Thomas Fitch V (1725 - 1795)

Born 12 Aug 1725 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 16 Jan 1795 at age 69 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA

Biography

Thomas Fitch V is Notable.

Thomas Fitch V was born 12 Aug 1725, in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut. He was the son of Governor Thomas Fitch, IV and Hannah (Hall) Fitch. ^[1]

He served as an officer in the French and Indian War, primarily in upstate New York, near Fort Crailo.

Captain Thomas Fitch assembled his company of raw young recruits before the Fitch Homestead in Norwalk during the early days of the French and Indian War 1755-1761. Their lack of uniforms caused his sister Elizabeth to present each man a chicken feather for his hat that might suggest association^[2]

As they arrived at Fort Crailo, New York, the British regulars began to mock and ridicule the rag-tag Connecticut troops who only had chicken feathers for uniform. Dr. Richard Shuckburgh, a British army surgeon, added new words to a popular tune of the time, Lucy Locket (i.e., "stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni", macaroni being the London slang at the time for a foppish dandy)^{[3] [1]}

After that conflict, now "Colonel" Thomas Fitch returned to Norwalk. He was a prominent resident during and after the American Revolution. His Governor father honoring his war achievements thru the gift of a parcel of land upon which was soon built the house which became known as the Yankee Doodle House.

He served as a town councilman. He was, along with Thaddeus Betts, in the first delegation from Norwalk to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1776. He helped with the reconstruction efforts after the burning of Norwalk in 1779.

Thomas Fitch passed away on January 16, 1795, in Norwalk, Fairfield County, Connecticut, and was buried in the East Norwalk Historical Cemetery. He was 70 years old. ^[4]

For the 1790 US Census, Thomas's household included two slaves and two free persons of color.

His will is dated 10 September 1793 and proved on 26 January 1795 in Fairfield. His inventory was completed on 12 March 1795. It included one enslaved black woman named Naomi, and two enslaved black girls, named Eleanor and Eliany.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} History of the Fitch family, A. D. 1400-1930; a record ... v.1. Fitch, Roscoe Conkling, 1903- pg 116-117, 136-148
2. ↑ Wikipedia:History_of_Norwalk,_Connecticut
3. ↑ Wikipedia:Yankee_Doodle
4. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #5014
5. ↑ “Probate Records, v. 24-25, 1787-1798”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G92K-BFHG : 19 July 2022), FHL microfilm 007627289, image 444-447, Fairfield, Fairfield, Connecticut, Vol 25, 1792-1798, Pages 274-279.

• Van Hoosear, David Hermon. A Complete Copy of the Inscriptions Found on the Monuments, Headstones, &c., in the Oldest Cemetery in Norwalk, Conn. (The Standard Association, Bridgeport, Conn., 1895) Page XXIII
• Selleck, Charles. Norwalk (The Author, Norwalk, Conn., 1896) Page 208

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• US Census, 1790 (Greenwich, CT)