Oswego County's: Guide To Government

Henry Fitzhugh

Henry Fitzhugh, who was a prominent citizen of the Oswego community in the mid-1800's.He had interests in milling, forwarding, was a vessel owner, member of the assembly (State) in 1849, Canal Commissioner in 1852 and 1855, and mayor of Oswego from 1858 to 1862.

Henry's birthplace is stated to be Washington County, Maryland in the year 1801.Fitzhugh's forefathers were planters in the Virginia and Maryland tidewaters areas.Henry's father moved to the Valley of the Genesee (Rochester, N.Y.). Henry settled in the Oswego area about 1830 and entered the milling business.His home was located on the southwest corner of West Fifth and Seneca streets.

In the 1830's, Fitzhughbecame a vessel owner (H. Fitzhugh & Co.) with offices at the foot of East Seneca Street.His company was also proprietors of the "Old Oswego Line" of canal boats between Oswego and New York as well as the "Oswego-Erie-Chicago Line" of lake vessels.His business (forwarding) received goods such as grain and lumber for transportation to another destination. In 1839, the milling fraternity (flour mills) included Henry Fitzhugh.Fitzhugh and D.C. Little purchased the site of the Lake Ontario Mills in 1847 and erected a new mill which was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1853.

Henry Fitzhugh had commercial and political interests in the state of New York for more than 30 years.He moved to Illinois in 1864 to fill the position of President of the Mount Carbon Railroad Company.He died in Centralia, Illinois on August 8, 1866.

His obituary read "he was a gentleman of great energy and character, and most exemplary in every department of public and private life."

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