"Portrait and Biographical Record of Hunterdon and Warren counties, New Jersey"
Chapman Publishing Company, New York and Chicago, 1898
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JOHN FITTS, a retired farmer residing in
Washington, was born in Oxford Township, Warren County, N. J., near the old
Summerfield church, May 6, 1824. He is of
direct German descent, as indicated by his name.
About one hundred and seventy-five years ago
his great-grandfather emigrated from Germany
and settled in Washington Township, Warren
County, where he took up a large tract of land.
The next in line of descent, our subject's grandfather, was born and reared in that township,
where he operated a farm until his death. He
was a man of excellent character and an earnest
member of the Presbyterian Church.
The father of our subject, Christopher Fitts,
was born in Washington Township, and when a
mere lad served in the War of 1812. In connection with the occupation of a farmer he followed
the cooper's trade. Politically he was a Democrat, always stanch in his allegiance to the party.
As his wife he chose Mary Petty, whose father
owned a farm one mile north of Washington and
whose family was among the oldest in this section; her mother was a member of the Strader
family, also among the oldest and most influential in the county. When quite a young man
Christopher Fitts was killed as the result of an
accident. His wife died at the age of fifty-four
years. They were the parents of four sons and
one daughter: Samuel, a farmer; Jonathan, who
died, leaving several children; Jacob, who resides in Washington; John; aud Sarah Ann, who
passed from earth at seventeen years of age.
After the death of his father our subject was
taken into the home of his paternal grandfather,
who dying, bequeathed him the old homestead in
Washington Township. At that time he was
nineteen years of age. He continued to make
his home there until 1855, when he sold the
property and purchased a large farm near
Asbury, this county. In 1894 he retired from
farm work and moved to town, where he has no
business cares except the supervision of his
farm.
In 1845 Mr. Fitts married Miss Eydia Carhart, daughter of Samuel Carhart, who was a
soldier in the War of 1812, a Whig in politics and
a farmer by occupation. He was a descendant
of Scotch ancestors who settled in Warren
County more than two hundred years ago. Mr.
and Mrs. Fitts became the parents of eleven
children, namely: Julia, who is the wife of William Shipman, of Belvidere; John W., a merchant
in Washington; Enoch G., who is with his older
brother; Joseph, a traveling man, whose headquarters are in St. Joseph, Mo.; Mary J., wife of
William Hiner and a resident of Franklin Township, Hunterdon County; Henry, who is unmarried and resides at home; Tirzah Alva, wife of
Jacob Miller; Addie, wife of Benjamin Hutchinson, a merchant of Morris County, N. J. ; Maggie,
wife of Herman Wood, of Newark, N. J.; Rosa,
whose husband, Oscar Osmon, is a farmer at
Harmony, Warren County; and Jesse C, a merchant at Oregon, Holt County, Mo.
For years Mr. Fitts adhered to Democratic
principles, but a realization of the injury wrought
by the liquor traffic led him to ally himself with
the Prohibitionists. For some time he was justice of the peace and also overseer of the poor.
After the death of his first wife, which occurred
in 1882, he was united in marriage with Mrs.
Stott, formerly Annie Rosenberry, of Phillipsburg, N. J. For the past fifty-seven years he
has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and he has served the congregation as
Sunday-school superintendent, steward, trustee
and treasurer; in fact, in every important official
capacity except that of pastor.
(c) 2000-2013 American History and Genealogy Project
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