My Fletcher Lineage From 1700 Virginia To Hancock & Hawkins Co.Tennessee

From Clay Co. Kentucky To Detroit



Kyles Ford Tennessee is located in Northern Tennessee on the boarder of Hancock, Hawkins, and Scott and Lee Counties Virginia on the north. Kyles Ford is in Hancock County now but used to be part of Hawkins County and that is where I found my supporting primary source documents. If your family is from this area, or you have something to add to this page I would love to hear from you. Matt@BelleIsleEngineering.com or DetroitHomeInpsector@yahoo.com or 313-510-0284.

crit white clay county

Okay, just in case you ain't aware, there are politics involved in genealogy. People have invested a great time of time and energy in researching their ancestry and DON'T like it when they are told they are wrong by others. They don't like to be told that they are not royalty and are instead kin to the village idiot! I try to be objective as I can. None of what I have on this site is carved in stone and I am open to different interpretations of the genealogy data and clues I have gathered. A good researcher is always willing to admit they are not 100% correct. However, if you disagree with me on some point, I hope you have some evidence to share.

I know of one genealogy researcher named Maurice Fletcher who does not agree that Thomas A. Fletcher, Rev. War vet is of my line, claiming instead that Thomas A. Was of HIS line. I have since discovered that there was at least TWO men named Thomas Fletcher, from Pittslyvania County VA who both served in the Revolutionary War. So maybe we were both right! I read that about 100,000 men fought in the Revolutionary war so I imagine they have millions of decendants. The two Toms served under different officers, fought in different places. And the Thomas Fletcher NOT of my line had a little money and married a woman named kaziah Farris. The wife of my Thomas Fletcher is unknown to date but I am working on that. They were dirt poor but I know Thomas came from a family with some money because they owned slaves. If I had to guess, my Thomas Fletcher was likey the black sheep of the family, fought in the Revolutionary War for himself and then again for his brother which was allowed back then. You could actually take the place of someone, often for money. I imagine Thomas A. Fletcher was paid to fight in place of his brother. I am not claiming Thomas was a hero. He did fight in the Revoltionary war under two different enlistments. He is a bit of a celebrity in genealogy because of that. But, he was a dirt pooor hillbilly who died pennyless and in his will he left a single pair of pants to one of his sons. I imagine that is all he had to give.

With that said, I think my Fletcher line goes like this:

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Generation No. 1 The Early 1700s

thomas a pic

This of course is not a picture of Thomas A. Fletcher but I am pretty certain that my earliest known relative is Revolutionary War Vet. Thomas A. Fletcher. Via DNA testing and historical documents provided by my cousin Dick Fletcher, I know my line descends from the Moses Fletcher line of early 1700 Virginia. The Fletchers then migrated inland likey through the Cumberland Gap along the North Carolina Virginia boarder and into Tennessee, probably because the government was giving land to settlers. Thomas A. Fletcher, born about 1749, Died February 18, 1843. His wife is unknown but they were probably married in VA. Children of Thomas A. mentioned in his will. I have no idea who determined the birth order or years of Thomas' children. If anyone knows, please contact me. Matt@BelleIsleEngineering.com

thomas a fletcher revolutionary war









Children of Thomas A. Fletcher

1. JOHN P.2 FLETCHER, b. Abt. 1795; d. 03 Oct 1844, Hawkins County,Tennessee.
2. ELIZABETH FLETCHER, m. ANTHONY SMITH.
3. JANE FLETCHER, b. Abt. 1780; m. DELANY AMISTED HERRON; b. Abt. 1781; d. Aft. 1860.
4. FRANCES FLETCHER, m. ? ETTER.
5. JAMES FLETCHER.
6. MARGARET PEGGY FLETCHER.
7. MARY POLLY FLETCHER.
8. WILLIAM FLETCHER, b. 1777.
9. THOMAS B. FLETCHER, b. 1786.



More about Thomas A. Fletcher

Note: I have documented as much as possible. Please click on the links to see the documents. Other Fletcher lines have attempted to find a link to Thomas A. Fletcher but were unable to. I have letters going back to the 1930s asking government offices for information about Thomas A. Fletcher. I think my line of Fletchers have the only known links to Thomas A. Fletcher who lived in the Kyles Ford TN area.

