John Letcher, son of William H. and Elizabeth Davidson Letcher, was born in Lexington, Virginia, on March 29, 1813. He attended Randolph-Macon College before graduating from Washington Academy (today Washington and Lee University) in 1833. He was admitted to the Virginia bar six years later and established a private practice in Lexington in 1839. The following year, he became editor of Lexington's newspaper. Letcher married Mary Susan Holt (1823-1909); the couple had eight children. In the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850, Letcher played a significant role. He was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives the following year and won election to three successive terms in Congress In 1859, he was elected Virginia governor and served through the first three years of the American Civil War. He was defeated in his bid for an election to the Second Confederate Congress in 1863. Following the war, Letcher resumed his private law practice in Lexington and was elected to a single term in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1875. John Letcher died in Lexington on January 25, 1884, and was buried in the city's Oak Grove Cemetery.