Richard Fletcher (American politician)

Richard Fletcher
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 1st district
In office March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1839
Preceded by	Abbott Lawrence
Succeeded by	Abbott Lawrence
Personal details
Born	(1788-01-08)January 8, 1788 Cavendish, Vermont
Died	June 21, 1869(1869-06-21) (aged 81) Boston, Massachusetts
Political party	Whig

Richard Fletcher (January 8, 1788 – June 21, 1869) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. The brother of Governor Ryland Fletcher, he was born in Cavendish, Vermont on January 8, 1788. He pursued classical studies and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1806. He taught school in Salisbury, New Hampshire, studied law, was admitted to the bar and commenced practice there.

He moved to Boston in 1819 and was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1839). Fletcher was not a candidate for renomination to the Twenty-sixth Congress. He served as a judge of the Massachusetts Supreme Court 1848–1853, and died in Boston on June 21, 1869. His interment was in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.

Fletcher was elected as the first president of the American Statistical Association, although by the ASA's own admission, he was "little more than a figurehead".^[1]