(Aug. 22, 1808-Mar. 17, 1882). The youngest of 15 children, banker Stoughton A. Fletcher Sr. remained on the family farm in Ludlow, Vermont, until his father’s death in February 1831, and later joined his brother who had moved to Indianapolis 10 years earlier.
By February 1833, Fletcher operated a general store with Henry Bradley on Washington Street east of Meridian Street. Purchasing Bradley’s portion in 1837, Fletcher resumed business with cousin Timothy Richardson Fletcher, son of Michael Fletcher, another of Calvin’s brothers who moved to Indianapolis.
Possessing an interest in banking, Fletcher became a director of the Indianapolis branch of the in 1839. With cousin Timothy, he opened a broker’s office and private bank at 8 East Washington Street in 1840, later known as S. A. Fletcher & Co. The bank flourished and remained Fletcher’s principal occupation until his death. A private bank until 1898, it then became .
In October 1864, Fletcher convinced brother Calvin and Thomas H. Sharpe of the Indianapolis Branch Banking Company (founded 1857) to join in organizing the Indianapolis National Bank, located at Washington and Pennsylvania streets. Stoughton and Calvin were directors, and Calvin’s son Stoughton A. was president. The bank was capitalized at $1 million.
Known to have amassed large fortunes and estates in Marion County, Fletcher was considered among the wealthiest individuals in Indianapolis as well as Indiana. In 1853, he acquired substantial stock in the Indianapolis Gas Light and Coke Company (predecessor to ), and also in the Indianapolis and Bellefontaine Railroad, for which he was elected a director in 1855. Fletcher’s Center Township property was assessed in November 1862, at $107,244—the fourth-highest in the township. His properties in other townships were valued at $25,580.
Despite his vast wealth and influence Fletcher never held public office, and his benevolence was questionable. He did, however, advance $51,500 in 1863 to acquire Martin Williams’ farm for the creation of . That same year, responding to Mayor ‘s call for a house of refuge for prostitutes who were flocking into the city during the , Fletcher provided seven acres of land south of Indianapolis on which to build a women’s reformatory.
The war halted construction in 1864, and the city proposed donating the land to the Catholic church for a women’s refuge, which elicited harsh anti-Catholic protests. The city eventually gave the land in 1873 to a Catholic sisterhood, which established female reformatory.
Fletcher was a member of and is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery.
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