John Letcher (March 29, 1813January 26, 1884) was an American lawyer, journalist, and politician. He served as a Representative in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

, was the 34th

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022. Oath of office On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, and later served in the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

. He was also active on the Board of Visitors of

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

Biography

Early life

John Letcher was born in the town of

Lexington Lexington may refer to: Places England * Laxton, Nottinghamshire, formerly Lexington Canada * Lexington, a district in Waterloo, Ontario United States * Lexington, Kentucky, the largest city with this name * Lexington, Massachusetts, the oldes ...

Rockbridge County, Virginia Rockbridge County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,650. Its county seat is the city of Lexington. Rockbridge County completely surrounds the in ...

. He attended private rural schools and Randolph-Macon College in Boydton, Virginia (later relocated to

Ashland, Virginia Ashland is a town in Hanover County, Virginia, United States, located north of Richmond along Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 7,225, up from 6,619 at the 2000 census. Ashland is named after the Le ...

). In 1833, he was graduated from Washington Academy in Lexington. He studied law, was admitted to the Virginia State Bar, and opened a practice in Lexington in 1839.

Career

Letcher was editor of the (Shenandoah) ''Valley Star'' newspaper from 1840 to 1850. He was active in the presidential campaigns of 1840, 1844, and 1848, serving as Democratic elector in 1848. Although never a true

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

, he signed the Ruffner Pamphlet of 1847, which proposed the abolition of

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

in that part of Virginia west of the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virg ...

; however, he soon repudiated this antislavery stand. He was a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850. He was elected as a Democratic candidate and served as a Representative in the

from 1851 to 1859. In Congress, he was known as "Honest John" because of his opposition to government extravagance.

American Civil War

John Letcher was elected as Governor of Virginia in 1859, defeating Whig candidate William L. Goggin, and served from 1860–1864. Letcher was prominent in the organization of the peace convention that met in Washington, D.C., February 8, 1861, in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending

. He discouraged secession, but was active in sustaining the ordinance passed by Virginia on April 17, 1861. Despite scheduling a popular vote to ultimately determine whether Virginia would secede from the Union, the actions of the Virginia Secession Convention and of the state government, especially

Virginia Governor The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022. Oath of office On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes the ...

Letcher, effectively took Virginia out of the Union.Long, 1971, p. 60. The referendum occurred on May 23, 1861, and Virginia voters overwhelmingly approved the Articles of Secession. Governor Letcher appointed

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nor ...

, who had just resigned as a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

in the U.S. Army, as commander in chief of Virginia's army and navy forces on April 22, 1861, at the grade of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

.Scharf, John Thomas
''History of the Confederate States Navy From Its Organization to the Surrender of Its Last Vessel''
New York: Rogers & Sherwood, 1887, p. 39. . Retrieved February 1, 2011 On April 24, 1861, Virginia and the Confederate States agreed that the Virginia forces would be under the overall direction of the

Confederate President The president of the Confederate States was the head of state and head of government of the Confederate States. The president was the chief executive of the federal government and was the commander-in-chief of the Confederate Army and the Confed ...

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as ...

, pending completion of the process of Virginia joining the Confederate States. Colonel John Brown Baldwin defeated Letcher in May 1863 for a seat in the

Second Confederate Congress The 2nd Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from May 2, 1864, to March 18, 1865, during the last year of Jefferson Davis's presidency, at the Virginia ...

. In 1864, his home in Lexington was burned by Union troops during General

David Hunter David Hunter (July 21, 1802 – February 2, 1886) was an American military officer. He served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He achieved notability for his unauthorized 1862 order (immediately rescinded) emancipating slaves ...

's raid.

Postwar

After the Civil War, Letcher resumed the practice of law in Lexington. He was elected as a member of the House of Delegates in the

1875–1877. He was a member of the Board of Visitors of the

(VMI) 1866–1880 and served as president of the Board for ten years. He died on January 26, 1884, at the age of 70, and was interred in the Presbyterian Cemetery (now Oak Grove Cemetery) at Lexington, Virginia.

Electoral history

1859 – Letcher was elected Governor of Virginia, defeating American William Leftwich Goggin.

Family

Letcher's son, John Davidson Letcher, was a professor at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering ...

, serving as acting president from January 1892 to June 1892. His son Greenlee D. Letcher served two terms in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

. Governor Letcher had a daughter, Lizzie, who married James Harrison, a language professor at Washington and Lee and later head of the Romance and Teutonic Language Department at the University of Virginia after 1895.

References

Books

*Boney, F.N. (1966) ''John Letcher of Virginia; The Story of Virginia’s Civil War Governor''. University, Ala.: University of Alabama Press, 1966. *Long, E. B. ''The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861–1865.'' Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971.

Websites

John Letcher in Union or Secession: Virginians Decide
at the

Library of Virginia The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and ...

John Letcher in ''Encyclopedia Virginia''

US Congressional Biographies Online website

External links

A Guide to the Executive Papers of Governor John Letcher, 1859–1863
a
The Library of Virginia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Letcher, John 1813 births 1884 deaths People from Lexington, Virginia Democratic Party governors of Virginia People of Virginia in the American Civil War Virginia lawyers Randolph–Macon College alumni Washington and Lee University alumni Journalists from Virginia Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Confederate States of America state governors Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia 19th-century American newspaper editors American male journalists 19th-century American politicians Southern Historical Society