Week 2: Project 2C

Henry Delano Fitch

Understanding my family history will allow one the perspective to see how highly I respect Sonoma County and the man who laid claim to it. Henry Delano Fitch and Josefa Carrillo met and married, but their marriage was fraught with difficulty, for Josefa Carrillo was bequeathed to marry Pio Pico, Last Mexican Governor of California, a man she did not know nor love. She has been said to be one of the most beautiful women in California, and Henry Delano Fitch laid eyes on her the day she went aboard his ship, the Maria Ester to view the goods available for trade. Josefa’s engagement party was that evening, and Pio Pico invited Henry Delano Fitch to be his guest at the engagement party. Somehow that night, through one dance, Josefa and Henry Delano Fitch communicated and fell in love. He told Josefa if she did not want to marry Pio Pico that he would wait in a rowboat at dawn in the harbor of San Diego and take her to his ship and sail her away. She rose at dawn and rode bareback down the coast of San Diego to meet Henry. When Pio Pico realized what she was doing he sent guards on horseback to capture Josefa and return her to him. His guards chased her for many miles, but she successfully made it to Henry, and he was able to get her safely aboard his ship. He sailed to Chile where he married my grandmother. However, Josefa missed her family and wanted to be married again in the Catholic Church with all her family present, so Henry Delano Fitch wrote to Pio Pico and asked permission to return safely to San Diego with his new bride. Pio Pico denied them and said he would shoot Fitch on site if he were to set foot in San Diego. Fitch wrote back telling Pio Pico that he would give him a gold bell in order to ensure their safe return. The gold bell still sits in the square in San Diego today, so one can see that Pio Pico granted Henry Delano Fitch and Josefa permission to return to San Diego. When they returned, Henry Delano Fitch and Josefa remained in San Diego and acquired more land in Baja, California. Henry Delano Fitch increased his holdings purchasing even more land in San Francisco Presidio. Captain Fitch continued to purchase huge assets adding to his portfolio, but it was only a small part of his amassing wealth. Henry Delano Fitch, with the help of General Vallejo, secured a 48,000 land grant in California. While living in San Diego, Henry Delano Fitch and Josefa nearly escaped an Indian raid on their property. Their lives were full of adventure, hardships, love, and happiness.

Henry Delano Fitch held many prestigious offices in San Diego. In 1835, Fitch was appointed town attorney, held the role of police commissioner, and justice of the peace. He was also sequestered by the government of Mexico to be chief executive officer in 1864 when American forces took over. Of all the places that my seventh great grandfather traveled, San Diego, California was where he spent a vast majority of his time and ultimately was his final resting place. I feel so honored to walking and admiring the same vistas of land that Henry Delano Fitch and Josefa Carrillo Fitch once experienced. I hope to make my own indelible footprints on this land one day in beautiful Sonoma County, California.