Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 04.djvu/125

 FlSKE

FITCH

Meliiotte. She playeil wiili li.nrv Snllivun ami later with Lucille Western ; was tlie original Little Fritz in J. K. Rinmefs first production; was Paul in •• The Octoroon," Frauko in " Guj- Man- nering," Sybil in " A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing," little Mary Morgan in " Ten Niglits in a Bar Room," Heinrich and Minna in "Rip Van Winkle," and Georgie in " Frou Frou." She spent brief periods at French and convent schools in New Orleans, St. Louis, Montreal and Cincin- nati, and acquired an excellent education under the supervision of her mother. She became a star at the age of sixteen, using the stage name Minnie Maddern, " Caprice " and " In Spite of All " being the best known of iier ventures at this epoch. She was married, March 19, 1890, to Harrison Grey Fiske (q. v.) and teniporarilj' re- tired from the stage for rest and study, return- ing in 1893 in her husband's play, "Hester Crewe." She starred with success in "A Doll's Hou.se," " The Queen of Liars," " La Femme de Claude." " Love Finds the Way." " Divorcjons," "Magda, " and "Frou Frou." In the spring of 1897 she won her first gi-eat triumph in the title role of " Tess of the D'Urbervilles," and in 1898 made another pronounced success in "Becky Sharp," Langdon Mitchell's dramatization of "Vanity Fair."

FISKE, Nathan Welby, educator, was born in Weston, Mass., April 17, 1798; son of the Rev. Dr. Nathan Fiske, born in Weston, Mass., Sept. 9, 1733; graduated from Harvard, 1734; pastor at Brookfield, 1758-1799; died in Brookfield, Nov. 24, 1799. Nathan graduated at Dartmouth in 1817, was tutor there, 1818-20, and was graduated from Andover theological seminar}' in 1823. He was professor at Amherst from 1824 to 1847. His daughter, Helen Maria, became Helen Hunt Jack- son, the author. He published; Mamial of Clas- sical Literature (1836, 4th ed., 1843); Sermons (1850); Yount/ Peter's Tour Around the. World anA The Story of Aleck. He died in Jerusalem, Pales- tine. May 27. 1S47

FISKE, Stephen, author, was born in New Brunswick, N.J, Nov. 22, 1840; son of William anil Sarah (Blakeney) Fiske; grandson of Judge Haley Fiske, and a descendant of Lord Symond Fiske of Suffolk county, England. He was edu- cated at Rutgers college ; in 1858 joined the staff of the New York Herald, and accompanied the Prince of Wales on his tour of the Amer- ican continent in 1860. He was called from the seat of war in 1862 to become dramatic critic for the New York Herald. He .sailed to England in the international yacht race of 1866 on board the Henrietta. He was " Garibaldi's Ameri'/an " in the campaign before Rome. He bf^came manager of the St. James theatre and of the Royal Eng- lish opera company in London in 1>*6S and of the

r.

Fifth avenue theatre in New York in 1878, and first introduced to the public Modjeska and Mary Anderson. He became dramatic critic of the Spirit of the Times in 1879. ^

He was elected a ^ ,

member of the Ac- tors' fund of America, ::ji <f- the Society of Amer- / loan authors, the American drama- tists' club, and other organizations. He published; Enr/lish riiotofjraphs (1870); Off-Hand Portraits of, ■ '^ - / Prominent Xeio York- '''/■///' ers (1884); Holiday /y_^ -rT^ y Tales (1891); and is SU^^hX^ ^i^^U^ also the author of the following plays : Corporal Cartouche{lfi6-2) : Martin Vhii::zli-u-U ( 1863) ; My Xo- hle Son-in-Lav (184) ; and Hiiliert Jiahagas (1872).

FITCH, Ashbel Parmelee, representative, was born in Mooers, Clmton county, N.Y., Oct. 8, 1848; son of Edward and Fann\- (Parmelee) Fitch; grandson of Dr. Jabez Fitch and of the Rev. Ashbel Parmelee, D.D., and a descendant of the Rev. James Fitch, a Puritan divine who came from England in 1638 and became the first pastor at Norwich, Conn. ; and of Capt. Jabez Fitch of the Connecticut line in the Revolution. He attended the public schools of New York city; Williston seminary, Easthampton, Mass. ; the Universities of Jena and Berlin, German}', and the Columbia college law school. He was ad- mitted to the bar in November, 1869, and settled in pi'actice in New York city. He was a repre- sentative from the 13th New York district in the 50th, 51st, 52d and 53d congresses, 1887-95, and in all public measures acted with the Democi-ats in opposition to excessive tariff, but opposed the unlimited coinage of .silver. He was elected on the Democratic ticket comptroller of New York, serving 1893-97. Being a strong gold standard advocate he was renominated by the Republicans in 1897 and was defeated. In 1899 he was elected president of the Trust company of America.

FITCH, Charles Elliott, journalist, was born at Syiaciise. N'.V., Dec. 3, 1.''25 ; son of Thomas Brockway and Ursula (Elliott) Fitch and a de- scendant in the eighth generation from the Rev. James Fitch, a Congregational clerg}-man, who immigrated to America from England and set- tled in Norwich, Conn., in 1638. His father was a prominent merchant and banker, and his mother was a sister of Charles Loring Elliott, the portrait painter. His preliminary educa- tion was acquired in the select schools of Syra- cuse and at the Alger institute at Cornwall, Conn. He was graduated front Williams college