Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, son of Elijah Fletcher and Maria Antoinette Crawford Fletcher. By all accounts, Lucian (sometimes spelled "Lucien"), a lawyer who studied at Yale and William and Mary College, lived an eventful life, earning him a reputation as a "thorn" and "reprobate." During court hearings in 1901, Lucian was described by one retired sheriff of Amherst County, Captain Edgar Whitehead, as "the worst outlaw in the history of the county."

As a result, Lucian was disowned, sacrificing his part of the family fortune in the process. The historic record is filled with colorful stories about his misdeeds, including murder and other wild behavior. After becoming involved in a "disgraceful shooting scrape" Lucian's father sent him away to West Virginia, accompanied by two slaves, Mary Elisabeth Woodfork and Arch. Arch died and Lucian, having again involved himself in "shady gunplay" in West Virginia, fled north with Mary, who became his first wife. They eventually settled in Windsor, Ontario.

In 1860, Lucian is believed to have left Mary and their children and returned to Virginia, where Lucian became involved in another deadly altercation, killing John Matt Brown by slashing and stabbing him to death with a sword (or possibly bowie knife, depending on which news report is to be believed) kept in the barroom of the Powellton House at the Amherst County Courthouse, as John Matt Brown fired multiple bullets into Lucian. Badly wounded, sentenced to a year in prison and to pay a fine of $200, Lucian nevertheless was able to enlist on behalf of the CSA during the Civil War. Meanwhile, records show that Mary and her children believed Lucian had traveled to California and died of fever there, prompting Mary to describe herself as a widow in government documents beginning in the early 1860s. Although there is evidence that Lucian did go to California with his brother Sidney in 1849 and went on to Panama in the early 1850s, where he contracted a fever, there is no evidence to support the belief that Lucian went back to California in the 1860s.

On the contrary, the record shows that Lucian fought for the Confederacy for the duration of the Civil War. He enlisted May 23, 1861, at Lynchburg, Virginia, to serve for the duration of the war. Lucian was assigned as a private to Captain Pierce B. Anderson, subsequently became a Captain in Hardwicke's Company, Virginia Light Artillery (Lee Battery)*, then promoted to the grade of Sergeant June 7, 1861, then reduced to private December 31, 1861, and was reported on the roll as present to October 31, 1863. Later, from September 1, 1864, to December 31, 1864, his record states he was "absent at Richmond undergoing sentence for general court martial," but that by an order dated March 23, 1865, designated Special Order No. 65, Department of the Army, Northern Virginia, the sentence of the general court martial was remitted. A Union Prisoner of War, captured April 2, 1865, Lucian was imprisoned at Delaware April 4, 1865, and released June 20, 1865 upon taking the oath of allegiance to the United States.

Shortly after the Civil War, Lucian met Frances Everett and eventually married her on October 29th, 1880. Not much is known about Frances Everett. During the probate hearings regarding the estate of Lucian's sister, Indiana, Lucian's second wife was repeatedly referred to as "that white mountain woman." Frances Everett was not formally named in over a thousand pages of testimony and depositions.

The known children of Lucian and Mary Elisabeth were as follows: Sally aka Sarah Fletcher Brown Thornton, Moses Fletcher, Maria Fletcher Turner, and Sampson Fletcher. The known children of Lucian and Frances Everett were as follows: Lucy Fletcher Hill Scott, Mary Everett Fletcher Brammer, Flavonia Fletcher Coffey, Cornelia Flora Fletcher Grow, Elizabeth Fletcher, William L. Fletcher, and Sidney Fletcher.

Despite his nearly life-long estrangement from his family, Lucian's brother, Sidney, allowed Lucian to be buried in the Crawford Family Cemetery at Tusculum. Neither of Lucian's wives are buried with him. Lucian was also a second cousin of Grace Fletcher Webster, wife of Daniel Webster, and nephew (generations removed) of William Harris Crawford, Secretary of the Treasury and War under President Monroe. However, despite his family's pedigree and his attempts to carve out a more upstanding life as a lawyer, Lucian could not overcome his wild and uninhibited nature.

Lucian's daughter Flavonia Fletcher Coffey, as quoted in a Time Magazine article in 1936, cheerfully admitted: "Father was in a good many scrapes."

*OVERVIEW: Lee Light Artillery was organized at Lynchburg, Virginia, in May, 1861. This unit was active in Lee's Cheat Mountain Campaign and Jackson's Valley operations, then served in J.W. Latimer's, R.S. Andrews', and C.M. Braxton's Battalion of Artillery, Army of Northern Virginia. It fought with the army from the Seven Days' Battles to Cold Harbor, then participated in Early's Shenandoah Valley Campaign. The battery took 90 men to Gettysburg and surrendered at Appomattox with 12. It was under the command of Captains Pierce B. Anderson, William W. Hardwicke, and Charles I. Raine.

NOTE: Credit and gratitude go to Lynn Rainville, who researched and published much of the above information. Thanks also to Jack Coffee, who found key information about Lucian and his family.