FISH * FYSH * FYSHE

In 1645 King Charles made his headquarters at Market Harborough. (Market Harborough is now a favorite hunting-ground for English Sportsman to ride to the hounds). In the days of papel supremacy in England the ancient parish still bore the Roman name of Bowden Magna. A tablet on the porch of the present parish church contains a list of the priests from 1215 to the present. This church stands on the north side of the public green in the little village of Great Bowden. It is dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. It is a long low picturesque building of stone, a square tower at the west end, surmounted by a short octagonal spire. The chief entrance is through the south porch which is reached by a path fenced in on either side by rows of old tombstones elaborately carved. Their inscriptions now almost undecipherable. Inside on the north wall of the chancel is the Fish tablet, erected to the memory of Henrietta, wife of Augustine Fish, Gentleman, and daughter of Sir Edward Farmer of Middlesex, Knight, who died in 1703. Upon this tablet are engraved the Arms of the Fish and Farmer families. (Augustine was a descendant of John Fyshe. He remained in England. Some of John Fyshe's descendant emigrated to North America.)

As a rule in the old Catholic days, the members of the Fish Family were loyal and faithful supporters of the Roman Catholic church, and some of them entered the priesthood or became members of the religious houses. After the establishment of the English church on the protestant basis by Henry VIII they easily adjusted themselves to the new conditions. The parish records contain more than six generations of the family coming on down to the latter half of the 19th century. The last of the Fish name died in 1888. There are also many Fish records in neighboring parishes.

The ansestral line of the early immigrants to New England began with John Fyshe of Market Harborough, Great Bowden parish who was probably born around 1555. John, who was of the yeoman class married Margaret Cradock. The record of this marriage is not found in the parish, but all their children were baptized there. Most of them reached maturity and married and their families are accounted for in the wills of John and Margaret. He died Feb 19, 1622. She died 1631.

There were dwelling in the parish some of Edward's children and grandchildren. They show us the connection between Edward in 1518 and John in 1555 four years before Great Bowden records were first officially kept. The earliest entries were: "Augustine Fyshe 1560 burial 7 May, Edward - burial 1560 30 May, Tobye - burial 1563 8 Oct., Thomas - burial 1570 4 Jan., Augustine - burial 1579 26 Aug."..."We may surmise that Augustine Fyshe who died in 1579 was the father of John and the other four may have been his uncles, or his older brothers, or cousins."

Robert Fyshe was baptized Aug. 12 1593. He was the son of Thomas Fyshe who probably was also a descendant of Edward Fyshe of Harborough. Robert married Alice Fyshe who was probably his cousin. She was John Fyshe's daughter. Her mother was Margaret Cradock Fyshe of Great Bowden. She was baptized Nov. 6, 1597. Robert and Alice were married Feb. 24, 1618. Robert was a silk merchant of Market Harborough in the parish of Great Bowden. He died Dec, 1639 aged 46 and is buried at Great Bowden. They had eleven children. Probably through his death or business reversals the young family was thrown upon its own resources and broken up. The older sons Thomas and John came to New England -- Portsmouth, R.I. and Connecticut. Joseph may have been in Stamford, Conn. in 1651.

John Fish, colonist, surveyer, school teacher and soldier, landed at Lynn in 1637. He settled at Stratford. His house and lot was at the northerly end of the village. In the autumn of 1654 a controversy between him and some men in town growing out of some accusations he made against them, was carried into the court and might have been the reason that he suddenly sold his home and six acres and moved to New London. He was married to a young woman named Mary Ireland who was from a Knightly family of Yorkshire, England. The records of the Stonington Congregational Church show baptisms of Samuel, John, and Mary, children of john Fish all in adult life on Mar. 13, 1680. In 1668 the father John Fish was one of 43 inhabitants of Stonington. A twelve acre home lot was granted to John Fish and was retained by him through his life. His son Samuel in Dec, 1710 sold the lot to James Dean.

During the Narragansett War or the expedition against the Indians under King Philip in 1675/76, The Connecticut Colony sent about 300 volunteers from among her settlers and a number of Pequot Indians. Both John and his son Samuel were among these volunteers. about 1700 a town was set apart to be alloted to the Indian War Volunteers. It was named Voluntown. There were grants of land made for each, and as John Fish had died by then, Samuel was alloted his fathers acreage. In his will of Aug 7, 1730 he bequeathed his land to his son Samuel and devided his fathers grant between his sons, Moses and Aaron. Two grandsons of Samuel settled on these lands at Voluntown and their descendants are still owners thereof (1888).

