The Fletchers: First Family
of Sweet Briar Plantation
by Julissa Yabar
Elijah Fletcher lived at a time when the nation was torn between those who
advocated and those who opposed the enslaving of African Americans. At a time when the
North and the South were drawing clear lines of delineation on the issue of slavery, Elijah
Fletcher was drawing equally clear and often similar lines between himself and his family,
between himself and other Southern slaveowners, between himself and the African
Americans with whom he shared the Southern landscape. Drawing extensively on the
diaries and correspondence of Fletcher and his family, this essay discusses Elijah Fletcher as
a slaveowner, with particular reference to his Northern background and his place in the
Southern hierarchy. This essay also discuss the lives of those African Americans whom
Fletcher held in bondage at Sweet Briar Plantation and the complex and fragile relationships
which existed between black and white Southerners.
Elijah’s brother, Calvin Fletcher, was strongly abolitionist, in direct opposition to
Elijah’s chosen way of life. Calvin wrote to his wife of the Southern states’ promotion of
slavery that “They are wrong & a succession of wrongs must produce its awful
consequences. I tremble for the future.” (CF to his wife 1841, Thornbrough 291) Elijah
himself, soon after his arrival in Virginia in 1810, referred to slavery as “a curse to any
country.” (EF to his father 1811, Von Briesen 45) While Elijah left Vermont and sought his
fortune in Virginia, Calvin moved to Indiana based on its status as a “free state.” Calvin and
Elijah remained fraternally close, Calvin even visiting his brother in Virginia. Calvin’s antislavery views did not agree with all of his Southern relatives. Of Elijah’s younger son,
Lucian, it was said, “[Lucian] does not exactly like his uncle Calvin, for [Calvin] told [Lucian]
he ought to black his own shoes, and [Lucian] says he is no negro to do such work.” (EF to
his brother CF 1830, Von Briesen 111)
The tensions within the Fletcher family underscore the tensions felt within Elijah
himself. He wrote to his brother of the South, “This is a bad country in which to bring up
boys. I wish mine could be raised in the indigence and simplicity that you and I were. You
may feel very happy that you are not in a slave state with your fine Boys, for it is a wretched
country to destroy the morals of youth.” (EF to his brother 1831, Von Briesen 122) Even
with these misgivings, Elijah remained in the South, reaping the benefits and profits of the
slave system. He wrote of the “comfortable and agreeable situation” made possible by
having “black servants enough.” (EF to his father 1813, Von Briesen 76) Elijah does not
appear to have anticipated or encouraged his own change in values, but rather to have
stumbled into a time and place where owning slaves provided the status and power he
desired. For much of his life, however, he expressed misgivings about the institution of
slavery while enjoying its benefits.
Slavery is rather a misfortune than a crime. The present holders of slaves are not
censurable for their father’s crimes of introducing them. They’re only censurable
for not treating those they possess well. We have some free negroes here, and it
is a general remark that the slaves who have good masters are in a better
situation. To emancipate them at once would be the height of folly and danger.
You must not think too badly of slaveholders—for your son is one. But be
assured he is not fond of that species of property and whatever portion of it
fortune or necessity places under his care, he will use every endeavor to make
their situation as agreeable and comfortable as possible. They never shall want
for victuals and cloathes and how I despised the man who would trafic in human
flesh. My feelings may be a little softened by living in a country where such
things are common, but they never will be perfectly reconciled to them. (EF to
his father 1813, Von Briesen 77-78)
Elijah’s opinions on the matter of slavery were clearly tempered by the slaveholding
environment in which he lived. Soon after his arrival in Virginia, he caught wind of rumors
regarding Thomas Jefferson’s indiscretions with one of his slaves, Sally Hemmings. “The
story of black Sal is no farce. That he cohabits with her and has a number of children by her
is a sacred truth, and the worse of it is, he keeps the same children slaves, a unnatural crime
which is very common in these parts.” (EF to his father 1811, Von Briesen 36) The South
in which Fletcher lived was one struggling to defend and preserve the institution of slavery.
