Roderick Fitch

Born 3 November 1867 at Walton, Delaware County, New York

Died 18 October 1949 at Bedford, Quebec province, Canada

Roderick was the fourth of five children born to George William Fitch and Harriet Sinclair Fitch. He was raised at Walton where his father was a prominent merchant and where Roderick himself was associated with the family mercantile business much of his adult life. Roderick married to Adelaide Hawley at Hawley Station, New York on 15 June 1892. Hawley Station was on the West Branch of the Delaware River, southwest of Hamden and east of Colchester. It was a flag stop on the Ontario & Western Railway's Delhi Branch. They made their home at Walton and were the parents of two children, Marion Hawley Fitch and Roderick Hawley Fitch. Roderick retired from the mercantile about 1920 and was engaged then as a general farmer from which he retired about 1930. After his second retirement, his interests led him to real estate on a small scale. Roderick was an active member of First Congregational Church at Walton and active in county wide church work. He was a member of the Walton Kiwanis Club. He was a charter member of the Delaware County Men's choir and was well known for reciting long passages of scripture at performances. Roderick’s health declined in the year following his wife's death in 1948. He had been living with his daughter in Canada for about three months when he died. Roderick was buried next to his wife at Walton Cemetery in a Fitch family plot. He was my third cousin three times removed.

Roderick Fitch; undated photo published in 1893

Roderick Fitch; undated photo published in 1949

 The 1893 photo was published in The History of the More Family and an Account of Their Reunion in 1890 by David Fellows More. The 1949 photo was published in the November 1949 issue of The Historical Journal of the More Family; Alva J. Brasted, Editor-in-Chief.

Photographed 12 August 2015.

©2016 Cindy Coffell