The Descendants of Seymour Fitch and Elizabeth Hoyt of New Canaan, Connecticut A CONTRIBUTION TO THE EARLY HISTORY OF WALTON, NEW YORK by EDWARD FITCH Clinton, Ne,v York 1939 From WALTON QUADRANGLE, U. S. Geological Survey. CONTENTS Page PREFACE 5 INTRODUCTORY Seymour Fitch 7 The Settlement in Walton 8 The Catskill Turnpike 10 An Alternative Route 10 Thaddeus Hoyt of Walton 11 The First Homes 13 The Elizabeth Fitch Sampler 15 -Characterization 15 GENEALOGICAL RECORD Seymour Fitch, II 19 Lindall Fitch 29 Ezra Fitch 36 Nathaniel Fitch 37 Asa Fitch 50 Hannah Fitch (Benedict) 88 GENEALOGICAL CHARTS 89 WORKS OF REFERENCE 103 • • • m 2. s~"" ...QI.., ~\,; • :s; ~~ ...u, ~ • .::::,.~f===·======·~• • I • • • • • EU.:;QPAS T'Jc. • ~ ••• 'I I ... • • • MAP OF WALTON in 1842 Courtesy of the Walton Reporter PREFACE The first impulse to the completion of this work came from seeing a brief family record kept by Mary Esther (White) Weed, late of \Valton, N. Y., which showed in tabu­ lar forn1 the six children of Seymour Fitch and Elizabeth Hoyt, with their children. That simple record has been grad­ ually elaborated. The greatest single c~ntribution was made by Elizabeth (More) Cumming, late of Deposit, N. Y., who in 1934 put into my hands the material about the family of her grand­ mother, Elizabeth Betts (Fitch) Alverson. That material has been used as she furnished it, ,vith a few later additions. Others who have been helpful by providing family records in written form are: Miss Susan E. Wakeman, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Mrs. Olive (Green) Gallentine, late of Morrison, Ill; Miss Emma Brisack, Binghamton, N. Y.; Robert Graham Fitch of Laramie, Wyoming; Mrs. Julia (Marvin) North, late of Wal~ ton, N.Y.; Rev. F. J. Fitch of Woodland, Mich; Mrs. Hannah (Honeywell) Rose, of Windsor, Conn.; Linus Patchen, of Binghan1ton, N. Y.; Mrs. Georgiana (Pine) Knapp, of Walton, N. Y. And there are still others, not listed by name, ,vho have ans,vered inquiries., verified dates, and rendered many similar services, whose ready help is much appreciated. Substantial assistance has been received from an expert genealogist, Edwin W. Wheat, of Brooklyn, N. Y., who, though not a relative, traces his lineage back to \Valton families. Acknowledgeµient is here due to Miss Sarah Hoyt of Wal­ ton, N. Y., who made available for publication the two docu­ ments found on pages 9, 11- 13. It will be observed that every name in the family record has a number attached. The numerical system that has been used to identify the individual and to show his generation deserves special attention; it deserves also a special expres­ sion of thanks to the one who devised it. The system was worked out for the permanent record of the More family by Professor Charles Church More of the University of Wash­ ington, Seattle, Washington, and has long been in use in the 5 6 PREFACE published records of that family. The problem of the l\fore family was identical ,vith that of the present undertaking, namely, to make a complete record of the descendants of a single pair, whose children were all born in the last decades of the eighteenth century. The number prefixed to any given name consists of a series of digits, pronounced as one would pronounce a telephone number. For example, 5(12)3,8 would be "five, twelve, three, eight." This means that the person so numbered descended from the fifth child of Seymour Fitch and Elizabeth Hoyt, through the twelfth and the third, and is himself the eighth child. It is still easier to read the digits backward, as the eighth child of the third child of the t,velfth child of the fifth child of the original pair. The Genealogical Charts, pp. 89 - 102, afford a survey of the preceding Genealogical Record, and may serve instead of an alphabetical list of names. The family record as it is here given is incomplete at certain points ; it is not in all cases brought down to the present time ; and no doubt it contains errors in ,vhat it offers. It is, nevertheless, a record, and is being put in a form which may be consulted by those who are interested. In the case of two families where there has been inter­ marriage, reference is made to published works: The Genea/,­ ogy of the Benedicts in America. By Henry Marvin Benedict. Albany, 1870. The Whites. By H.K. White, Detroit, 1906. Clinton, New York, August 1, 1939. PART I INTRODUCTORY The six children of Seymour Fitch and Elizabeth Hoyt were born in New Canaan, Connecticut, and all of them settled in Walton, Delaware County, New York, or in the neighboring town of Franklin. The main purpose of this work is to make a record, as complete as