HARRY FITCH
Bio-Sawyers
SURNAMES: NASON, BLANCHARD,
An enterprising, successful business
man, whose wide experience is evidenced in this happy anticipation of
the public's wants, is Harry H. Fitch, the president and manager of the
San Jose Auto Supply Company, located at 248 North First Street, San
Jose, 1865, the son of Horace W. and Emily (Nason) Fitch; but his
parents died when he was a mere baby. When seventeen years
of age, he migrated to Minnesota, and for six years labored hard there
on a wheat farm; and then went to Montana and for ten years was manager
of a cattle ranch. From the spring of 1898 to the fall of 1908 he
was in Alaska, going in over the Valdez glacier at the head of Prince
William's Sound, traveling on foot and by raft 450 miles to
Dawson. He prospected and mined on Forty-Mile and located a
claim; later mined at the head of the Chitina River and remained there
for several years , meeting with success in gold and copper mining,
particularly the latter. He was one of the original locators of
the Kennicott mines at the head of the Kennicott River, now owned by
bye Gugenheims. In 1908 he disposed of his holdings and came to
San Francisco, after spending ten years in the frozen north. As
early as 1900 he located his family in San Jose, and made ten rough
trips between San Jose and Alaska. Following his location in San
Jose, he became associated with the Osen Auto Company, and in February,
1912, he organized the San Jose Auto Supply Company and established it
at 248 North First Street. From a small beginning the business
has grown until it is now the largest establishment of its kind in the
county. In 1919, Mr. Fitch purchased the Campbell-Collins
Company, wholesale auto accessories and appliances and moved it to 248
South First Street, and it is now the wholesale department of the
Auto Supply Company. Mr. Fitch is the president of the Auto
Supply Company, manager of the Campbell-Collins Company, and
secretary-treasurer of the Osen Motor Sales Company. He belongs
to the Chamber of Commerce, the Merchants Association and the One
Hundred Per Cent Club, and there is no more welcome member of those
flourishing organizations.
At Detroit City, Minn., on June 25, 1889, Mr. Fitch was married to Miss
Rose L. Blanchard, a native of Wisconsin, and their union has been
blessed with one daughter, Margaret, a graduate of Stanford
University. Mr. Fitch was made a Mason in Cascade Lodge No. 28,
A. F. & A. M., in Great Falls, Mont., and is now a member of
Fraternity Lodge No. 399, F. & A. M., in San Jose, and of Howard
Chapter No. 14, R. A. M., San Jose Commandery No. 10, K.T., San Jose
Pyramid No. 9, Sciots and Aahmes Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Oakland,
and of the San Jose Lodge of Elks. Locally he is active in the
Santa Clara Auto Trades Association and was its president for the first
three years of its existence and is still a director; and is also a
member of the State Automobile Association. Mrs. Fitch is an
active member of the Eastern Star and order of Amaranth, and the White
Shrine, and is prominent in civic and social circles. In national
politics Mr. Fitch votes with the Republicans, and during the
recent war he was on all the Liberty and Red Cross Drives.