Men like South Carolina’s James Henry Hammond, whose views on slavery are like
Fletcher’s preserved in diaries and correspondence, possessed extreme views on the merits
and causes of slavery. Hammond, in a speech on the floor of the Congress in 1836, said that
“slavery is said to be an evil, it is one to us alone, and we are content with it - why should
others interfere… it is no evil.” (Bleser 11) In light of such extremes, it is little surprise that
Elijah Fletcher fell quickly into line with the supporters of slavery, those who benefited most
from the practice.
Throughout his years in the South, Elijah was curious about and observant of the
African Americans around him. In one of his first letters written to his family after arriving
in Virginia, Elijah described the enslaved African Americans he saw about him daily. “…I
saw a herd of negroes in fields – men, women and children. Some dressed in rags, and
others without any cloathes.” (EF to his brother 1810, von Briesen 12) Fletcher was
perhaps more sympathetic to those he held in bondage than some of his contemporaries,
treating those enslaved on his property with what he believed was “Christian” courtesy. He
thought that many African Americans possessed intellectual and spiritual skills and viewed
them as a far better workforce than their free white peers. “I have more dependence in my
Servants than in most any White man I procure. They become intelligent in their work and
never tire at their work. No country supplied better workmen. The Contractors in our
public works dismiss all foreigners and employ hired slave labor except in some nice
Mechanical work.” (EF to his brother 1849, Von Briesen 219)
As throughout the South, enslaved African Americans had a variety of duties on
Fletcher’s plantation, ranging from working in the fields to serving in the Fletcher
household. When possible, Fletcher added to his income by hiring out his slaves to
individuals and companies in Central Virginia. Shortly before his death, Elijah was asked by
[N. Gill of ] if Mr. Gill could
“hire next year a large force of Black hands to work in Aston Quarry.” (N. Gill to EF
1857, SBC Archives) Due to the demand for hired slaves, many of the enslaved
African Americans owned by Fletcher experienced a high degree of mobility. This
served to separate family members, even if for only short periods. Fletcher appears to
have been sensitive to African-American wishes to avoid separation, perhaps more
sensitive than many of his contemporaries. In 1854, Miles Nelleys wrote Fletcher on
behalf of Fletcher slave Betsey. “Sir though the request of Betsey there wish to inform
you that Mr. Mikfields who hired her and her daughter will move from Lynchburg
about the first of next month and consequently intends hiring out Betsey for the
remainder of the year and intends taking with them Betseys daughter. Betsey seems to
be unwilling for Mr. Mikfields to carry her daughter over the mountains and therefore
would be glad if you would prevent her being removed.” (Miles Nellys to EF 1854,
SBC Archives)
There is reason to believe that Elijah Fletcher treated his slaves as well as or better
than many of his contemporaries, but there is equal reason to believe that, like most white
Southerners, Fletcher knew the value of his enslaved property. He informed his father in
1825 that he “had a Negro Boy about ten or 12 years old die last week. He had been sick
some time. Such a Boy is worth in case from $350 to $400. This kind of property is now
rising.” (EF to his father 1825, Von Briesen 97) If for no other reason than their economic
value, Fletcher sought to treat his slaves with some degree of humanity, in 1855 going so far
as to prepare “a happy Christmas for [his] Servants.” He desired that “None [of the slaves]
fear that they will suffer or have any little want which will not be gratified.” (EF to his
brother 1855, Von Briesen 257) Despite such paternal displays, Elijah Fletcher certainly
punished his slaves when he thought it necessary. In 1854, a neighbor complained that “2 of
[Fletcher’s] negro girls Nancy and Juley came to my house yesterday pretending on business
to see some of my family and on their return home they stool 3 of my largest water
[melons]… I want you to correct them for it sir.” (Obudiah Gregory to EF 1854, SBC
Archives)
Much of what is now known about the lives of the enslaved African American
community of Sweet Briar Plantation comes from recent archaeological investigations. This
work augments the information available from the letters and diaries remaining from the
plantation. Archaeological survey and excavation in the areas immediately surrounding
Sweet Briar House have revealed evidence of domestic and service structures as well as
artifacts, the remains of the activities which took place in and around these buildings.