I believe that Aaron Fletcher of the Kyles Ford TN area was the brother or oldest son of Thomas A. but died before the writing of the will and therefore, is not mentioned in the will. I believe this because Aaron was found living close to the other sons of Thomas in the census data. The "A" in Thomas A. Fletcher may stand for Aaron. The name Aaron comes up often in the line of my DNA match Dick Fletcher back in Farquier County VA. in The will of Thomas A. connects him to John P. Fletcher since he is named as a son. A "John Fletcher" and my KNOWN gr gr grandfather Henry Fletcher owned several pieces of land together. Were they father and son, brothers, uncle and nephew? We don't know for sure. But there is a near 100% certainy that they were related in some way.

Thomas A. Fletcher was a Revolutionary war veteran. He had brothers named William and Benjamin according to his deposition given for the purpose of obtaining a Revolutionary War Pension. With the help of Betty Fletcher Starnes, we also discovered this monument in Nichlesville VA located in Scott County. Note, name of William and Thomas Fletcher and Daniel Boone in the next column. According to several documents, Thomas A. Fletcher was living in Scott county Virginia and Hawkins county Tennessee as well as North Carolina while drawing his pension. This is the area where my known great great grandfather, Henry Fletcher was from. I have believe Henry's father John P. Fletcher because land documents show that they owned several pieces of land together. This area is known as Kyles Ford Tennessee and is on the virginia boarder. Thomas A. Fletcher lived in both Virginia and Tennessee and perhaps North Carolina where his daughter Elizabeth reported being born in a census report. Documents show he went from Virginia to Tennesse to live with his daughter Elizabeth and and son-in-law Anthony Smith. As I stated, the state line between VA and TN goes direclty through Kyles Ford TN so Thomas A. Fletcher did not have to move far to be with his daughter.

Thomas A. Fletcher, AKA Thomas Fletcher was granted a Revolutionary War pension. See the document here. It is this will of Thomas Fletcher that links him to John Fletcher of the Kyles Ford region. Thomas A. mentions John P. as his son and I can document from Thomas A to me through historical document, location and time....it all lines up.

There were actually two Thomas Fletchers, from Virginia, who fought in the Revolutionary war. Researcher Nadine Christall and I have compared notes and we are convinced that one Thomas belongs to Nadine's line and the other to my line. The Thomas Fletcher from nadine's line was married to Kaziah Farris as documented in court records. That Thomas Fletcher was NOT known to have been in the Kyles Ford or south-western Virginia area. The children of Kaziah Farris do not match the names of Thomas A. Fletcher's will. However, is a strange coincidence that there were two men from Pittsylvania Co. VA named Thomas Fletcher who served as Privates in the Revolutionary war. I believe he began using the middle initial "A" when he applied for his Revolutionary War pension because there was another Thomas Fletcher, also from Virginia who fought and applied for the same pension.

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Generation No. 2 Early 1800s



john fletcher pic.jpg


Okay, this isn't a picture of John Fletcher since cameras had not been invented yet but it is a cool picture of a man holding a possum so I had to use it.

Notes about John and Catharine. One transcription of John Fletcher's will, his wife is called Christine. That is incorrect. We went to Rogersville TN and copied the hand written will on file in the courthouse. The will clearly says Catharine and not Christine. It is this will of John that links him to Henry Fletcher of the Kyles Ford region. JOHN P. FLETCHER known son of Thomas A. Fletcher was born Abt. 1795, and died 03 Oct 1844 in Hawkins County,Tennessee. He married He married CATHERINE CURRY Abt. 1815. She was born Abt. 1798 in Virginia.







Children of JOHN FLETCHER and CATHERINE CURRY are:
1. HENRY FLETCHER, b. Abt. 1812, Tazewell,Virginia.
2. MARY POLLY FLETCHER, b. 1814; m. JAMES DAVID SMITH; b. 1811.
3. WILLIAM FLETCHER, b. Abt. 1815.
4. SUSAN FLETCHER, b. 25 Jun 1816; d. Bef. 1900; m. WILLIAM MABE; b. 27 Jul 1813; d. 04 Apr 1896.
5. JOHN W. FLETCHER, b. 1819, North Carolina.
6.. ROBERT FLETCHER, b. 1820.
7. ORPHA FLETCHER, b. 1822; m. WILLIAM A. HICKS.
8. RUSSELL FLETCHER, b. 1823, Tennessee.
9. CLARA FLETCHER, b. 1825; m. STERLING MITCHELL; b. 1822.
10. FRANCIS FRANKY FLETCHER, b. 1829.
11. JAMES FLETCHER, b. 1831.
12. MAHALA FLETCHER, b. 1833, Hancock County,Tennessee; d. 10 Mar 1906, Knoxville,Tennessee (Knox


Henry is a witness on the will of John and I believe that Henry is the son of John. Russell Belcher is also a witness on the will. A descendent of Russell (wife to Dayton Moles was a Belcher) currently owns the land where I found the Fletcher Graveyard. And I believe witness Polly Smith is Polly Fletcher, daughter of Thomas A. Fletcher who married the brother of Anthony Smith. Elizabeth and Polly Fletcher Married into the Smith family. John and Henry owned this land and other plots of land in the Kyles Ford area. The Clinch River is mentioned as a landmark in the land deed. John and Henry Fletcher were given land grants from the state of Tennessee. I also found land documents showing that Anthony Smith owned land in the Kyles Ford area. In his will, Thomas A. Fletcher requested he be buried on the farm of Anthony Smith who was married to the daughter of Thomas A.Fletcher.

