Letters and financial papers such as bills of lading, invoices, statements of account, etc., relating to Fitch's commercial transactions and business affairs in San Diego; trading voyages up and down the California coast, to Mexico and to Hawaii; otter hunting and the hide and tallow trade. A few letters relate to the war with Mexico, the gold discoveries in California and his ranch in Sonoma County. Included also are some papers of his wife, Josefa (Carrillo) Fitch.

Henry Delano Fitch, born in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1799, first came to California in about 1826 as master of the vessel Maria Ester, owned by Henry Edward Virmond of Mexico. Fitch was employed for a number of years by Virmond, trading along the west coast ports of north and South America. The earliest letters and documents of the collection deal with these activities.

Number of containers: 3 boxes and 5 oversize folders (also 4 volumes of photocopies from microfilm) Number of microfilm reels: 3

Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Collection is open for research.