Fletcher Family

George N. Fletcher was founder of various business enterprises in Alpena, Michigan. He was born in Ludlow, Vermont on December 13, 1813. He subsequently moved with his parents to Ohio in 1832. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1840, then went to Boston where he worked as treasurer of the Old Colony Railroad, a position he held until 1850. Around this time, Fletcher, desiring new opportunities, began investigating the economic potential of lumbering. So with a partner James K. Lockwood, Fletcher scouted out and purchased timberland acreage in the area surrounding present-day Alpena, Michigan. The area had great potential with its riches of pine trees. Moving to Michigan in the mid-1850s, Fletcher decided to live in Detroit with his family though most of his business endeavors were in Alpena.

Fletcher began with the building of a dam and a saw mill on river nearby to his timber lands, then began the process of converting timber to lumber. Among the different companies that he controlled solely or with partners were Fletcher, Pack & Company, George N. Fletcher & Sons, and A. F. Fletcher & Co. As his sons matured, he began involving them, especially Frank W. Fletcher, in the operation of his businesses.

Frank W. Fletcher, born in Boston in 1853, grew up in Detroit, but unlike his father he would make Alpena his home. Graduating from the University of Michigan in 1875, he moved to the city in 1878 where he worked with the Fletcher, Pack & Company. In the 1880s, understanding that the once rich timber lands were dwindling, Frank Fletcher encouraged his father to look beyond the milling of lumber for new opportunities. He suggested the substitution of lumber milling with a new process of sulfide pulp manufacturing. This led in 1886 to the construction of a sulfide fiber mill, later followed in 1898 with a paper mill, the Fletcher Paper Company. Frank Fletcher also used to acumen to improve the growing city of Alpena itself, developing its water and power infrastructure. One result was the organization of the Alpena Power Company in 1905.

As an alumnus, Frank Fletcher was active in University of Michigan affairs. In 1894, he was appointed (later elected) to the University's Board of Regents, serving until 1910. He died in 1922.

From the guide to the Fletcher Family Papers, 1856-1936, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)