I found a land deal involving John and Henry AFTER the death of John in 1844 which bothered me but then I realized that Henry also had a brother and uncle named John. The John Fletcher mentioned in the land deeds with Henry MAY be his brother in some deals and father in others. .

Also, there may or MAY NOT have been two John Fletchers in the area both born around 1795. Two different John Fletchers show up in the census living a short distance apart. However, the men were the same age, had the same number of kids in at least one census. I think they were both the same family and owned two different farms and were counted twice in the census.


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Generation No. 3 Mid 1800s




Children of HENRY FLETCHER and CELIA BUNCH:
1. CATHERINE FLETCHER, b. 1838.
2. WM WILLIAM FLETCHER, b. 1839.
3. WILSON FLETCHER, b. 1841.
4. MARY ANN (Polly Ann) FLETCHER, b. 1844.
5. BENJAMIN FLETCHER, b. 1847. Note that Thomas A. Fletcher had two brothers; one named Ben and one named William. Henry had two sons named Ben and William. Married Harriet Pridemore who is buried in Kyles Ford
7. JOHN FLETCHER, b. 1850. Is this John Jesse Fletcher buried in Kyles Ford? Dates are off.
8. AMANDA FLETCHER, b. 1854.

Notes about Henry: In a genealogy document given to me by researcher Ann Filcowitz it names Thomas as the father of Henry. I think that is incorrect. I did not find any documents linking the two but Henry's father COULD have been Thomas B Fletcher. I did find documents linking Henry and John Fletcher, Thomas A. had a son named John and one named Thomas. Either one could be the father. I found the graves of John Jesse Fletcher and Harriet Fletcher in Kyles Ford up on a hill behind the home of Dayton Moles on Fox Branch Road. A few documents refer to this area as Fox Branch. Harriet Pridemore Fletcher was married to Ben Fletcher, brother to Henry. See the grave video below.

Wilson Fletcher, wife and son W.M. left the Kyles Ford area for Manchester Kentucky located in Clay county. His death record shows that he died in Clay county. Robert House advised me that his ancestor Pete House was the undertaker for Wilson. In Manchester Kentucky, my Fletcher line is connected to the House line several different ways. My aunts and uncles remember a descendent of Pete House....also named Pete House.

Azariah D. Fletcher



During my research I discovered that Senator McCain had a great grandfather named Azariah D. Fletcher and he lived down the road from my relatives in Kyles Ford TN.

Azariah D. Fletcher born 1850, and reported to be the great grandfather to senator John McCain married Martha Kidwell in adjacent Laurel Co. Kentucky. I believe that the 1812 Azariah D. Fletcher may have left Kyles Ford Tennessee and went to Clay Co. Kentucky with Wilson and possibly others. Of course, I would love to claim kinship to senator John McCain but, I am looking for more definitive evidence linking 1812 Azariah to 1850 Azariah and links from 1812 Azariah to Thomas A. Fletcher. I have written to the Hawkins County Historical Society and asked if they could check local records which are not avaialble online.

Newspapers reported in October of 2008 that Senator John McCain is descended from Azariah D. Fletcher via his grandmother Myrtle. A check of the 1840 census reveals ONLY ONE Azariah D. Fletcher in the entire United States and he lives in Kyles Ford Tennessee and living right next to my relatives! Notice in the census that Azariah is 13th from the top. Azariah D. Fletcher lives very close to Anthony Smith (3rd name from top) who is the son-in-law to Thomas A. Fletcher. In his will dated November 30, 1841 Thomas A. Fletcher is living with his daughter Elizabeth and son-in-law, Anthony Smith. At the very least Azariah had to know Thomas and his daughter. Azariah was a less common name even back then. I think all of these Fletchers living close together were related.

bill nunu fletcher

The 1900 Johnson Co. Texas census shows the widow of 1850 Azariah D. Fletcher and his two daughters, Alice and Myrtle. The birth place of their father is reported as TENNESSEE.

