John Hicks Fletcher was the first member of the Fletcher family in the East New Market area. Before 1839, he purchased part of the Carthagena tract adjoining the southwest side of town. In 1849, he was one of the trustees to build the Methodist Episcopal Church in East New Market.
John Hicks Fletcher was born around 1797. An 1898 sketch of a family member reports that the father of John Hicks Fletcher was John Fletcher of Delaware. In 1800, two John Fletchers can be found in Dorchester County. Both had a male under 10 in the household. In the 13 October 1807 issue of the Easton Republican Star, Sarah Fletcher and Nathan Griffin are listed as administrators of John Fletcher, deceased. The two men named John Fletcher in the 1800 Census for Dorchester County were not listed in Dorchester County in 1810. However, a new one appears in Somerset County. Most likely the father of John Hicks Fletcher was the John Fletcher who died around 1807, which would possibly indicate that Sarah Fletcher was the wife of John Fletcher and the mother of John Hicks Fletcher.
grantees
10 ER 249 John
12 ER 324 John
15 ER 103 John fr Bramble
16 ER 231 John H
5 FJH 82 trustees
5 FJH 140 mortgage
+
5 ER 173 John & William Tobacco Stick
5 ER 56? John & wife to Calloway
18 ER 183 John & wife to Waggaman ?
1 WJ 617 John & wife to Bramble
5 WJ 306 Kilby+ to Carroll
5 WJ 42? trustees
5 FJH 484 Kilby
7 FJH 217 John H.
8 FJH 524
John Hicks Fletcher first married Elizabeth Bradley before 1821 and had at least three children.
1. Major S. Fletcher was born 15 December 1821.
2. Kilby B. Fletcher was born around 1923.
3. William M. Fletcher was born 9 March 1828.
The 1830 Census for Dorchester County shows John Fletcher with 2 males under 5, 2 males 5-10, 1 male 30-40, and one female 20-30. and 1 female slave under 10. The 1830 leads one to believe that John and Elizabeth had a fourth son. Elizabeth Bradley Fletcher appears to have been alive in 1830. However, she likely died before 1833 as John Hicks Fletcher married Emily Bramble on 12 March 1833 in Dorchester County. John and Emily had at least two children.
John Hicks Fletcher died on 17 November 1877 and is buried in East New Market Cemetery.
in progress...
Major S. Fletcher was a prominent figure in East New Market and was a key in the success of the town in the 1800s. He built houses, ran stores, and parceled out the lots that line the north side of Railroad Avenue on the west side of Buckland. His family members as well as Kelby Fletcher and John Fletcher were prominent in town.
Portrait and Biographical Record of the Eastern Shore of
Maryland:
Chapman Publishing Co., 1898.
John W. Fletcher, Dorchester County, born 21 June 1848 on a farm near East New Market. He is the only child by the third marriage of his father. John H. Fletcher. His father had three sons by his first marriage: William M resides near Cambridge; the other two are deceased. By his father’s second marriage, he had two children: Jeremiah B. and Mrs. Mary J. Williamson, both residing in Caroline County. The Fletcher family is of English origin. The great-grandfather of John W. Fletcher was John Fletcher of Delaware. The grandfather John was a farmer while the father was John H. Fletcher. The family are members of the Methodist Church. The mother of John W. Fletcher is the former Sarah Andrews, daughter of Medford Andrews who owned land at Hurlock.
John W. Fletcher attended public schools and East New Market Academy. On 1 January 1886, he left the farm to reside in Cambridge as the Register of Wills. In February 1869, he married Miss Susan Higgins, daughter of Judge James Higgins, once Chief Justice of the Orphan’s Court of Dorchester County. Their children, Frederick H. Fletcher, age 26, is a lawyer in Cambridge; and Laura Fletcher, who is the wife of Thomas W. Simmons, attorney in Cambridge, and have three children: Harriett Ruth, Lawrence, and Mary. From 1871 to 1872, John W. Fletcher was a tax-collector for the 2nd and 12th districts. He was appointed to close the books of J.B. Nesbitt, collector. John W. Fletcher was elected Sheriff, then Register of Wills, and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. (p. 803 - #660).