Ceramics were the most common artifact recovered, including pieces of creamware (dated as
early as 1762), pearlware(dated as early as 1775), and whiteware (dated as early as 1820).
Datable glass bottles were also recovered, as were nails, fragments of brick, pieces of
window glass, buttons, and animal remains, all dateable to the mid-19th century. The objects
recovered archaeologically may have been used as part of slaves’ plantation duties or may
have been used within the homes of the enslaved African Americans, away from the notice
of the Fletcher family. As archaeological investigations of the plantation continue, a more
complex image of the lives of the enslaved community will emerge, an image not entirely
recoverable from the documents written by the literate slaveowning class.
Following the Civil War, African Americans continued to be a large and visible
presence at Sweet Briar Plantation. While race relations throughout the South did not
noticeably improve upon emancipation, there is evidence that the Fletcher family and some
of the African Americans living in close proximity shared an affection for each other.
Martha Taylor, enslaved by the Fletcher family before the Civil War, continued in service to
the Fletchers after emancipation. Unlike many African Americans at the time, Martha was
literate and corresponded with the Fletcher family. Elijah’s granddaughter Daisy wrote to
Martha in 1882 that “We think a great deal of you all.”
The lives of black and whites were very much intertwined in the 19th-century South.
The prosperity of wealthy Southerners like Elijah Fletcher was built on the backs of enslaved
African Americans. Soon after he arrived in the South, Elijah Fletcher described to his
brother and reflected upon the institution of slavery.
The rich planters have from fifty to an hundred negroes. They buy, and sell
them, as we do our cattle. They are very valuable property. A negro man is
worth five hundred dollars, a woman not so much. They drive many from this
state to South Carolina and Georgia. Some men make it their principal business
to buy droves of them, and drive off, as our drivers do cattle. The greater part of
them have some kind of cloathing except the children who go mostly naked.
They have but very little to eat and are under the constant eye of an overseerer,
who makes them work from sunrise, till sunset. They give them all their weeks
allowance on Sunday, which must last them the week out. They whip them for
every little offence most cruelly. I recollect last week, General Mason sent one
of them two or three miles with some message. He was rather lazy, and thought
he would have a ride. He went into the pasture, and caught my mare, and took a
little negro boy on behind him, and rode off. It was found out soon, and when
he returned they first tied up the boy and whipt him about a quarter of an hour,
and he was begging and praying, yelling to a terrible rate. They then took the
man, and I assure you, they shew him no mercy. They more he cried and begged
pardon, the more they whipt and in fact I thought they would have killed the
poor creature. I told them I did not care any thing for the ride of the mare.
They said it would not do to indulge them. They must whip them till they were
humble and obedient. General Mason has about sixty of them. He has a very
large plantation. (EF to his brother 1810, Von Briesen 14)
The materials left behind by Elijah Fletcher create a picture of a man reconciling the conflict
between the cultures of his childhood and his manhood, between his race and the race he
enslaved, between himself and his contemporary class equals. Elijah’s brother Calvin
discussed in his diary the importance of “a good code of morality,” of the “most tender and
delicate feelings.” Elijah shared a similar belief in morality and value, creating from his
moral background a personal ethic that worked within the unethical system of Southern
slavery. These complicated cultural and personal reconciliations may be seen within the
hundreds of pages written by the Fletcher family.
Works Cited
Bleser, Carol. Secret and Sacred: The Diaries of James Henry Hammond, a Southern Slaveholder.
Oxford University Press: New York, New York 1988.
Von Briesen, Martha. The Letters of Elijah Fletcher. University of Virginia: Charlottesville,
Virginia 1965.
Faust, Drew Gilpin. James Henry Hammond and the Old South: A Design for Mastery. Louisiana
State University Press: Baton Rouge 1982.
Thornbrough, Gayle. The Diary of Calvin Fletcher. Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis:
volumes I, II, IV 1972.