University of Virginia Library

JOHN LETCHER.

"Honest John Letcher," whose crest was his immaculate integrity,
and whose talisman, duty, shamed in his honored and useful career
mere heraldic boast. As nearly as man may of himself alone be the arbiter
of his life's own destiny, was he the exemplification of the hackneyed
term "self-made." His success is an enduring beacon to aspiring
youth, and an assurance of what integrity, industry, and lofty purpose
may accomplish in the race of life. His life-springs yield to no personal
disparagement in comparison with any class, however favored, and in
him they united, it is believed, the several races of justly termed Great
Britain. His father, William Letcher, was a scion of a hardy Welshman

early seated in the colony. His mother was of that staunch and
sterling Scotch-Irish yeoman stock of the Valley of Virginia, which
has supplied the armies and filled the councils of our nation and extended
its Western empire. She was a Houston, and a near relative
of the unflinching hero of San Jacinto. John Letcher was born in
Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia, March 29th, 1813. His
parents possessed scarce more of this world's goods than the "cotter's
content" as sung by their national poet. Young Letcher commenced
life with the necessity of toil staring him in the face, but with a resistless
craving of the intellect. His home was within the shadow of one
of our most beneficent seats of learning—now the hallowed Washington
and Lee University—and his earliest associations were with students.
Yet that which circumstance gave them could only be his by incessant
toil. But the lofty goal of education was ever before him, and with a
strong heart and unflagging purpose he grappled with and overcame all
obstacles. At the age of fifteen we find him working at the trade of a
tailor—whence, it must not be forgotten, also issued a recent Executive
of our nation—but devoting every leisure moment to study. Unceasing
labor brought him limited means, and soon after his majority he
entered Washington College, now Washington and Lee University,
where he acquired the foundation of a classical education. He subsequently
attended Randolph Macon College. His penchant was, however,
for law, and upon leaving college in 1836, he commenced its
study in the office of the late Hon. William Taylor. Here he remained
for three years, and in 1839 was licensed to practice. Whilst diligent
in acquiring professional lore, he had not been neglectful of other
branches of learning, but had applied himself also to classic and general
attainment as well, always keeping in view the aphorism, "Knowledge
is power." He commenced his professional career in his native town,
and was for years intimately associated with his late legal instructor, Mr.
Taylor, and with Governor James McDowell, whose encouragement,
sympathy and friendship in his early years of struggle he ever gratefully
cherished. The ability and fidelity of the young practitioner immediately
insured him success even amid competition with eminent talents,
among whom may be named Briscoe G. Baldwin, Thomas J. Michie,
John W. Brockenbrough, A. H. H. Stuart, and others whose names
are household words in Virginia. Whilst pursuing his legal studies,
he was a frequent contributor to the old Richmond Enquirer, the Fincastle
Democrat, and other newspapers the exponents of the Democratic
party, with which he affiliated. In 1839 Mr. Letcher established at
Lexington the Valley Star, and edited it with ability until 1840, in the
advocacy of Democratic principles and the cause of education. At the
bar he rose rapidly; a retentive memory, clear mental powers of analysis,
and a habit of observation enabling him to comprehensively grasp
the relations of his profession to real life as well as the issues of the
day. It is easily to be apprehended that he soon became prominent in
the political area as a public debater and canvasser. In the contest
of 1840 he was present in the most heated encounters, traversing the
entire Valley of Virginia, meeting the strongest intellects of the period,
and meriting and receiving the warmest recognition alike from friend
or foe. It was during this tour, whilst speaking in New Market, Augusta
County, that an attractive face in a coquettish blue bonnet, among
his auditors, so held him captive that a few years later witnessed the
consummation of a life union of unalloyed marital content with its
fair possessor—Miss Susan Holt. Plain, practical and frank of speech
on the stump, as in private life, John Letcher seldom failed to carry
conviction to his auditors, and he always commanded the respect even
of his political opponents. In 1844 he resumed editorial control of
the Valley Star, and was conspicuous for his zeal in the advocacy of the
interests of Virginia and of the South, with voice as well as with pen.
Among the measures which he earnestly pressed was the annexation of
Texas, of which Republic his cousin, General Samuel Houston, was
the President. In 1848 Mr. Letcher served as Presidential elector on
the Democratic ticket, and when the Convention of 1850 was called to
remodel the State Constitution, he was returned to that body by a
majority of over 1,200, although his district was strongly Whig. His
labors in the Convention were alike satisfactory to his constituents of
both political parties, and strengthened his reputation for integrity and
ability. In 1851 he was elected, without opposition, to Congress, and
continued to serve in that body for four successive terms. Here he
made a National reputation—one than which no more enviable could
public servant possess.

