”The House of Representatives of the Fifty Third Congress” (detail), The Graphic Chicago, 1893, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

FLETCHER, Loren, a Representative from Minnesota; born in Mount Vernon, Kennebec County, Maine, April 10, 1833; attended the public schools and Maine Wesleyan Seminary, Kents Hill, Maine; moved to Bangor in 1853; was a stonecutter, clerk in a store, and an employee of a lumber company; moved to Minneapolis, Minn., in 1856 and engaged in manufacturing and mercantile pursuits, largely in the manufacture of lumber and flour; member of the board of directors of the First National Bank upon its establishment in 1864; member of the State house of representatives 1872-1886 and served as speaker from 1880 to 1886; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-third and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1903); chairman, Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings (Fifty-seventh Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1902 to the Fifty-eighth Congress; elected to the Fifty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1905-March 3, 1907); declined to be a candidate for reelection; retired from active business; died in Atlanta, Ga., April 15, 1919; interment in Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minn.