Hon. Radford Turner Hitch

The following is an article I wrote for the "Hitch Family Newsletter" for Winter 1998:

"Letter from Mary French Hitch to Radford T. Hitch, March 10, 1900

This article includes a transcription of a letter written in 1900 by Miss Mary French Hitch in Bristol Co., Massachusetts to Radford T. Hitch in Greenville Co., South Carolina (Thanks again to Louise Gilchrist for providing me with a copy of this letter). In it, Miss Hitch calls Radford her "cousin" when if fact they were a distant second cousins, once removed with their common ancestor being Capt. Samuel Hitch (1740/41-1825) of Bristol County. Capt. Samuel was a grandson of the patriarch Adam Hitch (1658/59-1731) of Somerset County, Maryland.

Miss Hitch (1865-1927) descended from Capt. Samuel Hitch through his son Hardy Elgate Hitch (1775-1858), grandson Charles Hitch (1804-1878), and great-grandson Joshua Charles Hitch (1829-1890) - her father. Radford T. Hitch (1859-??) descended from Capt. Samuel Hitch through another son Sylvanus Hitch (1785-1831/39), and grandson Sylvanus F. Hitch (c.1811-1880). [NOTE: see Issue 12 for more discussion on the lineage that includes Sylvanus Hitch and descendants.] [Also NOTE: "second cousins, once removed" indicates that the individual's parents were the 2nd cousins with generational differences represented by the "removed" - in this case, one generation removed.]

The Federal Census of 1900 shows Mary F. Hitch in a household in New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts with her mother Melanie F. Hitch, brother Frank B. Hitch and cousin Harry G. Macomber. Indeed, my records show Mary French Hitch in the following family:

Joshua Charles Hitch, born 1/1/1829 and died 5/25/1890, married 11/16/1859 to Melanie B. French (3/1841-aft 1920), the daughter of Rodney and Rowena (Burt) French. They had two known children:

Frank Burt Hitch (7/13/1861-??) Mary French Hitch (10/6/1865-??)

Apparently, neither Mary nor her brother Frank Hitch ever married.

In the Census of 1900, Radford T. Hitch is shown as a boarder in a household with his wife Dollie in Greenville County, South Carolina. This also correlates with my records that show Radford in the family as follows:

- Sylvanus F. Hitch, born c.1811 in Bristol County and died 6/5/1880 in Clinch County, Georgia. He married 2/23/1845 to Ann Apollina Nichols (c.1822-1898), the daughter of Simon Wood and Margaret (Waver) Nichols. They had children: - Sylvanus Hitch Jr. (1845/46-??) - Simon Wood Hitch (9/5/1848-9/18/1915) - Margaret Ann Hitch (1849/50-??) - Charles F. Hitch (6/30/1855-6/30/1894) - Radford T. Hitch (1859-??) - Anna Hitch (1860-??) - Nannie Hitch (1862-??)

Radford Hitch married Dollie C. Colesbury on April 21, 1896 in Georgia.

Letters from bygone times provide excellent insight into the lives and everyday affairs of the people who wrote them. I really get excited when I come across one that relates directly to the Hitch family for they provide first hand the thoughts and feelings of our ancestors untainted by time-worn stories and imperfect recollections. The following letter is especially compelling because it also talks of the interest of Hitches in their family history four generations ago.

When you read the following letter, see if you do not feel as if you're in the same room with these people as they discuss their relations and interests. Celebrate with them the fact that Miss Hitch has "the electric now" as is longing to enjoy a spring walk in the woods nearly 98 years ago!

New Bedford, Mass. March 10, 1900

Dear Cousin Radford:

I was very glad to hear from you, and am glad you liked my picture. When I looked at yours I did not wonder that Captain Clay had recognized you as a member of the Hitch family. It is always pleasant to make new acquaintances, if only on paper, and I trust we may see each other after I shall be very glad at sometime to accept your invitation and visit you in your home.

Perhaps you would like to know something about me. In June 1890, I graduated from Wellesley College, proud in my possession of a B.A. degree. Since there I have been teaching in a preparatory school for _____ in this city. I have charge of the Geometry, Latin, and Greek classes so you may imagine time does not waste(?) on my hands. The school is not a large one, but most of the pupils are interested in this work, which makes my task(?) all the pleasanter. We send about six to college each year.

Before taking up this work, I was in a bank. I rather(?) enjoy business better, and therefore am studying Stenography. My brother is a cotton sampler and stapler. He with my Mother and myself and a cousin compose our family, my Father having died a few years before I graduated from Wellesley.

When you send your picture I wish we might have one of Mrs. (?) Hitch too, for we are glad to welcome her to the family.

We are having delightful spring weather now, and I shall make my first excursion into the woods this week. It is time now(?) to enjoy the willows and alders and birches and note with what grace their tassels give us their spring-greeting. I am very fond of the wild flowers and have quite a large herbarium. We have the electric now out into the suburbs so it is easy to become acquainted with nature; and man cannot improve upon our early spring friends in their snow white purity and grace, as if they had received their color from the snow.

Mrs. Fengae (?) wished to be remembered to you and your wife, to whom we all send most cordial greetings and many wishes _____ _____ _____ _____, much prosperity.

Affectionately Your Cousin, Mary F. Hitch"

In the Federal Census of 1900, Radford T. Hitch is listed in Greenville County, South Carolina (sheet 13) in a household as follows: - Dolly Hitch, age 29, born 10/1870 in SC - Radford T. Hitch, age 41, born 5/1859 in GA.

In the Federal Census of 1910, R.T. Hitch is listed in Waycross, Ware County, Georgia in a household as follows: - R.T. Hitch, age 48, born in GA - Dollie Hitch, age 37, born in GA.

In the Federal Census of 1920, Radford Hitch is listed in Brunswick, Glynn County, Georgia in a household as follows: - Radford Hitch, age 50, born in GA - Dollie C. Hitch, age 45, born in GA.

Radford married Sallie (Dollie) Colesberry, daughter of Capt. Samuel C. Colesberry and Clarinda Harriett Brearley, on 21 Apr 1896 in GA.¹ (Sallie (Dollie) Colesberry was born on 10 Sep 1870 in Hilton Head, SC,^{6 7} died on 13 Apr 1926 in Glynn Co., GA ⁵ and was buried about 16 Apr 1926 in Palmetto Cemetery, Glynn Co., GA.)