Calvin Fletcher (February 4, 1798 – May 26, 1866) was an American attorney who became a prominent banker, farmer and state senator in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1821 Fletcher moved from Vermont via Ohio to the new settlement of Indianapolis, where he made his financial fortune. In addition to his business interests, Fletcher was involved in Indianapolis's educational and civic development. After his death, one of his farms (Wood Lawn) was developed into an early Indianapolis neighborhood, and Fletcher Place is now a nationally recognized historic district. Fletcher's diary, published as The Diary of Calvin Fletcher in nine volumes by the Indiana Historical Society between 1972 and 1983, describes a wide range of topics as well as Fletcher's personal interests, acquaintances, and community activities. Early life and education Fletcher was born on February 4, 1798, in Ludlow, Vermont, the eleventh child of Jesse and Lucy Keyes Fletcher's fifteen children. Fletcher's father, a poor man with a large family to support, still managed to provide his children with a basic education. Young Fletcher attended local schools until the age of sixteen and worked on the family farm. With his father's permission, Fletcher left home in 1815 at the age of seventeen. Fletcher went to Windsor on the Connecticut River, where he worked on several local farms before moving to Royalton and later to Randolph, Vermont, to attend school and work. Fletcher returned home for a brief time then moved to Westford, Massachusetts, to attend school. In 1817, after completing his education at Westford, Fletcher once again set out on his own. With no particular destination in mind, Fletcher traveled south through Connecticut to New York City and Philadelphia, then west through Pennsylvania to Wheeling. Fletcher ended up in Urbana, Ohio, in 1817, where he taught school, studied law under James Cooley (who would become the first American charge d' affairs in Peru), and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1820. Marriage and family Fletcher married Sara Hill on May 1, 1821, in Urbana and they moved to Indianapolis in 1821. Arriving in the small settlement nearly penniless, Fletcher became a wealthy lawyer, banker, and landowner. He and his wife had eleven children: two daughters (Maria and Lucy) and nine sons (James Cooley, Elijah T., Calvin Jr., Miles J., Stoughton A., Ingram, William B., Stephen Keyes, and Albert. His eldest son, James Cooley Fletcher, became a Presbyterian minister and missionary. Sarah Hill