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WALTER FITCH, SR.

    Walter Fitch, Sr., is a prominent figure in the mining circles of
 Utah. He makes his
home at Eureka, where he supervises the mining interests which he and
 his sons projected
some twelve years since. He was born in London, England, January 20,
 1854, a son of
Alfred Fitch, a descendant of the old Fitch family of Essex and Norfolk
 counties,
England. The son Walter was seventh in order of birth in a family of
 nine children. He
came to the United States in 1874, going to the mining region of Upper
 Michigan, where he
engaged in mining work, ultimately having charge of and becoming the
 manager of a number
of mines there and in Minnesota, representing prominent Boston and
 Pittsburgh interests.
After twenty odd years service with these he was superintendent of the
 underground
operations of the Calumet and Hecla and afterward was general manager
 of the United
States Mining & Smelting Company of Utah, giving up these to take up
 like work for
himself.

    It was in Michigan that Mr. Fitch was married to Miss Exilda
 Marcotte, a native of
the state of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Fitch's three sons and two
 daughters were all born in
Michigan. After living there for thirty years Mr. Fitch and his family
 moved to Utah,
where he and his sons have, for the last twelve years, been engaged in
 building up the
business of their company-the Chief Consolidated Mining Company. The
 scene of their
operations is in the Tintic mining district and it was here they made
 their search for
and found the mines which now rank as the largest in the district and
 as silver producers
are among the largest in the country. After living in Salt Lake City
 for two years the
family, in 1909, decided to live at the mines, and to this action Mr.
 Fitch believes
large credit is to be given for the successful results gained.

    The eldest of the sons, Howard Fitch is engaged in the geological
 department of the
work. He served during the World war with the One Hundred Fifteenth
 Engineers of the
Sixth Army Corps, and was with the troops for eleven months in France.
 Cecil Fitch and
Walter Fitch, Jr., both graduates of the Michigan College of Mines,
 were the active
factors in the development and opening up of the mines of the Chief
 Consolidated, Cecil
has been twelve years at the work and is now the general manager, while
 Walter, Jr.,
after devoting seven years to this, took up mining work on his own
 account and now has a
very successful business as a contractor of mining, operating in
 several states. The
eldest daughter, Lillian, became the wife of J. Fred. Johnson, who
 holds the position of
superintendent of the Chief Consolidated Company. He served with the
 One Hundred
Sixteenth Engineers of the Forty-first Division in France. Maud, the
 second daughter, is
well known to the people of the state and in her own town for her
 activities and her
benevolent and enterprising characteristics. She served in the World
 war with the
English, Hackett-Lowther Ambulance Unit, which operated with the Third
 French Army in the
Compiegne and Saint Quentin campaigns. She received the decoration of
 the Croix de
Guerre.

    The Fitch family are communicants of the Catholic Church and are
 its strongest
supporters in their own village. Mr. Fitch and his sons are members of
 the American
Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers and of its local
 chapter, and also of the
Alta and University Clubs. Mr. Fitch is a member of the Commercial Club
 of Salt Lake City
and of the Rocky Mountain Club of New York, the Mining and
 Metallurgical Society of
America, of the Houghton Club of Michigan,, one of the vice governors
 of the chapter of
the American Mining Congress and one of the regents of the University
 of Utah. He is
president of his own company-the Chief Consolidated. He became a
 citizen of this country
in 1876 and has always been a republican in politics.

Extracted from:

UTAH SINCE STATEHOOD
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME IV
CHICAGO-SALT LAKE: THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1920