On Aug. 22, 1679 John was unanimously chosen to be school master of Stonington. On Dec. 5, 1680 he was admitted a member of the Congregational Church. On Aug. 25, 1681 he married Hannah (Palmer) (Hewitt) Steery. It seemed that he had no children that survived except by his first wife, Mary Ireland. His second wife was Martha Stark who proved unfaithful and absconded with Samuel Culver in 1674! John obtained a divorce in 1680 -- the first mentioned in Fish geneology -- and in 1681 he was again married.

He was a land surveyor and laid out many of the public lands as the Stonington records bear witness. His brother-in-law, Gershom Palmer was associated with him in 1680/81. By grant and purchased he became owner of considerable land Stonington and in Groton and in other towns nearby totalling over 1000 acres.Mary Ireland at age 1 1/2 sailed to America in the "Increase" with her father Samuel and her mother Marie from London -- 1635. They settled in Wethersfield, Conn. Samuel died May 20, 1639 at age 36 -- leaving an estate of 70 pounds. The widow Marie married Robert Burrows. In 1651 Robert Burrows obtained a large grant of land on the west bank of the Mystic River at the present town of Groton.

We do not know exactly when John Fish came to this country from Great Bowden, England. He found his way to Wethersfield and Mystic and was there in 1651, and married Mary Ireland. He was 12 to 14 years older than she. Soon after they went to Stratford in the New Haven Colony where he acquired land and built his first home. At about the same time Robert Burrows and his family moved to New London and acquired a large plantation on the banks of the Mystic River.

John Fish was seemingly a man of quick temper and spoke with a strong "North Country" dialect. After he and Mary moved from Stratford their son Samuel was born in the house of his grandmother, Mrs. Burrows. Their children were - John, Alice, Jonathan, Mary, and Samuel.

Samuel Fish. Born 1656, baptized Stonington, Conn 1680. His estate inherited from his father was situated betwenn the Mystic River and the N.E. slope of Pequot Hill, on the northeastern slope of which between the highway and the river, he erracted his house. The old cellar in the west end of the field belonging to the late Russell Fish Esq. may still be traced (1872!) by a depression in the earth. He was a Captain in the French and Indian Wars -- 1676. He was admited to the First Church at Stonington Apr. 18, 1689. He was the second selectman at Groton on its organization and was re-elected to this position for many years. He married about 1682/83, Sarah Stark. She was \born 1660, daughter of Aaron Stark, Sr. She died Dec. 11, 1722. He married second Dorothy (Wheeler) Smith. He was Representative to the General Court of Connecticut in 1702-'07-'08-'12. He was a man of dignity and influence. He died Feb. 27, 1733 and lies buried in the old Packer Buring Ground at Groton.

Samuel and Sarah had seven children-- Samuel, John, Moses, Abigail, Aaron, Nathan and Sarah.

Aaron Fish. Born 1693, Groton, Conn. He married July 9, 1723. Irene Sprague of Lebanon, Conn. Aaron became a doctor and did much good for the people of Groton "many deedsz were thus in his name in the Groton records." Their children were; Aaron, Samuel, Asahel, Zerviah, Irene, and Eynice.

Aaron Fish. Born April 27, 1729 at Lebanon, Conn. He married 5 Feb. 1755 Lydia Backus of Windham, Conn. She was born July 15, 1736. Lydia was the connecting link between the two families Fish and Bradford. Lydia's great-grandmother was Alice Bradford who was the granddaughter of Gov. William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony. Lydia was the daughter of John Backus and Sybil Whiting. In the Backus family, her grandfather was born in 1661 and was the first white child born in Norwich, Conn. The Backus ancestor who came to America was William, born in Norwich Norfolk County, England, settled in Saybrook, Conn. 1637.

The children of Aaron and Lydia were; James Danielson, Nathan, Lydia, and Charles.

Charles Fish, youngest son of Aaron and Lydia, was born in Groton (?) Mar. 31, 1766. He married Jemima Powell in 1794. Between 1800 and 1806 he moved with his family to Augusta, Oneida County, N.Y. where he built the first saw mill in 1808. He later built a grist mill, a carding mill and a cloth dressing mill. He also built a potashing plant and brick yard. His was a very extensive business and a fruitful life. He died at Augusta Sept. 26, 1843.

