- John Knowles Fitch
John Knowles Fitch (
February 15 1880 – May 1943) was the founder of the Fitch Publishing Company, and developed afinancial securities rating system from AAA to D. Fitch ratings are used as a tool in the business ofcredit rating , usually behindMoody's ratings andStandard & Poor ratings.Fitch's father was Francis Emory Fitch (
September 15 1850 – 1910), his mother was Cornelia Knowles (graduatedVassar College 1873). He was born inBridgeport, Connecticut and while he was still a child, his parents moved toBrooklyn, New York , where they remained until 1891. They moved at that time toPassaic, New Jersey . He attended theFriends School in Brooklyn, and later the public school of Passaic. Following his graduation fromColumbia University , which he entered in June 1902, he married Lillian L. Whitehead onJune 15 1905 . She was the daughter of Reverend M. J. H. Whitehead, pastor of the North Reformed Church of Passaic, New Jersey. They resided in Passaic for several years, and then took up residence inUpper Montclair, New Jersey .Shortly after his graduation from Columbia University, Fitch bought a well-known florist shop located on Broadway and 22nd Street in
New York City . He tookcorrespondence courses in a variety of subjects, includingadvertising .Following the death of Mallory Knowles Fitch, his elder brother, John Fitch sold his florist business and worked with his father in the printing business at 47 Broad Street, New York City. After the death of his father in 1910, the business was incorporated under the name of Francis Emory Smith Inc., and was located in the Fitch Building at 138 Pearl Street, near the corner of
Wall Street in New York City. Upon the incorporation of this company, John Knowles Fitch became its president. OnDecember 24 1913 , Fitch founded a new corporation named The Fitch Publishing Company, Inc. of which he was president. The main offices of this company were also located in the Fitch Building.Among the Fitch Publishing Company's publications were the "Fitch Bond Book", the "Fitch Stock and Bond Manual", and other services furnishing daily and weekly statistics on the
New York Stock Exchange and the American and Canadiancorporate security field.Fitch was president of the Alumni Federation of Columbia University, and during
World War I aroused interest among his classmates to raise funds to purchase and equip and ambulance to be sent to France for the soldiers. His hobbies includedyacht ing andgolf ing. He sailed his yacht "Bavois" to the coast ofLabrador to visit scenes made famous bySir Wilfred Grenfell .John Knowles Fitch and his wife, Lillian Whitehead, had three children: John Knowles, Jr. (born
April 17 1906 , diedJanuary 21 1998 ); and twins Marjorie and Muriel (born 1907).ources
* Fitch, Roscoe Conkling. History of the Fitch family A.D. 1400-1930: a record of the Fitches in England and America, including "pedigree of Fitch" certified by the College of Arms, London, England. Haverhill, Massachusetts: Record Pub. Co., 1930.
* [http://www.fitchratings.com/corporate/aboutFitch.cfm?detail=3 The History of Fitch Ratings] 2006.External links
* [http://www.fitchratings.com/ Fitch Ratings]
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