SW 1899, WM 1900, 1902
Secretary 1894-95, 1897-98

Bro. Thatcher was born in Alton, Pike Co, Illinois March 10, 1846.  At the outbreak of the Civil War Richard Thatcher ran away from his home and joined the Union Army at the age of 15.  He served with the 111th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteers, Co. H as a "Drummer Boy" under General Sherman's command.

In Atlanta on July 22, 1864 Richard was taken prisoner and confined to Andersonville Prison.  While confined he developed a Lung and throat condition which he never fully recovered.

While confined to Andersonville he met and befriended John "Boston" Corbett, the man who later shot and killed John Wilks Booth, Lincoln's Assassin.  Corbett acted as a guardian to the young "Drummer Boy" and planned their escape during a transfer of prisoners to South Carolina.

After the war, Thatcher entered McKendree College, a private Methodist funded college at Lebanon, Illinois.  He received a Doctor of Divinity and Master of Science Degree with honors from McKendree. 

Bro. Thatcher married Melissa DeFord in Illinois September 1869.  He taught school in Illinois and then moved to Kansas.  He was Superintendent of Schools at both Severy and Neodesha, Kansas.  In 1890 he was appointed as a clerk in the U. S. Census Bureau in Washington D. C.

In the spring of 1890 Melissa came to Edmond with their four daughters to purchase and manage the Central Hotel.  Mrs. Thatcher's brother, Captain C. H. DeFord had already established a dry goods store in Edmond.

A few months after Melissa assumed ownership of the Central Hotel she closed down the 'Bar' which had been a popular meeting place.  She became known affectionately as "Mother Thatcher".

In the autumn of 1891 Bro. Thatcher left his Government position to accept the appointment as "Principal" of the Territorial Normal School, a school that existed only on a piece of paper.  It was Bro. Thatcher's leadership that moved this school from a piece of paper to a great Educational institution.

President Thatcher's custom in the classroom was to start the day with some question which revealed his patriotism, and his familiarity with classical literature.  Among his favorites were these lines from Sir Walter Scott:

            Breathers there a man, with soul so dead,

            Who never to himself hath said

            This is my own, my native land!

Due to failing health Bro. Thatcher resigned the Presidency of the Normal School in 1893 to take a position, less demanding, as head of the Math Dept. which he held till his death November 28, 1909.  When it became apparent He could no longer teach classes, He was made "Emeritus Professor" of Mathematics.

Bro. Thatcher's Masonic association goes back to Kansas or Illinois.  Shortly after he arrived in Edmond he affiliated with Edmond Lodge #37 (October l, 1892).  He served as Secretary, Sr. Warden and W.M. for the years 1900 and 1902.  He was a member of the Royal Arch Masons #36 of Edmond, OKC Commandery #3 and 33° Mason in the Scottish Rite in the Guthrie Valley.  It is also interesting to note he organized a "Degree Working Team" for the 14° and continued to confer that degree as long as his health permitted. "To him is largely due the extraordinary success of that degree at Guthrie".