20 Facts About Ezra Fitch

Ezra Hasbrouck Fitch was an American real estate developer and hobbyist outdoorsman.

Ezra Fitch is attributed with much of the company's successful growth in its early years.

Ezra Hasbrouck Fitch was born September 27,1865, in Coxsackie, Greene County, New York.

Ezra Fitch was the only child in a Christian family.

Ezra Fitch's parents were Roswell Reed Fitch and Margaretta Wyanna Hasbrouck.

Ezra Fitch would be referred to as Ezra's mother.

Ezra Fitch spent his early years growing up at the Roswell Reed estate on the banks of the Hudson in Coxsackie built by his grandfather around 1850.

Ezra Fitch lived in Brooklyn for a time, working as an agent for an asphalt company.

Ezra Fitch married Sarah Huntington Sturges in Brooklyn on March 2,1897.

Ezra Fitch was the daughter of Stephen Buckingham Sturges, a banker, who was born in Mansfield, Ohio, and Sarah Minerva Cary of Syracuse, New York.

Ezra Fitch built the Huntington apartment house there, among other projects.

Ezra Fitch enjoyed the outdoors, and spent his leisure time yachting, climbing the Adirondacks and fishing in the streams of the Catskills.

Ezra Fitch disputed with Abercrombie about who best to manage the company.

Ezra Fitch wanted to expand the company to the general public, whereas Abercrombie, who was conservative, wanted the company to remain as a store for the elite.

Ezra Fitch expanded and managed the company to great levels of popularity.

Ezra Fitch created its first mail-order catalog, released in 1909.

In 1928, Ezra Fitch retired from the company, leaving it under new management.

Ezra Fitch died on June 16,1930, on his newly built 60-foot cruising yacht Content at Santa Barbara, California, only a few days after moving on to the boat.

Fitch's grandfather, Ezra Fitch, was a businessman who operated sloops on the Hudson River in the Wilbur section of Kingston, New York, with his brother-in-law, Roswell Reed Jr.

Ezra Fitch built a hotel on Abeel Street in Kingston to accommodate guests on his boats.