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be insane and had the most curious freaks. Often have I heard her screaming. 'murder' and 'help' at night and have gone to their home on
Washtenaw to help quiet her. One of her hobbies was to go about town with a basket of eggs on her arm, dressed in the worst old calico gown imaginable. She would go by back streets to avoid the judge so as not to offend his dignity. She insisted on keeping a cow and always had in the parlor a supply of hay with which to feed it." In 1843, Fletcher was granted a divorce by Supreme Justice
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While living in New York in 1820, Fletcher married his landlady, Gertrude Lawzer. Fletcher left her behind when he moved to
Michigan, but she later followed. Lawzer was disliked by many, and Fletcher was regarded as "unfortunate". A university professor recalled that "He married a woman who proved to
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Fletcher passed away without much money to his name, rendering him unable to afford a headstone to mark his grave. His colleagues from the
Washtenaw bar donated an ornate Egyptian-style metal casket, and he was buried in Ann Arbor's first cemetery, on Huron Street adjacent to his farm. With no clear
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In 1897, workers were installing pipes in the area in which
Fletcher was buried and a sealed iron casket was unearthed. It matched Fletcher's in terms of style and the time period it was from, and old residents claimed that "without doubt the body was that of the man who was once Michigan's chief
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Fletcher had a reputation as an able lawyer, but one prone to drinking sprees that sometimes interfered with the court's business. On one occasion, an attorney on the losing side of a case immediately appealed, saying, "May it please your honor, I want to appeal from the court drunk to the court
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in 1966, workers stumbled upon a second sealed iron casket. Unlike the first, this one had a metal plate bearing the inscription "William A. Fletcher, died Sept. 19, 1852, aged 64 years". This was, without a doubt, the body of former
Supreme Court Justice William Asa Fletcher. Later that year,
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As a regent, Fletcher helped to determine the location of the
University of Michigan after relocation to Ann Arbor in 1837, which he stood to benefit from as a member of the Ann Arbor Land Company. However, an economic recession in 1838 prevented this.
108:. In this divorce, Fletcher lost all of his property and would spend the rest of his life without much money. Fletcher remarried in 1846, taking widowed 32 year old Adeline D. Doyle as his second wife. Their marriage lasted until his death in 1852.
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Fletcher was reinterred in his plot in Forest Hill
Cemetery next to the casket that has been previously mistaken for his own. The man in the casket still remains unidentified.
186:'The Michigan University Book 1844-1880,' Theodore R. Chase-editor, Richmond & Chase Company, Detroit, Michigan: 1880, biographical sketch of William A. Fletcher, pg. 6
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sober," and
Fletcher granted the appeal. On another occasion, he referred to one of the side judges who assisted him as "the only part of this court that is sober".
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While serving as a judge, Fletcher was appointed by the
Governor to create a code of laws for the new state of Michigan, which was adopted in 1837 and 1838.
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justice". The casket was reinterred in there same place but given a few bricks to mark its location. In 1918, it was relocated to
177:'Michigan Historical Collections,' volume XXXV, Wynkoop Hallenback Crawford Company: Lansing, Michigan, 1907, pg. 543-544
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64:, Michigan Territory and served as Michigan territorial attorney general. From 1830 to 1832, Fletcher served on the
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grave marker, his corpse was forgotten when the cemetery was relocated to
Fairview Cemetery, also in Ann Arbor.
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Chief Justice William Asa Fletcher's Headstone in Forest Hill Cemetery, Ann Arbor, MI
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and was admitted to the Michigan bar. Fletcher was appointed judge for
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341:. Published under the auspices of the Evening news association. 1898.
325:. Published under the auspices of the Evening news association. 1898.
37:(June 26, 1788 – September 19, 1852) was an American jurist.
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was admitted to the union in 1837 and served as a regent for the
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159:"William Fletcher – MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY"
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at the same time. Fletcher retired in 1842. Fletcher died in
303:"Judge Fletcher's Body | Ann Arbor District Library"
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Ross, Catlin, Burton, Robert, George, Clarence (1989),
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For the United States federal appeals court judge, see
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Burials at Forest Hill Cemetery (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
68:. Fletcher was appointed the first chief justice of
136:During the construction of a new building for the
400:Members of the Michigan Territorial Legislature
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425:Chief justices of the Michigan Supreme Court
280:: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
238:DeLand's History of Jackson County, Michigan
338:Landmarks of Detroit: A History of the City
322:Landmarks of Detroit: A History of the City
261:Landmarks of Detroit a History of the City
264:, Evening News Association, p. 393
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245:2018-11-12
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360:aadl.org
307:aadl.org
276:citation
74:Michigan
40:Born in
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