Howard Edward Fish

Regions:  Jefferson Co., NY; Walworth Co., WI

From History of Walworth County Wisconsin by Albert Clayton Beckwith, Vol. II, publ. 1912, Page 1319-1321 HOWARD EDWARD FISH. Such a life of uprightness, usefulness and industry as that led by Howard Edward FISH cannot well fail of interest and incentive to the young man who stands at the parting of the ways, for in it abound many valuable lessons. Mr. FISH was born in Guilford township, Wyndham county, Vermont, June 13, 1836, and is the son of Edward and Eunice (DENISON) FISH. The father was born at or near Halifax in the same county, and he was the son of Nathan and Susan (LAMB) FISH. His birth occurred in 1778 and he died in 1830. He was the son of Samuel FISH, who came with his wife from Groton, Connecticut, to Vermont when it was wild and unsettled, having made the trip on horseback through an almost trackless forest. Samuel's father was also named Samuel and he was born in 1751; he was a son of Nathan, born in 1727, the latter being the son of Nathan, born in 1699, he being the son of Samuel born in 1656, the latter being the son of John FISH, the emigrant. The last named was one of three brothers, Nathan, John and Jonathan, who came from England and settled in Massachusetts, at the town of Lynn, in a very early day. In 1637 they moved from Lynn to Sandwich on Cape Cod. In 1655 we find a John FISH with wife and children at Groton, he being one of the first settlers there, and he is the ancestor of this family. It is believed that the family name sprang from an ancient Saxon root, referred to in the records of Germany, the spelling there being FISCH, which would be pronounced as we pronounce the name FISH. At a very early date a branch of this family is found in England. Eunice DENISON, mother of the subject of this sketch, grew to womanhood in Wyndham county, Vermont, where her people had long been well known. When Howard E. FISH, of this review, was ten years old the family moved across into Massachusetts and lived there until the fall of 1850 when the family moved to Belleville, Jefferson county, New York. There the parents died, after which Howard E. returned to Massachusetts and was there about two years, then returned to Jefferson county, New York, where he remained until the fall of 1868. Howard E. FISH was married on March 17, 1860, to Emily BARBOUR, daughter of Roswell and Harriet Jane (WARRINER) BARBOUR. The WARRINERS is an old English family, William WARRINER having emigrated to America in 1638, joining the settlers at Springfield Massachusetts, only eighteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims; thus he was one of the first settlers of New England and owned a considerable part of what is now the heart of the city of Springfield. Harriet Jane was the daughter of Reuben and Betsy (CHITTENDEN) WARRINER, the father having been born on April 17, 1781. Emily BARBOUR was born near Belleville, Jefferson county, New York, and when nine years old moved into Belleville and lived there until her marriage, after which they continued to reside in that city until December 1864, when they moved to Adams. During his young manhood Mr. FISH was a clerk in a store at Adams Center, then went into the clothing business with his brother, but soon engaged in the confectionery business alone, also handled school books and other lines. When he moved to Adams he continued the same line of business, adding a branch room and ice cream. In 1868 he came west and in 1869 settled in Chicago, where he started in business, remaining there ten years in charge of a bakery, confectionery and ice cream business. He came to Walworth, this county, in March 1879. He traded for a farm at the edge of what was then the little hamlet of Walworth. There was no railroad here then. He had two acres in the village and his farm consisted of one hundred acres. The village has grown and spread over part of his land, thirty-eight houses having been built on his land, which is now divided into lots, almost as many as there were in the town when he came here. He traveled and sold Cooley creameries several years after coming to Walworth, also other supplies, later selling complete outfits for creameries. Later he engaged in the buggy and implement business for some time at Walworth. Of late years he has discontinued most of this, but he still sells buggies and engages in the livery business. Mr. and Mrs. FISH have one daughter, Eunice Elizabeth, now the wife of Charles Sumner COOPER, of Walworth, a complete sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. FISH has never been an office seeker, but he served on one of the first village boards of Walworth. Mr. and Mrs. FISH are members of the Congregational church, of which they are charter members. Submitted by Carol