WILLARD THOMAS FLETCHER
Willard Thomas was born in 1849, while his family was making the trek from Massachusetts to Salt Lake City, Utah and his mother carried him on her back. At nineteen he started working for Bishop Samuel A. Woolley, hauling lumber from little Cottonwood Canyon. At 21 He started keeping company with his daughter, Mary Pamelia Woolley born in Salt Lake, Utah 1849. Willard married Mary in 1874. His mother sold them part of her lot and they built a two-roomed house on it. Mr. Woolley gave each of his daughters a lot in the divided five-acre lot for each to build on. They built a brick house with eight rooms and moved there in 1888. They were called to come to Canada in April 1899 and given four weeks to get ready. They left at the end of May, travelling by train to Stirling. Willard said they only had four weeks to prepare for the move. The Fletcher’s had brought enough provisions for a year, even sacks of bread, unsure they would ever see another white person again. They decided to locate in a place called Pot Hole, afterward called Magrath. The church was building six houses there and they moved into the first one completed. Mary Woolley passed away in Grassy Lake in 1915 and was buried in Magrath. Willard married Ellen Hunt in 1920. Willard Thomas Fletcher passed away in 1936 at his home in Magrath. His funeral was one of the largest held in Magrath.
FAMILY
Willard and Mary had six children, Samuel Willard, Rowan Woolley, Arthur Woolley, Ira Camille, Katie Irene (Llewelyn), and Cyrus Mehring.
OCCUPATION AND SKILLS
Willard worked on the canal and started Magrath’s first store. It was established in a tent, under the care of his son, Rowan. Willard acquired 160 acres of farmland west of Magrath. He put up the first fence in the district. He also kept a hotel, feed barn, and a fine livery stable. He held many church positions during his lifetime, even holding the position as a ward teacher for 64 years.
INTERESTING
The night before their marriage Willard was chopping wood and a piece flew and hit him in the eye giving him a black eye. The man marring them thought it terrible to let his wife give him a black eye so early in their married life.