Charles and Jemima had 13 children;

1. Diantha b. Nov. 14, 1795, d. 1870, m. William Herrick
2. John b. Apr. 11, 1797, d. 1851, m. Olive Belcher first, m. second Harriet Loomer
3. Maria b. Sept. 2, 1798, d. 1874
4. Thompson b. Jan. 17, 1800, d. Dec. 1841
5. Lydia b. Sept. 23, 1802, d. 1875, m. Samuel Wright
6. Betsy Weed b. Apr. 27, 1804, d. Oct. 1845
7. Lora b. May 3, 1807, d. Jan 1865, m. (1) Mr. Stewart, m.(2) Anson Pond
8. Charles b. Aug. 23, 1809, d. Mar 15, 1885, m. Jane Lighthall
9. David b. Sept 25, 1810 d. 1859, m. Catherine Mohanna
10. Mary Ann b. Dec. 4, 1811
11. William L. b. Jan 4 1813, d. Mar 1876, m. Ann F. Breckenridge, a famous Kentucky family (they had two children Sarah L. who married Samuel Hamer of Townsend, Ohio, and Charles who moved to Lawrence, Kansas)
12. George Atkins b. Oct 4, 1814, m. Cynthia Dunning
13. Horace b. Mar. 1816, d. 1888, m. Nancy Segur

    George Atkins was born Oct. 4, 1814 at Augusta, Oneida County, N.Y. He died Sept. or Oct. 21, 1884 in Bakersfield, California. His wife Cynthia Dunning was born Aug. 28, 1818 in Flemming, N.Y. They married Jan. 10, 1839. Their children were; Marion Theodore, Rosamund Cecelia, Orestes Dunning "Uncle O.D.", Lora Ann, Herbert Hammond, Lydia Estelle, Carrie Minerva.

    (I have recently been in correspondence with Kate Skinner-Klee who is a third cousin of my husband, George, and is descended from Rosamund Cecilia "Aunt Rose". This seems as good a place as any to write about her family. Rosa was born Jan 1, 1842 in Norwich Huron Co. Ohio. She married Joseph Perry Lawrence Dec. 20, 1864. She died Mar. 1921 in Ohio. They had a daughter Katherine Lawrence, b. Dec. 1871 Norwalk, Ohio, who married Cornelius Wortendyke Anderson in 1893. Katherine and Cornelius had a daughter Margaret and a son Lawrence. Margaret is the mother of third cousin Kate Skinner-Klee and Lawrence married his cousin, Stella "Star" Fish, the daughter of Herbert Hammond (who was a great deal younger than his sister Rose.) Stella was the sister of George Arthur Fish, son of Herbert Hammond, and father of my husband, G. (See Fish geneology).

    George Atkins Fish and his wife Jemima must have moved to Auburn, Michigan soon after they were married. Their first child was born there. In 1841 they moved to Norwich, Ohio. Rosa lived and died there, Orestes Dunning later moved to Bakersfield to be in business with his brother Herbert Hammond. Lora Ann married Lyman Congdon who started a stationery store with a friend, called Congdon and Crome. Congdon and Crome has branch stores around the San Francisco Bay Area to this day (1991). Estelle Lydia died in Berkeley, California in 1914. Carrie Minerva died about 1878 in Bakersfield.

    Herbert Hammond Fish

    Herbert Hammond Fish was born Dec. 16, 1847 in Norwich, Ohio. The story that was told to me by my mother-in-law, Virginia Fish ("Gin Gin" is her grandmother name -- "Gin" to her friends). H.H. came with a train-load of cattle from Ohio to San Diego around 1870. He rode in the same box car with them. From San Diego he herder them to a ranch in Bakersfield. He stayed in Bakersfield and worked on ranches for a while, and then he got a job at a general merchandise store. Ultimately he bought the store. Then he sent for his brother Orestes Dunning Fish "Uncle O.D." who had lost one arm in a mill accident. Uncle O.D. kept the books. When the livery stable went up for sale H.H. bought it. The train to Bakersfield did not actually go through town, but passed by about 10 miles out of town. H.H. ran a house-car to the train to bring people to and from the train. He bought another property which consisted of three blocks of vacant lots. He earned a large income once a year when the circus came to town and rented his lots! Eventually the lots were built on. Sears Roebuck was one of those stores. The first venture, the general store was where there is now a drug store, the corner of 19th and Chester. The family kept the Bakersfield properties for many years. They sold them between 1950 and 1970. H.H. Fish was Mayor of Bakersfield at one time. His picture hangs in the city hall there.

    Henrietta Berlinger	Bella Loeb

    H.H. met his wife to be while she was singing in the church choir. He married Bella Loeb July 6, 1882. He was 34. She was 21.

    Bella Loeb

    Bella Loeb was born in New York City Mar. 15, 1861. Her mother was Henriette Burlinger and her father was Henry Loeb. Henry had gone to San Francisco earlier to set up his business and find a home for his little family. Mother and daughter travelled from N.Y. to New Orleans, then went by ship to Panama. From Panama they travelled overland to San Diego. When they reached San diego, Bella came down with measles. Henry came down to meet them. When Bella was well again they came by ship to San Francisco. Bella's mother died soon after in 1867. Bella was only seven. She and her father moved into a boarding house where there would be someone around for the little girl while her dad was at work. Henry was in the meat packing business.

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