We can go all the way back to William Fitch of Wicken Bonhunt of Essex County who was born some time around 1400. The College of Arms of London has proven our ancestry to this point. William was what they called a husbandman....meaning tenant farmer, who raised grain as well as cows and sheep. We don't know the name of his wife but do know his son's name was John. He to was a tenant farmer, as was his father and was of Wicken Bonhunt also. John married a women by the name of Juliana, who's maiden name is unknown to us, and had one son named Thomas. John died when Thomas was only three and Thomas was not admitted his inheritance untill he was twenty one or twenty two.
Thomas married Agnes Algore, who was wealthy in her own right. She had inherited a considerable amount of property located in Lindsell, Essex County. Her and Thomas lived on Brazen Head Farm which is located in the northeast part of the parish of Lindsell. Brazen Head Farm is believed to have gotten it's name from the unique brass door knocker which hung on it's front door. It was in the shape of a lion's head and was made of heavy brass. This door knocker is now located in the British Museum. There are also brass plaques commemorating both Thomas and Agnes as well as one commemorating one of thier son's, William and William's wife Elizabeth, in a local parish church called St. Mary the Virgin. The plaque of Thomas and Agnes show them to have six sons and five daughters. This same church also has stained glass windows with portraits of Thomas and Agnes as well as William and Elizabeth.
The son of interest to our line was Roger of Panfield. He was the youngest son of Thomas and Agnes and was also a farmer by trade, like his father. He married a women by the name of Margery and had at least eleven children still living at the time his will was written. The child of interest to our line was George and he was their youngest son. George was a haberdasher and mercer by trade. These are occupations that have to do with the manufacture of and trade in cloth. Three of his brothers were also in this trade. He started out in Braintree, Essex County and then later moved to Sudbury in Suffolk County then later to Edwardstone also of Suffolk County. He married Joan Thurgood and they had five children.
George and Joan's eldest son was named Thomas of Bocking. He to was a clothier, just like his father and his three uncles. He married Anne Reeve and they had eleven children. The son of interest to our line was Thomas Fitch I. He married Anne Stacie in 1632. He also served in the Parliamentary Wars in England and was our first direct ancester to come to America with his mother and two of his brothers. He was one of the founders of Norwalk, Connecticut in 1650. Thomas was well known and a very wealthy and intellegent man. He was confirmed by the court as Recorder of Laws in 1659 and became King's Commissioner in 1669, a office which he held for twenty five years. He was also Deputy to the General Court as well as Deputy Governor of Connecticut. Thomas and Anne had five children. Thomas Fitch II is in our direct line and died before his father Thomas I. He was married to Ruth Clark and fought in King Philip's Indian War. He became captain in 1673 and he died in 1684 leaving a widow and son, Thomas Fitch III, not yet out of his teens. Thomas III was also a King's Commissioner, as was his grandfather Thomas I. He was married three times. By his first wife Sarah, he had five children.
The child of interest to our line was Gov. Thomas Fitch IV. He graduated from Yale College in 1721. He was an attorney at law and this was his principal practice. He served as Govenor of Connecticut from 1754 to 1766 and played a vital role in Colonial expansion and was in office when the French Indian War took place. There is a town called Fitchville in Ohio which was named in the honor of Gov. Thomas Fitch IV and his family. After the war, the American government made restitution to those who's homes were burned by the British by giving them grants of land in the Connecticut Western Reserve in Ohio, known as the "Sufferes' Lands". Part of the land that Fitchville sits on, was part of the original land granted to Gov. Fitch in 1779, for his property that was burned in Norwalk, Connecticut. Gov. Fitch married Hannah Hall and they had either nine or ten children. Their son, Col. Jonathan Fitch, was also a graduate of Yale College. He graduated in 1748 and served as Stewart of Yale College for several years before the Revolutionary War. He was High Sheriff and Naval officer at New Haven Connecticut and was Colonel of the 2nd Connecticut Militia regiment. He was married twice and by his first wife he had three children. Their son Thomas Roswell Fitch is our ancestor.
Thomas Roswell Fitch married Elizabeth Byrd and it is with Thomas that the Caswell County, North Carolina Fitch branch begins. Thomas and Elizabeth had three children. One of these three was William Fitch. William married Lydia Stadler and had eleven children. Most of their children ended up in Cherokee County, Texas in the 1850's. Robert Stadler, known as Uncle Bob, was Lydia's brother and had recieved land grants in Texas for his service in the Texas Revolution. He had offered land to any of his neices or newphews that would come to Texas and settle the land. Many of them took him up on his offer including our ancestor Empson Fitch and his wife Delilah Hightower. It is said that Robert Stadler was never married and lived among his relatives after giving all his land to them to settle. He is buried in the Fitch Cemetery, which sits on the original Fitch property in Blackjack, Cherokee County, which was part of that original land grant. I have heard two different stories as to who was the first to be buried there. One is, that it was Robert Stadler and the other is, that it was Empson Fitch. There is a historical marker in the cemetery stating that it was Robert Stadler whom died first. I have also heard that Empson was the first to be buried there. The story says that he died while his sons were off fighting in the Civil War and since Robert and Delilah had no way to get him to Old Knoxville Cemetery, which was where many of the Fitch's were buried at that time, they buried him there on the property, thus starting Fitch Cemetery. None the less it is still used as a family cemetery today. Many of our ancestor's are buried there. Out of the eight children that Empson and Delilah had, five of them are buried in the Fitch Cemetery. Eli, which was one of their son's and is our direct ancestor, served in the civil war along with his brothers. He was a private in the 11th Texas Infantry, Co. C, Robert's Regimant. He married Martha Hill and they had five children, Vollie, Young Dewey, Eli jr., Effie and Victoria. Victoria died when she was young and is buried in Fitch Cemetery along with her brothers, Vollie, Young Dewey and Eli Jr.. Effie is buried in Salem Cemetery beside her husband.
