Rev James FITCH

1622 - 1702  (79 years)

• Name	James FITCH  [1, 2, 3, 4]
  	Rev. Mr. James Fitch arrived in this country in 1638, aged sixteen years, as stated by the inscription on his gravestone in the old cemetery at Lebanon, Conn. He was born at Bocking, County Essex, England on December 24, 1622, son of Thomas and Anne (Reeve) Fitch. Rev. Mr. Fitch finished his theological training at Hartford, Conn., under the direction of the Rev. Mr. Thomas Hooker, who is named as a friend in the ill of Thomas Fitch of Bocking, and of Rev. Samuel Stone whose daughter married Joseph Fitch I. The Rev. Mr. James Fitch is placed by Cotton Mather in his "second Classis" of New England ministers, consisting of "young scholars, whose education for their designed ministry not being finished, came over from England with their friends, and had their education perfected in this country before the college was come into maturity enough to bestow its laurels." (See Magnalia, I, 215, Hart. Edition). In 1646, a church was organized at Saybrook, Conn., and the Rev. Mr. James Fitch was ordained as its first minister. This ceremony, a Congregational ordination in the strictest sense of the term, was graced by the presence of the Rev. Mr. Hooker, and Rev. Mr. Stone, and probably of Rev. Mr. Henry Whitfield, first minister of Guilford, Conn. In the year 1701, the Rev. Mr. Fitch retired to Lebanon to spend the few remaining days of his eventful life. A Brief summer he passed inits quiet, secluded shades while death gently approached. Truly the inscription on his gravestone say, "he fell asleep in Jesus, Nov. 18, 1720, in the 80th year of his age." [1]
  Prefix	Rev
  Birth	24 Dec 1622	Bocking, County Essex, England   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Death	18 Nov 1702	Lebanon, New London County, Connecticut   [1]
  Person ID	I22272	Main Tree
  Last Modified	24 Jul 2022

  
  

  Father	Thomas FITCH
  Relationship	Birth
  Mother	Anne REEVE
  Relationship	Birth
  Family ID	F02126	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Abigail WHITFIELD   d. 09 Sep 1659, Old Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut, USA
  Marriage	1 Oct 1648	Connecticut   [4]
  Children	+ 1. Major James FITCH,   b. 02 Aug 1649, Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut, USA d. 10 Nov 1727, Canterbury, Windham, Connecticut, USA (Age 78 years)  [Birth]   2. Abigail FITCH,   b. Aug 1650, Old Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut, USA d. 18 Sep 1676, New London, New London, Connecticut, USA (Age 26 years)  [Birth]   3. Elizabeth FITCH,   b. Jan 1651/2, Old Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut, USA d. 07 Jul 1689, Norwich, New London, Connecticut, USA (Age 37 years)  [Birth]   4. Hannah FITCH,   b. Sep 1653, Old Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut, USA d. 12 Nov 1702 (Age 49 years)  [Birth] + 5. Samuel FITCH,   b. Mar 1655, Old Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut, USA d. Aft 1719/20 (Age 65 years)  [Birth]   6. Dorothy FITCH,   b. Apr 1658, Old Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut, USA d. 28 Jun 1691, Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA (Age 33 years)  [Birth]
  Family ID	F02135	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	8 Feb 2022

  
  

  Family 2	Priscilla MASON,   b. Oct 1641, Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, USA d. 1714, Norwich, New London, Connecticut, USA (Age 72 years)
  Marriage	02 Oct 1664	Norwich, New London County Connecticut
  Children	+ 1. Capt Daniel FITCH,   b. 16 Aug 1665   d. 3 Jun 1711 (Age 45 years)  [Birth]   2. Capt John FITCH,   b. Jan 1667   d. 24 May 1743 (Age 76 years)  [Birth]   3. Capt Jeremiah FITCH,   b. Abt 1671   d. 22 May 1736, Coventry, Connecticut (Age 65 years)  [Birth]   4. Rev. Jabez FITCH,   b. Apr 1672, Norwich, New London, Connecticut, USA d. 22 Nov 1746, Portsmouth, New Hampshire (Age 74 years)  [Birth] + 5. Anna FITCH,   b. 06 Apr 1675, Norwich, New London, Connecticut, USA d. 07 Oct 1715, Lebanon, New London County, Connecticut (Age 40 years)  [Birth]   6. Capt Nathaniel FITCH,   b. Oct 1679   d. 4 May 1759 (Age 79 years)  [Birth]   7. Joseph FITCH,   b. Nov 1681, Norwich, New London, Connecticut, USA d. 9 May 1741, Lebanon, New London, Connecticut, USA (Age 59 years)  [Birth]   8. Deacon Eleazer FITCH,   b. 14 May 1683   d. Abt 1747 (Age 63 years)  [Birth]
  Family ID	F02125	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	13 Feb 2022

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 24 Dec 1622 - Bocking, County Essex, England Marriage - 1 Oct 1648 - Connecticut Death - 18 Nov 1702 - Lebanon, New London County, Connecticut  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S4773] Roscoe Conkling Fitch, "History of the FITCH Family" AD 1400-1930, (Privately by the Fitch Family). [S01702] S. Whitney, Ancestry.com: "The Whitney Family of Connecticut, and its Affiliations", (Name: Name: New York: Privately Printed 1878;;). [S9214] Richard Anson Wheeler, History of the Town of Stonington, County of New London, Connecticut. [S01668] Clemens, William Montgomery., American Marriage Records Before 1699, (Name: Name: Pompton Lakes, NJ: Biblio Co., 1926;;).