newspaperman, b. New Jersey. He moved to Wisconsin in 1850, established the Manitowoc Herald, and was editor and publisher of this paper until it was merged with the Manitowoc Tribune in 1863. In 1857 he founded the Chilton Times in partnership with John P. Hume, but sold his interest to Hume the following year. In 1863 he moved to Racine where he edited the Racine Journal (1863-1865). Although his papers were Democratic in politics, Fitch opposed slavery. In 1865 he moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked for a number of years as correspondent for the Boston Post and the Pittsburgh Chronicle. In 1879 he became secretary to Wisconsin Senator Philetus Sawyer (q.v.), serving in this capacity until Sawyer retired from public life. Washington Post, Oct. 3, 1899; L. Falge, ed., Hist. of Manitowoc Co. (2 vols., Chicago [1912]); D. C. McMurtrie, Early Printing in Wis. (Seattle, 1931); WPA field notes.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]