Olive Aurelia Fitch

Olive Aurelia Fitch
_________Tenn

Photo Credit: Rosa G. Gonzales

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1.  Photograph of earlier condition of headstone

Provenance:  From the Collection of the

Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History

Submitted by:  Pat Murphy
 

2.  Biography

Fitch, Olive Aurelia

(17 January 1872 – 26 March 1877)

Since this child is buried next to 6 year old Samuel Fitch and his parents, John and Avaline Fitch, it seems reasonable to conclude that she too is a child of John Fitch and Avaline Byington.  John Fitch of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania came to Texas in 1850 where he served as the first elected sheriff of Bee County.  Later he moved to Nueces County where he worked for many years for Richard King and Mifflin Kenedy before serving during the Civil War as a captain under Col. John S. Ford and as a ranger under Capt. Bill Tobin.  John Fitch married Avaline Byington of Banquete on January 1, 1868.  His obit notes that nine children were born to this union, but only seven survived him.  The two that predeceased John appear to be Samuel (who died on October 18, 1887 at 6 years old) and Olive Aurelia (who died March 26, 1877 at only 5 years old).  In death these two little ones rest with their parents who are buried beside them.  Only these four occupy the Fitch plot.  The original gravestone of Olive says that she was born in Tennessee.  Possibly her parents were there on business for the Kings or Kenedys or lived there briefly.  Ultimately the family moved to a ranch near Boerne where Captain John Fitch died.  Avaline died later in San Antonio, but both she and her husband were brought back to Corpus Christi to rest beside their two children who had died young.

Research and transcription: Michael A. Howell