Though others may have been accorded the origination of great
measures, his was a moral influence of which few politicians may
boast. His political creed was "Strict construction, frugality in public
expenditure, honesty in the public servant;" and in very truth he
was a jealous guardian of the Constitution—the citadel of American
liberty—and an uncompromising sentinel, challenging every infraction
of the invested rights of the nation. By his rigid adherence to sterling
principles and his unswerving fidelity to the interest of the people, he
justly earned the proud sobriquet, "Honest John Letcher—the watch-dog
of the Treasury," which distinction he righteously maintained throughout
life. In 1859, after a spirited contest, John Letcher was elected Governor
of Virginia over William L. Goggin, and took his seat January
1st, 1860, at one of the most trying periods in the history of the
Commonwealth. Soon the fires of secession were lighted throughout
the length and breadth of the Southern land, and popular clamor
within and without her borders demanded that Virginia should be
hurled into the vortex of disunion. Governor Letcher was inherently

attached to the Union. Calmly, sorrowfully, amid the tempestuous
waves of passion and under bitter vituperation, he surveyed the
situation, looking into the future with almost prophetic ken, and counselled
moderation, forbearance, and conciliation. He loved the Union
sincerely and absorbingly. An incident attendant upon the deliberations
of the Convention is characteristically noteworthy. Many hot-blooded
politicians, followers of the school of Calhoun, were untiring in their
efforts to influence the action of the Convention and control that of
Governor Letcher, who by them was regarded with great suspicion. Some
of the most intemperate and daring among them threatened to haul
down the American flag, which, with that of Virginia, floated over the
State Capitol. Against this the will of Letcher interposed, and not
until Virginia had severed her bonds with the Union by solemn act of
Convention would he suffer the Stars and Stripes to be removed. Then,
the issue having come between honor and dishonor; after Virginia had
sued for peace and compromise almost on bended knee; when she
had thrown herself into the breach and had been insultingly rebuffed—
then it was that the lamb became a lion's whelp, and John Letcher raised
the rallying cry that echoed and re-echoed throughout the Sunny South.
Then it was that his executive ability was pre-eminent and became all-sustaining
to the people. During nearly three years of the conflict, Governor
Letcher controlled the war policy of the State, and was a tower
of strength to the Southern Confederacy. His every energy, physical
and mental, was devoted to the cause. Never despairing, ever fruitful
of resource, quick to determine and equally quick to act. When he
spoke, the highest in authority gave respectful ear. His foresight anticipated
many an issue that might otherwise have proved disastrous.
It was his habit to meet difficulty on the threshold and overcome it there
and then, and this served him and the Confederacy in many a critical
moment. During the bread riot in Richmond, when the fate of the
city trembled in the balance and the Confederate authorities were
powerless, it was his decision that averted the impending catastrophe.
The threats and entreaties of President Davis and the Secretary of
War were whistled down the wind by the overwrought mob, but when
the War Governor came to the front, watch in hand, and surrounded by
the faithful Public Guard[43] of the State, commanded by the late Captain
Edward S. Gay, and gave the rioters three minutes in which to disperse,
they knew that his resolve was fixed and brooked no disobedience. It was
Governor Letcher who hurried troops to the front as soon as the State
seceded, and saw that they were drilled by the State Cadets of the Virginia
Military Institute; and it was he who virtually placed Lee in
command of the Virginia troops, and who first recognized the military
genius of Jackson, and whose influence later retained in the service
that chieftain when, upon a conflict of authority between himself and
General Loring, and his complaints were disregarded by the Confederate
War Department, he tendered his resignation through his personal
friend, Governor Letcher. But the record of Governor Letcher is
historical, and naught of detail may now add to its lustre. He knew
no policy inconsistent with his duty to his State, and while his relations to
the Confederacy challenge a breath of suspicion, his motto was Virginia,
first, last, and always. He passed from the gubernatorial chair with
the affection and enduring gratitude of the entire people of his beloved
State. Immediately after the war he was arrested by the United States
authorities, without specific charge, and for some months was confined
in the Old Capitol prison at Washington. During the war his home
was burned by the vandal raider, General Hunter, at the time of the
destruction of the Virginia Military Institute, in June, 1864, and upon
Governor Letcher's release from prison he returned to Lexington and
applied himself to building up his shattered fortunes in the practice of
his profession. He remained in private life until 1875, when he was
elected to the House of Delegates, and there originated the well-known "dog
law" for the protection of sheep husbandry. In 1876, whilst in attendance
upon the Assembly, he was suddenly and without premonition,
after a busy day of legislative service, stricken with paralysis. Whilst
thus prostrate the State Senate, to show their appreciation of his public
services, passed a joint resolution providing for the payment of all expenses
incident upon his illness, but with lofty patriotism he gratefully
but firmly declined the provision. He said, "The precedent is an unsafe
one at all times, and especially so now in the distressed condition of
our people, whose lot I claim to be my lot." Governor Letcher peacefully
passed to the final reward of a well-spent life, at Lexington, in
the midst of his family, January 26th, 1884. A joint resolution of respect
to his memory was passed by the General Assembly then in session,
and eloquent and touching eulogies to his worth were delivered in both of
its branches. In the preamble to the resolutions the eminent services of
Governor Letcher are thus recited: "Through a life-time covering the
most eventful period in the history of Virginia, the great powers of his
mind and the warm affections of his heart were devoted with constant
faithfulness and energy to the service of his State and country. As a
representative of Virginia in the Congress of the United States, as her
Governor in the most trying epoch of her history, he won the love and
admiration of her people, and a place in that history, where his name
will live as long as unswerving honesty in the administration of public
trust and great ability, wisdom and patriotism in the discharge of
official duty shall be honored among men." His venerable wife and
seven children survive Governor Letcher: Samuel Houston, a prominent
lawyer of Lexington, who gallantly served as the Colonel of the
58th Virginia Infantry during the late war; John Davidson, a
civil engineer; Greenlee Davidson, now a cadet at the Virginia Military
Institute; Elizabeth Stuart; Margaret Kinney, married, February 26th,
1884, Robert J. Showell, of Maryland; Virginia Lee, and Fannie W.
Letcher. There is an excellent portrait of Governor Letcher in the
State Library at Richmond, Virginia.