Richard Copeland - HISTORY BUFF
Le Roy Fitch became one of the honorable men who received great respect from those men serving under his command as well as those men who were his superiors. Not once did he falter in following orders or carrying them out in a superior manner. In fact, the destroyer, U.S.S. Fitch, was named for Commander Le Roy Fitch in 1941. His grandniece, Mrs. H.W. Thomas christened the U.S.S. Fitch as it slid into the water.
Le Roy Fitch was a half brother of Dr. Graham Newell Fitch who lived at the corner of Seventh and Market. His father was Dr. Frederick Fitch, a well-known surgeon in Washington County, N.Y. Dr. Fitch moved to Bellona, N.Y., and married Mary Capen on Dec. 4, 1808. Dr. Graham Fitch was born on Dec. 6, 1809, the first white child born in Le Roy, N.Y. Dr. Frederick lost a leg in the War of 1812. He continued in the medical profession and Graham followed in his father’s footsteps. Graham married Harriet Satterlee. Their first child was born March 5, 1834, in New York. The Fitch family moved westward in July 1834 with Dr. Frederick stopping in Logansport for a few months. He married Harriet Thomas and then continued on to Pekin, Ill., while Dr. Graham Fitch remained in Logansport. Le Roy Fitch was born Oct. 1, 1835, in Peking, Ill.
Dr. Frederick Fitch returned to Logansport in 1837 and moved in with Dr. Graham Fitch. Dr. Frederick Fitch died March 18, 1850, leaving Le Roy a ward of Dr. Graham Fitch. Because Dr. Graham Fitch was elected to the United States Senate, he was able to have Le Roy appointed to the United States Naval Academy in 1851. He graduated as a lieutenant June 20, 1856.
Lt. Fitch served on several ships after graduation. The Civil War began and Lt. Fitch was appointed lieutenant commander at age 29. He was assigned to the Mississippi River fleet of “Tinclad” patrol ships. Tinclads were boats covered with a light covering of metal that could prevent bullets from penetrating the wood. He took part in the battles on the Cumberland River, Tennessee River, and later the Ohio River to prevent Morgan’s Raider from escaping back into Kentucky. The Confederacy set up sniper groups all along the Cumberland, Tennessee and Ohio rivers. The swift Tinclads moved in and destroyed the sniper nests. Cmdr. Fitch was ordered to burn the town of Palmyra in Tennessee to teach the snipers a lesson.
After the Civil War, Cmdr. Fitch taught for a year at Annapolis. He then commanded the gunboat, “Marblehead” in the Atlantic and Caribbean. He came home to Logansport two years and then became commander of the Pensacola Naval Yard in Florida. In 1872, he was assigned to the Navy Department in Washington, D.C.
Cmdr. Fitch became very ill and returned to Logansport in 1873. He died in April 1875.
Le Roy married Mary Smith, the daughter of Major Benjamin H. Smith. Their home was the site of the first St. Joseph Hospital on Cliff Drive.
• Richard B. Copeland is a Cass County Historian and may be reached at ptnews@pharostribune.com. The material for this article came from the Cass County Historical Society archives and the Internet.
