My Genealogy Hound

RUFUS FITCH. Much study, a great deal of wealth and many lives have been expended upon the theory, and in a practical search for the north pole. The gentleman whose name heads this sketch devoted a great amount of thought and wrote many articles upon this subject. He was a son of Edwin and Lucy (Billings) Fitch, and was born in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1830. The Fitch family were indigenous to New England for more than a century, a renowned ancestor being Rev. John Fitch, a preacher, contemporaneous with Revolutionary times. Rufus Fitch’s early life was spent on a farm in Connecticut, where he secured an education in the district schools, which was supplemented by a course in the city of New Haven. Prior to 1850 he went to St. Louis, where a few years later he was engaged in the wholesale stationery, paper and book business, his partner being an intimate friend, Robert Patterson. This business was continued for fifteen years, when declining health demanded a change of climate and atmosphere. Some years were passed in seeking a location congenial, and in 1874 Jamestown was selected, where four years later he died. The house where Mrs. Fitch now resides was erected by him. On October 7th, 1863, he married Mary Churchill, daughter of Crispen and Hannah Churchill. Mrs. Fitch’s grandfather on maternal side, William Churchill, was from England, bringing a large fortune with him, and settled in Newbern, North Carolina. She is a lady of an unusual degree of intelligence and exceedingly entertaining, being an accomplished conversationalist. Mr. and Mrs. Fitch had five children: Dabney C., born September 30th, 1864, prepared for college and is now in New York city engaged as a manufacturer’s representative; Mary C., was born in August, 1866, and graduated from the Jamestown High school, and Houghton Seminary; Edwin R., born June 19th, 1869; Lucy B., born September, 1870, is attending the Boston Conservatory of Music, being an accomplished musician of marked ability; and Churchill, born in September, 1873. Mr. Fitch was a republican, but paid little attention to politics. He was a writer of prominence, his articles attracting most attention being upon the subject mentioned at the opening of this sketch and the science of fishing and hunting. His death, which occurred in 1878, was deeply regretted and mourned by many friends.