John Fitch

John Henry Fitch was born on January 19, 1847 in the German-speaking region of Alsace, France. At the age of 7, John, his parents and three sisters, landed in New York City.

In 1865, John went to Greenwood, Michigan to learn the millwright trade. Mr. Fitch then turned his attention to the manufacture of mechanical inventions. In 1868, John filed for 80 acres of land in Michigan under the Homestead Act. In 1875, John became a U.S. citizen and moved his family near his father's farm outside of Woodstock, Ontario.

In 1879, John and his wife (Harriett) moved back to Michigan to Rapid River, Kalkaska County. Later, in 1879, John sold his 80 and bought another 80 on Finch Creek south of Bellaire and east of Alden.

John built a sawmill on the river and started a small town called "Fitchville" near the mill. John prospered in Fitchville until 1881, when the spring flood demolished his dam, cutting his power supply and leaving him penniless. At age 34, John set out down the coast of West Michigan to find work.

John was employed as millwright for two years at the Foster Brothers' shingle mill near the Washington Avenue Bridge. After taking this job, he moved his family to Ludington in 1882. In 1884, John moved to Summit Township, Mason County to take charge of a sawmill. Later in the year, John set up his own sawmill located on Kibby Creek in Summit. Here, water from a dam could be used to run his machinery. John built a house near the factory and moved his family there. He caught the fever of raising peaches which was developing rapidly in the area and started a small fruit farm on his land.

After inventing the three-slated peach basket, John formed the ‘Summit Basket Factory' at the sawmill in 1885. This was one of the first basket factories in Mason County. After the dam broke in 1887, he took a partner named Cargil and moved the sawmill north of Ludington to Lincoln Village on Lincoln Lake.

1888, John bought 40 acres of land located on Blundell Road in Riverton Township. He purchased this land as a lumber project but decided to clear all the timber and raise peaches instead. He built a log house and the family moved there from Summit.

John became a full-time fruit farmer and earned a local “Fruit Baron" title. Although a farmer, John “the mechanic” continued to invent helpful items. In 1897, John was granted a patent on a folding berry crate. Later in 1897, he patented a ratchet wrench and drill. He went to Milwaukee to arrange for it’s manufacture. In 1902, John invented a self-opening streetcar switch. He bought a house in Ludington with a machine shop where he could produce his street-car switch. He took it to Chicago where it was throughout the city.

John died at 10:30 on Saturday morning, November 18, 1916 at a hospital in Big Rapids where he was operated upon Friday morning for a bowel obstruction.