# Rupert Fletcher

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{{short description|American Latter Day Saint leader}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2013}}
{{Infobox Latter Day Saint biography
| name                       = Rupert Fletcher
| image                      =
| birth_date                 = {{Birth date|1896|05|15}}
| birth_place                = [Clitherall, Minnesota](/source/Clitherall%2C_Minnesota), United States
| death_date                 = {{death date and age|1974|11|22|1896|05|15}}
| death_place                = [Independence, Missouri](/source/Independence%2C_Missouri), United States
| resting_place              = Mound Grove Cemetery
| resting_place_coordinates  = {{Coord|39.1128|-94.4281|type:landmark|display=inline|name=Mound Grove Cemetery}}
| parents                    = [Emery George Fletcher](/source/Emery_Fletcher)<br>Ethel Florence Minton
| spouse                     = Daisy Evangeline Whiting
| children                   = 
| portals                    = Movement
<!-- Latter Day Saint Leadership  -->
| position_or_quorum1        = 6th [President](/source/President_of_the_Church) of [The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)](/source/Church_of_Jesus_Christ_(Cutlerite))
| called_by1                 = [Erle Whiting](/source/Erle_Whiting)<ref name ="Fletcher">Fletcher, Rupert J. and Daisy Whiting, ''Alpheus Cutler and The Church of Jesus Christ''. Church of Jesus Christ, 1974, pp. 47–55, 271–274.</ref>
| predecessor1               = [Erle Whiting](/source/Erle_Whiting)<ref name ="Fletcher"/>
| successor1                 = [Julian Whiting](/source/Julian_Whiting)
| start_date1                = {{start date|1958|09|21}}<ref name="Biographical History">[http://files.lib.byu.edu/ead/XML/MSS2394.xml Biographical History]</ref>
| end_date1                  = {{end date|1974|11|22}}<ref name="Biographical History"/>
}}
'''Rupert J. Fletcher''' (May 15, 1896 – November 22, 1974) was a [Latter Day Saint](/source/Latter_Day_Saint_movement) leader who served as the sixth president of [The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)](/source/Church_of_Jesus_Christ_(Cutlerite)) from 1958 to 1974. As church president, he ended the [schism](/source/Schism_(religion)) between the church's [Missouri](/source/Missouri) congregation and its [Minnesota](/source/Minnesota) branch, which had [seceded](/source/secession) from the church in 1955 and called itself the [True Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)](/source/True_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_(Cutlerite)). He also authored, in company with his wife Daisy, a compendium of Cutlerite history and doctrine, entitled ''Alpheus Cutler and The Church of Jesus Christ''.

==Early years==
Fletcher was born in [Clitherall, Minnesota](/source/Clitherall%2C_Minnesota) on May 15, 1896. In his early years, he worked on his father's [farm](/source/farm) and also as a [cowboy](/source/cowboy) in [Montana](/source/Montana) before joining the Cutlerite community in [Independence, Missouri](/source/Independence%2C_Missouri). Later, he worked as an over-the-road [truck driver](/source/truck_driver), and a [taxicab driver](/source/taxicab_driver) for [Kansas City](/source/Kansas_City%2C_Missouri)'s Yellow Cab Co. He married Daisy Evangeline Whiting on December 26, 1930, and they became the parents of three children.

==Presidency==
Fletcher became president of the Missouri branch of the Cutlerite church in 1958, upon the death of his predecessor, [Erle Whiting](/source/Erle_Whiting). Three years earlier, the Minnesota congregation had seceded from the church in a dispute over who should occupy the presidential office. The Missouri congregation, where the majority of Cutlerites attended, had elected Erle Whiting as president, in accordance with long-standing Cutlerite traditions which saw the presidency descend to the First Counselor of the previous president when that person died. The Minnesota congregation disagreed, and elected [Clyde Fletcher](/source/Clyde_Fletcher) as church president. Rejecting this illegal act, the Missouri majority continued to sustain Whiting, and following his death, they elected Rupert Fletcher to succeed him. After this, the Minnesota group began calling itself "the True Church of Jesus Christ."

The two congregations had fought over possession of church properties and funds; in 1966, a Minnesota court in [Fergus Falls](/source/Fergus_Falls%2C_Minnesota) found in favor of the Missouri congregation.<ref>Young, Biloine Whiting (2002). ''Obscure Believers: The Mormon Schism of Alpheus Cutler''. Pogo Press. {{ISBN|978-1-880654-27-9}}, p. 192.</ref>  Following Clyde Fletcher's death in 1969, the remaining members of his Minnesota sect reunited with Fletcher's Missouri congregation, ending the schism.

In 1973, a year before his death, Rupert and Daisy Fletcher co-authored ''Alpheus Cutler and The Church of Jesus Christ'', a compendium of Cutlerite history (by Daisy Fletcher) and doctrine (by Rupert). The book combined several pamphlets and articles Fletcher had written on various theological themes related to Cutlerite teachings.

Rupert Fletcher died on November 22, 1974, in Independence. He is buried in Mound Grove Cemetery, with his wife.

==Children==
Rupert and Daisy Fletcher had three children:

*David Lee 
*Russell Rupert 
*Virginia Ruth

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Rupert}}
Category:1896 births
Category:1974 deaths
Category:American Latter Day Saint leaders
Category:Leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)
Category:People from Otter Tail County, Minnesota
Category:People from Independence, Missouri
Category:20th-century American people

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rupert Fletcher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Fletcher) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Fletcher?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.
