Today’s post is a special one: our first guest post on Clark House Historian! It’s an excellent, beautifully illustrated introduction to the very early history of the Township of Stanstead and the often contentions relationship between the two Leaders that made it happen, Col. Eleazar Fitch and Issac Ogden, Esq. I hope you enjoy the piece as much as I did. Many thanks to guest author Jeffrey Packard and Heritage Ogden – Patrimoine d’Ogden for permission to publish this on Clark House Historian. See my postscript, below, for more on the author and his organization. For readers new to this part of Québec, the Municipality of Ogden is, generally speaking, the southwest corner of the historic Township of Stanstead, one of two reputed birthplaces of Jonathan M. Clark. And, as always, be sure to click on each image to open larger, higher-resolution versions in gallery view or a new window.

Eleazer Fitch, Isaac Ogden, and the Stanstead Township Grant: a strained attorney-client relationship

Dr. Jeffrey Packard, president, Heritage Ogden – Patrimoine d’Ogden. Copyright © 2023 by Jeffrey Packard, Heritage Ogden – Patrimoine d’Ogden.

Toponomic Namesakes

There is Fitch Bay and the Municipality of Ogden, but few realize that their respective namesakes had a five year long and not always amicable relationship as the two men both separately and collectively attempted to secure a land grant of 40,000+ acres on the east side of Lac Memphrémagog. This article describes the lead-up to the formal granting of the Patent for the Township of Stanstead in 1800, and provides the story of these two Loyalists, who were pivotal in the early history of the area.

Colonel Eleazer Fitch

Eleazer Fitch was born August 29th in 1726 in Lebanon, Connecticut to relatively affluent parents. As a young man he attended Yale where he studied law. He was described as broad and handsome and at 6’ 4” and 300 lbs he was most certainly an imposing figure for those days. At age 19 he married Amy Brown and eventually their family grew to 12 children (8 daughters and 4 sons). He fought in the Seven Years War where he served as a major of the 4th Connecticut Regiment, and was involved in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. He was a successful business man, and furthermore had business interests in association with the Governor of Connecticut. He was also heavily involved with land speculation in Pennsylvania.

At left, Windham, Connecticut circa 1826. At right Eleazer Fitch house on Zion Hill in Windham. Exterior of house modified in late Victorian times, original façade would have evident Georgian symmetry and simplicity. Built in 1763, the house burnt in 1923.

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