Zachary T. Fletcher

A portrait of early Nicodemus settler and organizer Zachary T. Fletcher, who arrived in Nicodemus

unknown/Library of Congress

Quick Facts

Significance:

Instrumental in the development of Nicodemus, Kansas.

Place of Birth:

Kentucky

Date of Birth:

1848

Place of Death:

Nicodemus, Kansas

Date of Death:

February 24, 1927

Place of Burial:

Nicodemus, Kansas

Cemetery Name:

Nicodemus Cemetery

Zachary T. Fletcher was one of the most prominent leaders in Nicodemus during its early history.

Achievements of the Fletcher family

• Z.T. Fletcher opened the first business in Nicodemus, KS
• His wife was the first school teacher of Nicodemus, teaching pupils out of their dugout
• Built the St. Francis Hotel in 1880
• Fletcher house is one of the buildings still standing in Nicodemus

Zachary T. Fletcher was born in the late 1840s (1848/1849) in Kentucky. While living in Kentucky, he joined the military. He was part of the 8th Regiment of the US Colored Heavy Artillery, Company B recruited out of Paducah, Kentucky and surrounding towns.

He relocated from Nebraska by way of Topeka to Nicodemus, Kansas. He arrived in Nicodemus in July 30th, 1877 accompanied by his wife Francis and their children, Thomas H. and Joseph.

Fletcher worked hard to help his community develop and to enrich its civic life. In 1880, he served as a delegate for Graham County to the Kansas Convention for Colored Men. Fletcher was also a member of the Nicodemus Cornet Band and Nicodemus Land Company. The Nicodemus Land Company gave away town lots to anyone who would agree to improve on the land, encouraging economic growth in Nicodemus.

Fletcher played a prominent role in starting Nicodemus’ first public school. In 1885, Z.T. Fletcher was on a committee to start Nicodemus’ first official school. In the winter of 1877, Z.T. Fletcher’s wife, Francis became the first schoolteacher. She taught 45 pupils in her dugout home.

As an early settler, Z.T. Fletcher was instrumental in the development of businesses in Nicodemus. He opened a general store, the town’s first business, in the fall of 1877 selling only cornmeal and syrup. It was sometimes called “the Generally Out-of-Everything Store”. Fletcher also opened Nicodemus’s first post office and operated as Postmaster. In partnership with his brother, Thomas Fletcher, he built a limestone building that would become the St. Francis Hotel in 1880.

Nicodemus urgently wanted a rail connection. The town chose Fletcher and his brother to negotiate with the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Unfortunately, Nicodemus failed to secure a railroad line dimming the prospects for Nicodemus’s growth .

Z.T. Fletcher sold his town lots to one of the town’s original entrepreneurs (W.R. Hill), though he still continued to run each business. Nicodemus began to decline and community members moved. This led to Z.T. Fletcher closing the St. Francis Hotel in the 1890s or early 1900s. But Fletcher continued to run his other businesses and contribute to town life.

Zachary T. Fletcher died on February 24th, 1927 and was buried in the Nicodemus Cemetery. His original home and hotel still stands and is owned by Veryl Swizer, a relative of Z.T. Fletcher’s grand-nephew.

Learn more about Black Homesteading in America.

Sources:

• 1880 U.S. Census
• United States. U.S. Department of the Interior. Midwest Regional Office. Historical Resources Study, Nicodemus National Historic Site. By Don Burden. Omaha, NE: Midwest Regional Office, National Park Service, 2011.
• Schwendemann, Glen. Nicodemus: Negro Haven on the Solomon. Topeka, KS: State of Kansas Commission on Civil Rights, 1971.
• O'Brien, Claire. ""With One Mighty Pull": Interracial Town Boosting in Nicodemus, Kansas." Great Plains Quarterly16, no. 2 (Spring 1996).
• Garrett, Gayle M. "Nicodemus Cemetery." Maple Grove Cemetery. April 14, 2002. Accessed August 13, 2018. http://www.ksgenweb.org/graham/Cemeteries/cem-nicodemes.html.