by Mrs. Barbara Barnes 
John Fitch was born in 1743 on King Street near the East Hartford line. After serving a brief apprenticeship as a clockmaker with the Cheney Brothers of Manchester, young Fitch left South Windsor to become a “suttler,” one licensed to sell goods to the soldiers. After the war, he undertook to map out the Northwest Territory, a region west of Pennsylvania and Virginia. His idea of navigation by steam was incited by his glimpses of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.In 1787, 1788 an(d) 1790, Fitch made three different paddle steam boats. The last of these attained a speed of about 8 miles an hour. Fitch went to France to seek financial assistance for his ideas. There he left his plans with Robert Fulton who was attached to the American Embassy. From the plans, Fulton seems to have learned enough to build his famous ship, the Claremont, which was successfully sailed in 1807. Fitch, a discouraged and completely despondent man returned to Bardstown, Kentucky, where he committed suicide in 1798. His words embroidered on the quilt square read:
“For Full the Scope of Seven Years,
Steamboats Excited Hopes and Fears
In Me, but Now I See It Plain
All Further Progress is in Vain”
John Fitch
Please note that despite possible inaccuracies, we will include the description of each quilt square as published in the 1995 revised and corrected second edition booklet. This second edition was published in celebration of South Windsor’s “sesquicentennial” anniversary, 1845-1995, and was dedicated to the memory of Gail Woodard, who passed away in 1994. The revised edition was compiled by Charles E. Woodward in September, 1995, with the assitance of Doris Burgdorf who provided many historical corrections.