Horses, Love & Outlaws

In 1829 Lucy Fletcher (1809-1894), a vivacious and fun loving dare-devil girl of Cuyahoga Falls, wanted to attend a spelling bee in Northampton with friends. Not having a horse of her own, she chose to ride side saddle on a blanket behind her escort.Later that evening, on the way home, a bear suddenly appeared out of the thick brush directly in front of them and scared the horse.  The horse reared and threw both riders to the ground. The bear disappeared and they recaptured the horse. In attempting to remount, Lucy climbed a stump and leaped for the horse’s back. Unfortunately, she put too much energy into her leap and the momentum carried her all the way across the horse’s back. She landed on her head and shoulders, sustaining severe bruises and lacerations.One of Lucy’s friends ran frantically back to downtown Cuyahoga Falls to fetch Dr. Orlando Wilcox, Sr. (1802-1886). As Dr. Wilcox cared for her wounds that night and in the following days, they became friends. It wasn’t very long before the grand friendship turned into a love that bloomed between the two of them. They married in June 1829.

They had six children, one being Orlando Wilcox, Jr. (1851-1910) who became a well known attorney who got his start in Cuyahoga Falls. He was a brave and courageous man who went into Indian territory to round up crooks. Mr. Wilcox prosecuted many notorious bandits including Al Jennings (who later became a close friend). He also helped Teddy Roosevelt organize his rough riders for the Spanish American War.