near, any of the great centers of
population. But his isolated situation and the fact of his being a Whig
in politics, precluded him from high official positions or achieving a
reputation much extended beyond the limits of his own State. He was in
person tall and commanding, very dark hair, dark complexion and his
eyes, deep set behind heavy eyebrows, were keen and piercing. His
manners were gracious, deferential and easy, and he had the happy
faculty of making the poorest and humblest feel the dignity of being
men, and they consequently revered and respected him. He was the
counselor and legal adviser of all in trouble in regard to the title of
their lands, and in early times his house would be thronged with
pioneers and backwoodsmen, seeking legal advice in this matter, and not
a cent of compensation would he receive. Fletcher township, in
Mississippi County, is the only public memorial now remaining of this
truly great and good man.