French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1916-1919, 1919-05-22
(By Patsy O'Brien)

places, mystery hangs over old
houses the poet sings of old wine, old
books, and old friends, he forgot, old
house, or maybe he was not romantic
enough to enjoy the creaking of old
timbers and revel in the shadows of
bygone ghosts that haunt the corners.
But we in this country have no ances-
trail homes that have come down IN
the family for thousands o. years, the
best we can hope far is d hale L dor
en- hundred.
An Englishman came over here and
was told by the true born American
that that house was old, very old.
Why" said the American, st must
be hundred years old" John Bull
smiled to him the house was in it's
infancy. But we are proud of our old
places, we think them old, and we try
to create the atmosphere and coax
the moss to grow on the roof.
In our own county of Henderson the
'little town of Fletcher has a past
worth learning about. When Ashe~
vile and Hendersonville were in the
first stages of their upgrowth, FleT-
cher had already made a good start.
When the railroad came through it
found sizable little village. While
Fletcher will never boast that it is a
metropolis it has an age charm of its
own, and the few OLD houses could re-
late history if they could speak
Sometime in the 18th century Dr..
Fletcher, after whom the place is
named, came down from Virginia. He
loved the mountains AM having en
adventurous spirit he welcomed the
hardships that were c0lnGCtel 9TH
making a home in the wilderness. The
land he settled, on the scutl hank OF
Mud Creek, dates back to an old
State grant in 1771. He bull on hill
commanding a good view of the CREEK
bottom and the distant peaks
His son, John Fletcher, ran the old
house as a stage stand after his IA
theirs death and the wild erness hegan
to disppear. The great numbering
stage changed horses here and the
passengers supped. The drivers eli
put up here at night when on their way
south with hogs or cattle. It was a
famous old house known tho country
round in those days and still is re-
membered by dwindling few. Jlnn
Fletcher raised eighteen children all
of whom married in the neighborho0G |
SO that Fletcher can be said 10 be SIX
stead has slipped out Of the family, !
DR.. Egerton of Hendersonyiile caioe
into possession and he sold it to a |
Mrs. Cushing, who lives there now. |
The Fletchers have been removed to
another site.
The late Dr.. c. ". Fletcher, one |
of the eighteen children, put up mo-
dest two-room house opposite where
the station now stands, and began his T.
practice there about 1880. He mar
ried Miss Clayton and in a few years
they raised the two rooms and built z +
stone wall under them forming q
ground floor. 1t was later added to !
in the rear and the quaint rambling
old house smiles on the hurrying,
scurring automobile, that has taken
the place of the ancient OK team of
it's early days. The house now be-:
longs to DR.. Hall F. Fletcher OF i
Asheville who served during this war
as Major in the army.
Squire Newton Lance, whose ola
home is still standing on the BucE
Shoals road, married one Of Holm
Fletcher's daughters. Que Of his soE'
Miss Mllloney from Lime
rick, ireland, who came to these
in quest of health. He was
overseer on Mr.. Blake's large rice
plantation in Georgia. He went
through the civil war and is now Nv
ing out the last years on his farm
which is part of the old homestead
Squire Newton Lance has long been
gathered to his fathers. He lost four
sons in the Confederate cause and LETT
a fine old home as memorial to
long and busy life.
On a gentle hill commanding an ex-
tensive view of the mountains and
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