The Smith Property

THE SMITH PROPERTY

Was Once the Residence of Judge Fletcher.

HAD AN ECCENTRIC WIFE

Of Whom Odd Tales Are Still Told.

How She Found Her Stockings in a Professor's Desk and Reclaimed Them in the Presence of His Whole Class.

The recent action of the board of regents in reference to the building of a homeopathic hospital on the site of the old Dr. Ransom Smith property on Washtenaw ave. naturally raises an interest in the former history of this property.  It was once owned and occupied among others by Judge William A. Fletcher and wife.  Their old frame house is said to be still standing on the east side of the property, where it was moved.  A volume could be told about Judge Fletcher and wife who once figured largely in the daily life of the then village of Ann Arbor.  Judge Fletcher was chief justice in the state in 1837 and resigned in 1842.  He removed to Michigan from Esperance, Schoharie county, New York, about 1820 settling in Detroit.  He had a reputation of being a polished gentleman of the old school.  He was considered a good lawyer.  His marriage to Letty Lawyer, of Esperance, a single woman the mother of two children was rather unfortunate.  He used her money, she being in those days considered well to do, to pay his way while studying law, and purchasing a library.  Probably tiring of her singular uncongenial ways, he removed to Michigan where three years later she followed him.  Judge Fletcher as was the custom of his days, enjoyed conviviality, particularly during the latter days of his life, and many stories are told of the "good old days" in Ann Arbor.  He was married twice, the last wife being an Irish woman who after his death moved to Jackson county.  His married life with his first wife was not reported to have been the happiest, but was one of continued upbraidings and suspicion.  His sympathizers in the city elected him to the office of justice of the peace, which office he held at the time of his death.  His docket was a model of neatness and proper legal style.  There must still be dockets of Justice Fletcher in existence in the city.  The late Capt. Richard Brahan called the writers attention to one of these books, which was worthy of study by justices and attorneys.

Mrs. Fletcher had inherited some money from her father and kept boarders in Esperance.  She was very singular in her appearance and dress.  She never used a conveyance for ordinary journeys.  When traveling along muddy roads she caused a mild sensation by the heighth to which she elevated her skirts to keep them from being soiled.  She has for the times of her youth a fair education even receiving instruction in fine needle work in a convent in Montreal.  She was very set in her views, one of her weaknesses being great fear of the Free Masons, whom she always thought wanted to kill her.  She was very bright in money matters and always carried a little basket on her arm, containing her notes and mortgages.  She left Esperance, New York, in November 1822, with a new covered, one horse lumber wagon.  A constable over took her after she had gone 10 miles and arrested her with warrants for debts amounting to $30.  She refused to say a word and he had to carry her bodily before the justice.  There she would not do a thing, until Judge John Hall Tiffany, the reputed father of her two children came and advised her to settle her law suits.  Three days later she again left and traveled overland to Detroit.

Her constant fear was that she would be killed or robbed.  The late carpenter, Conrad Krapf, said he had put on seven locks and bolts on her front door.  She had a very loud voice which she did not hesitate to use when excited.  Old Sol Armstrong said that when she whispered in her back yard, the people on the north side across the valley, could understand her.

Near Mrs. Fletcher's home, also on the same property, stood the boy's academy conducted by Prof. A. S. Welch.  Mrs. Fletcher wore long old style German knit, wool stockings, of great capacity.  One day a pair was missing from the wash line.  She charged some of the boys with stealing the stockings.  They told her it was Prof. Welch who had taken the stockings.  She should only call on him at the school room and charge him with the theft.  He would deny it but she should open his desk and there would be the stockings.  This she did without delay as soon as school was convened.  Prof. Welch was greatly astounded as Mrs. Fletcher marched into his school room and demanded her stockings charging him with stealing them.  She would not take the professors denial but darted for his desk and pulled out the enormous stockings much to the worthy teachers discomfiture and enjoyment of the students as they listened to the scolding of the irate woman.

Mrs. Fletcher died in an asylum at Brattleboro, Vermont.  She left an estate of about $4,000 personal property.  Some two years after her death a relative from New York came to Ann Arbor and hunted over a barrel of old rubbish belonging to Mrs. Fletcher stored in John A. Maynard's barn, and found a will torn in many pieces.  This he patched together and it was probated.  Some of her heirs contested this will and carried the matter to the supreme court.  In this contest a large number of depositions of witnesses were taken in New York, which produced much interesting testimony from which much of the above story has been gathered.