I have been told from DNA testing, more than one Fletcher line passed through Hancock, Hawkins, Scott and Lee counties, my line of the Fletchers was in the Kyles Ford area from Thomas A. to John, to Henry, to Wilson to William. That is five generations and my line was one of the bigger families because Thomas A. had so many sons and daughters. My line remained in Kyles Ford the longest before many moved west and north into Clay Co. Kentucky adjacent to Laurel co. Since Azariah D. Fletcher was in Kyles Ford living down the road from Thomas A. and his daughter, I believe that Azariah D. was related to Thomas A.Fletcher. Some of my Fletcher line left Kyles Ford and went to Clay Co. Kentucky which is ajacent to Laurel co., And that is where Azariah married Martha Kidwell in her home. Furthermore, to my knowledge no other lines of Fletchers have claimed Azariah D. or Thomas A. Fletcher as their own.



Kyles Ford Video





*********************************** John Jesse Fletcher SET AT 280 X 280 *****************************

john jesse fletcher.jpg Update: New information on video above. John Jesse Fletcher, shown at left, is the man in the grave featured in the video above. John was the brother of my grandfather. Two different people have advised me that John was shot in the leg in a dispute and died as a result. In one verbal account, John was apparently chopping some fire wood for a single, attractive woman and another man took offense to this and shot john in the leg with a shot-gun. I have since found two news articles on the shooting but have not posted them here yet. The news articles say whiskey was involved. In the photo at left, John is holding a pocket knife which is half open. I have no information on the picture or why he is posing as he is. I reckon it was a new knife and Jesse was a wantin' ta show it off! John also served in the military, I have a photo of him in his uniform and he was married at least twice. I believe my uncle John C. Fletcher may be named after him.

Finding that graveyard was a small miracle in itself. I was told that my line came from Kyles Ford TN by Francis Howard Hickey who is a distant cousin. Then I found a small mention of a Fletcher graveyard in Kyles Ford TN, I put the longitude and latitude of the graveyard in my GPS, drove there, I saw two guys standing on the side of the road and I asked about the Fletcher graveyard, they pointed across the road and up a steep hill...."thar hit is" they said. No trail, mostly unmarked graves, but I found it within minutes of getting to Kyles Ford! The names on the headstones match people on the census known to be my kin. This was the right place, these are my people. bill and mable jones fletcher manchester kentucky.

Generation No. 4 Late 1800s




CHILDREN OF WILSON FLETCHER and MARY "POLLY" JOHNSON? see the census documents here


Children of WILSON FLETCHER and POLLY JOHNSON? are:
1. JOHN FLETCHER, b. Jun 1866, Clay County,Kentucky.
2. MARTHA FLETCHER, b. Jul 1870, Tennessee; d. Abt. 1914, Manchester,Kentucky (Clay County).
3. WILLIAM "W.M." FLETCHER, b. 02 Aug 1881; d. 10 Jul 1947, Manchester,Kentucky (Clay County).

Notes: Polly may have been married before she married Wilson. I know more than one Fletcher migrated from Kyles Ford TN to Clay County KY. I am not sure what the connection was. I have two photos of Wilson Fletcher but have not posted them yet. I also have a photo of a letter written around this time between Manchester KY and Kyles Ford TN.

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Generation No. 5 Early 1900s



Children of W.M. Fletcher b: 1881 d: 1947 Clay co KY and Myrtle White b: 1896 d; 1954 (Father John Crit White, mother unknown Delph


1. Pearl
2. Beve
3. Mary Anna (died at age 5)
4 Catherine (died about age 17)
5. Mable
6. Charles
7. Marie
8. Amanda
9. Matt
10. William jr
11. Josephine
12. John Crit



Generation No. 6



CHILDREN OF MATT FLETCHER AND WILMA SANDERS FLETCHER

Linda
Sandra Dee
Mathew Mark
Michael David



Manchester Kentucky Video

In the video, aunt Mandy is in her 70s and that is her actual hair color. She never died it a single time. Mandy and uncle John C. are both gone now.





Both dead now, Amanda Fletcher Keith and John Crit Fletcher were my last two living aunt and uncle. They were 2 of 12 children born to W.M. and Myrtle Fletcher of Manchester Kentucky located in Clay county. Amanda had a good long life and was one of the best people I ever knew. Sadly, as the older kin folks die off I lose more and more of my connection to my Appalachian roots. I wish I had started my research decades earlier and gathered more information about our past.


See all of my fletcher genealogy research documents
  • HERE



    • Thank you for visiting today. I can be reached at Matt@BelleIsleEngineering.com 313-510-0284.



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