James Fitch (minister)
| Reverend James Fitch | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1622 Bocking, Essex County, England |
| Died | 1702, age 79 Lebanon, Connecticut |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Minister |
| Known for | Founder of Norwich and Lebanon, Connecticut; envoy to the Mohegans |
Rev. James Fitch (24 December 1622 – 19 November 1702) was instrumental in the founding of Norwich and Lebanon, Connecticut. He was the first minister ordained in Saybrook, Connecticut and played a key role in negotiations with the Mohegans during King Philip's War.
Fitch was born in Bocking, County of Essex, England on 24 December 1622 to Thomas and Anna (Reeve) Fitch. His father died when he was 10 years old but he left money in the will so that his son could study at Cambridge. Instead, Fitch was taken under the wing of a family friend Rev. Thomas Hooker of Chelmsford and probably began studying to be a minister. He studied languages during his youth.
In 1638 at the age of 16, Fitch sailed to America with his brother Thomas.
He finished his theological study in Hartford, Connecticut under the Reverend Hooker and Reverend Samuel Stone, also of Bocking, England. A new church was built in Saybrook, Connecticut and Fitch was ordained as its first minister in 1646.
In May of 1659, the congregation at Saybrook applied to the General Court at Hartford for permission to make a new settlement at Norwich and received permission. In June the settlers approached the three sachems of Mohegan - Uncas, Owaneco and Attawanhood - who sold them a nine square mile tract of land. Fitch accompanied the congregation as their leader along with Major John Mason.
Shortly after his arrival at Norwich, the Hartford church extended to him a call to be their pastor. This offered him a wider field and greater influence, but he declined and replied, "With whom then, shall I leave these few poor sheep in the wilderness?" He was devoted to his people, and they retained to the last a deep affection for him.
Rev. Fitch learned several local languages and preached Christianity to the native Americans in their own language.
The Connecticut General Assembly authorized Fitch to hear matters of controversy between Indians and colonists and commissioned him to instruct the Mohegan in the Christian religion. Uncas sought to make Fitch the successor to John Mason’s guardianship of the Mohegan after Mason’s death in 1672, and initially encouraged tribal members to attend Fitch’s instructions. In time, Fitch’s Indian congregation grew to about 30 members, but they were constantly harassed by Uncas, who had wavered in his view about Puritan Christianity.
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