The Legendary Captain Sherman Heyward Fletcher
By James Van Beaver
A number of years ago a reporter from the (now defunct) Boston Post newspaper wrote a series of articles on small town life in Massachusetts. One of the small towns was Westford, who some would say was a “hick village.” When the reporter visited Westford the first person he talked to was one of its proudest residents who promptly told the writer what a great town Westford was. That person worked behind a store counter at the Wright and Fletcher Store, his name was Sherman H. Fletcher.
Fletcher was born in Westford on December 24, 1846, his parents were Emily Augusta and Sherman Dewey Fletcher. He attended Westford schools and graduated from Westford Academy. In 1867, Sherman married Mary Elizabeth Richardson who was also from Westford.
Sherman H. Fletcher was known by most folks as “Captain” for his involvement in Westford’s volunteer militia unit. He was also the co-owner of the Wright and Fletcher store on 40 Main Street along with Harwood “Dick” Wright. Dick and Sherman’s fathers founded The Wright and Fletcher store in 1873. By all accounts “they made a good pair and so far as ever noticed there was never a squabble between them.”
Mr. Fletcher was “tall, dignified with blue twinkling eyes behind gold rimmed eyeglasses.” He started each day at the store by putting on a long tan clerk’s coat. Sherman loved his hometown of Westford and his fellow citizens. He served many town roles during his lifetime. Fletcher served as selectman for 25 years and was the founder of Westford Water Company in 1906, he would later serve as the Water Company’s director and manager. In 1908, the town appointed him to the first Finance Committee. A year later he became Westford’s first fire chief. In addition, he served as president of the Westford Board of Trade, Library Director and as a Westford Academy trustee. Fletcher also worked as an insurance agent for American Surety Company of New York. The town also elected him as their state representative in 1882 and in 1922 the county elected Sherman as Associate County Commissioner.
Aside from all these duties, Sherman H. Fletcher also served as postmaster for Westford Center. In Sherman’s day, the political party of the president determined who would be postmaster. That is, if the Democrats were in power, the postmaster would be a Democrat. Or if the president were a Republican, the postmaster would belong to the Republican party. Since Fletcher was a Republican, he became postmaster during Republican administrations and the Wright and Fletcher store became Westford Center’s post office.
Sherman also used his store to placate youthful mischief in town. Each year on the night before the 4th of July, local youths became involved in such shenanigans as shooting off fireworks, tipping over outhouses on the church lawn, wrapping corsets around telephone poles, putting bicycles atop flag poles, and rolling cannon balls down Main street.
To curb this mischief, Fletcher kept his store open late on the night before the fourth and offered free treats to the young pranksters. The store offered a banquet of “moxie, soda crackers, tubs of cheese and donuts were offered to the gang in hopes of offsetting their holiday pranks, or at least making them a little more repentant by 2 or 3 AM.” However, Sherman’s kindhearted efforts did little to curb the holiday mischief.
But for all of Fletcher’s duties and accomplishments, Westford best remembers him for his association with Troop F Massachusetts Volunteer Militia or commonly known as Spalding Light Cavalry. Sherman did not serve in the Civil War but was associated with the Spalding Light Cavalry from 1864 to 1888. In 1877, the militia selected him as the unit’s second captain, and he served in this capacity until 1888. The Governor of Massachusetts formed the militia unit during the Civil War to compensate for the loss of militia men who were serving with the Union army. Captain Fletcher was also the president and founder of the Spalding Light Cavalry Association.
During his time with the Spalding Light Cavalry, Fletcher and his unit had the honor of honoring three U.S. Presidents during the chief executives visits to Boston. During President Ulysses S. Grant’s visit to Boston in June of 1869, Fletcher and his Spalding Light Cavalry marched in review of the president. In June 1877, Troop F received and accepted an invitation from Brigadier General Moore to march with the First Brigade in Boston to pass in review by President Rutherford B. Hayes. Five years later, the Governor of Massachusetts invited the Spalding Light Cavalry to take part in a reception for President Chester A. Arthur. Captain Fletcher and Troop F took part in this reception in October 1882.
Captain Fletcher was discharged from the Spalding Light Cavalry on December 11, 1888. He was “remembered in military circles as a good disciplinarian and always emphasized the duty of an enlisted man being a gentleman soldier.”
Sherman H. Fletcher died at his home in Westford on March 7, 1928 at the age of eighty-one. He was survived by his two daughters Gertrude and Julia. Sherman’s wife Mary died in 1922.
Sources:
Biographies, “Dedication of the Civil War Monument,” March 10, 1910.
Sidney A. Bull, “History of Troop F. Cavalry. Introduction. pp. 8,21,80, 260.
Day, Marilyn, Westford Days, The Diaries of Emma, John W. and Ada Day 1862-1878 and The Families. p. 418.
“American Surety Company of N.Y.,” Lowell Sun, August 8, 1906, p. 8.
Ibid. “Associate County Commissioner,” p. 23.
Ibid. “The Spalding Light Cavalry Association,” August 15, 1925, p. 14.
Ibid. “Capt, Fletcher Dead,” March 7, 1928. p.17.
“An old-fashioned 4th of July”, by June Kennedy, Westford Eagle, June 28, 1979, p. 3.
Ibid. “Stony Brook RR Line,” by Gordon B. Seavey, April 9, 1981, p. 9.
Ibid. “Old timers said this was no “hick town even fifty years ago,” by Gordon Seavey, February 28, 1985, p. 5