Graham N. Fitch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the pianist, see Graham Fitch.

Graham Newell Fitch

United States Senator from Indiana
In office February 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861
Preceded by	John Pettit
Succeeded by	Henry S. Lane
Personal details
Born	(1809-12-05)December 5, 1809 Le Roy, New York
Died	November 29, 1892(1892-11-29) (aged 82) Logansport, Indiana
Political party	Democratic

Graham Newell Fitch (December 5, 1809 – November 29, 1892) was a United States Representative and Senator from Indiana, as well as a brigade commander in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Early life and career

Born in Le Roy, New York, he attended Middlebury Academy and Geneva College; he studied medicine and completed his medical course at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and commenced practice in Logansport, Indiana in 1834. He was a member of the Indiana House of Representatives in 1836 and 1839, and was a professor of anatomy at the Rush Medical College in Chicago from 1844 to 1848, and at the Indianapolis Medical College in 1878.

Fitch was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses, serving from March 4, 1849 to March 3, 1853; he was not a candidate for renomination in 1852 and resumed the practice of medicine. He was elected to the U.S. Senate to fill a vacancy in the term beginning March 4, 1855, and served from February 4, 1857, to March 3, 1861; he was not a candidate for reelection in 1860. While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Printing (Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Congresses).

Civil War service

After the Civil War erupted and President Abraham Lincoln called for 100,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion, Fitch raised the 46th Indiana Infantry. He served as its colonel before being promoted to command of a brigade.

During the battles of New Madrid and Battle of Island Number Ten, Fitch commanded the 2nd Brigade of Brigadier General John M. Palmer's infantry division. He also participated in the capture of Fort Pillow and Memphis. Fitch later commanded the Union infantry forces at Saint Charles in Arkansas.

In late 1862 he resigned his commission because of injuries received in action.

Postbellum career

Fitch returned home and resumed the practice of medicine in Logansport. He died there in 1892; interment was in Mount Hope Cemetery.

Edwin Denby, Fitch's grandson, was a U.S. Representative from Michigan and Secretary of the Navy.

References

Graham N. Fitch at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-11-05

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Charles W. Cathcart	U.S. Representative, Indiana 9th District 1849–1853	Succeeded by Norman Eddy
United States Senate
Preceded by John Pettit	U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Indiana 1857–1861 Served alongside: Jesse D. Bright	Succeeded by Henry S. Lane

v t e United States Senators from Indiana

Class 1	Noble Hanna Tipton White Bright Wright Turpie T. Hendricks Pratt McDonald Harrison Turpie Beveridge Kern New Ralston Robinson Minton Willis Jenner Hartke Lugar Donnelly

Class 3	Taylor W. Hendricks Smith Hannegan Whitcomb Cathcart Pettit Fitch Lane Morton Voorhees Fairbanks Hemenway Shively Taggart Watson Van Nuys Jackson Jenner Capehart Bayh II Quayle Coats Bayh III Coats

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 28617191 LCCN: n88071039

Persondata
Name	Fitch, Graham N.
Alternative names
Short description	Union United States Army officer and American politician
Date of birth	December 5, 1809
Place of birth	LeRoy, New York
Date of death	November 29, 1892
Place of death	Logansport, Indiana

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.