| Abstract: |
Zalmon Fitch (1785-1860) was an early Ohio attorney and land agent, and a leader in the financial circles of Cleveland and
Warren, Ohio. Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, Fitch established the second general store in the Western Reserve in Canfield,
Ohio, in 1810. He moved to Warren in 1813 and served as the land agent for several of the original stockholders of the Connecticut
Land Company. Fitch was cashier of the Western Reserve Bank when it was established in 1816 and served in that capacity for
23 years until he became president. Fitch was the trustee appointed by the receivers of the Bank of Cleveland to settle its
affairs after its collapse in the Panic of 1837. Fitch also served on the board of directors of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh
Railroad in 1859. The ollection consists of correspondence, contracts, surveys, financial calculations, tax records, receipts,
promissory notes, sight drafts, insurance policies, powers of attorney, and miscellaneous legal papers, relating to Fitch's
activities as a land agent; records of the Bank of Cleveland and the Western Reserve Bank; correspondence concerning the Banks
of Geauga, Geneva, Orleans, and St. Clair, the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad, and the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati
Railroad; correspondence and transactions of Simon Perkins, Elihu Spencer, and William Williams; and copies of letters, a
will, affidavits, and an essay pertaining to John Fitch, inventor of the steamboat.
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