possible, of their descendants. As an introduction to that general subject, the f ollo,ving account of the ancestry and of the three marriages of Seymour Fitch is given. I SEYMOUR FITCH 1. THOMAS FIT-CH, immigrant (1612 - 1704), was born in Bocking, County Essex, England, the son of Thomas Fitch and ..t\nn Reeve. There is documentary evidence that he was a citizen of Norwalk, Conn"" in lffiO. His younger brother, Rev. Ja1nes Fitch1, came to this country in 1638, and there is an independent tradition (see p. 16) that Thomas Fitch came from England "in 1638 in the ship Defiance." Thomas Fitch, son of Thomas Fitch and Ann Reeve, married Anne Stacie. Their children were Thomas, II, John, Mary, Ann, and Sarah. 2. JOHN FITCH, the second child of Thomas Fitch and Ann Stacie, was born in Bocking, England, in 1633. He came to this country with his parents and lived in Norwalk, Conn. He married Rebecca Lindall of Ne,v Haven, Conn., December 3, 1674. Their third child ,vas Nathaniel Fitch, born Novem­ ber 6, 1682, in N orwa.lk~ Conn. 3. NATHANIEL FITCH married Anna---. Their son was Lindall Fitch, who became a member of the New 1The descendants of the two brothers, Thomas and J arnes, are widely represented in this country (History of the Fitch Family 1, 96 ; 2, lff.). A third brother, Samuel Fitch of Hartford, Conn.,, had descendants (Ibid., 204-6). A fourth brother, Joseph Fitch, had as a great grand­ son John Fitch, inventor of the steamboat (Ibid. 2, 207:ff.). 7 8 DESCENDANTS OF SEYMOUR FITCH Canaan church August 10, 1755. He died March 24, 1773, aged 56, "of a consumption and gravel." . 4. LINDALL FITCH married Mary Bartlett. Their son was Seymour Fitch of Ne,v Canaan, Conn.. , who was baptized June 27, 1742. 5. SEYMOUR FITCH served in the Ninth Company, Ninth Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers under Captain John Carter, General Wooster, and Colonel John Mead. He married first, on April 7, 1763, Elizabeth Hoyt, daughter of Ezra Hoyt and Phoebe Benedict. Rev. Robert Silliman per­ formed the ceremony. Their children2 were : Seymour, II, b. May 14, 1764, baptized July 22., 1764 ; Lindall, b. April 4, 1766, baptized June 1, 1766; Ezra, baptized March 6, 1768; Nathaniel, b. January 8, 1770, baptized March 4, 1770; Asa, b. May 16, 1772, baptized July 19, 1772 ; Hannah, b. September 24, 1775. Seymour Fitch married second, Hannah Raymond. Their children were Thomas, Le,vis, Abijah, Sally. There is a record in the family Bible of Cyrus Fitch that Thomas and Abijah removed to New York City.. There is no available record of the other t,vo children. Seymour -Fitch 1narried third, Martha St. John, daughter of Nehemiah St. John, on July 17, 1783, in New Canaan, Conn. Their son was William Fitch, who died January 23, 1852, aged 63 years. He is buried in New Canaan. Seymour Fitch died April 24, 1799 (New Canaan church record). II THE SETTLEMENT IN WALTON., NEW YORK The following sketch of Seymour Fitch, II, written by his son., Thaddeus Fitch, contains an account of two journeys from New Canaan to Walton, in the spring of 1789 and of 21n the "Journal of Family Visitation in Canaan Parish,. 1772," by Rev. William Drummond, is the entry : "January 12, Seymour Fitch. Elizabeth, his wife; Seymour, Lyndel, Ezra, Nathaniel, Asa, children; widow Lydia Crawfoot." THE SETTLEMENT IN WALTON 9 1790. Thaddeus Fitch was sjx years old, when he made the journey of 1790. Sketch of Seymour Fitch, as given by Thaddeus Fitch, his son. Seymour Fitch was born in New Canaan, then a Parish in the town of Norwalk, Ct., in May, 1764. He was the son of Seymour and Elizabeth Hoyt Fitch of New Canaan, Ct .. , and grandson of Lindal Fitch, who, it is supposed, came over fr.om England. He had four brothers, viz., Lindal, Ezra, Nathaniel, and Asa, and one sister, Hannah. who married David Benedict. These all settled in this town [Walton, N. Y.]. Seymour Fitch came to this town in 1789. In the spring of that year he left New Canaan in company with Thaddeus Hoyt, Matthew Benedict, Silas Benedict, and his brother, Lindal Fitch, coming by way of Catskill, Harpersfield, &c. to Walton. They found a few families here; amongst them were the John­ sons, Pines and Townsends. They selected a lot then called the Mountains lot, and divided it between them. This lot is now occupied by Geo. M. Hanford, Ed·ward Hoyt, Dea. A. Hoyt. Here they commenced a clear­ ing and by joining w:orks put up each a log house and made what preparation they could for moving their families the next spring. They worked here till fall and then went back to Connecticut, ex­ cept Thaddeus Hoyt who staid till about Christmas to work at shoes.