Abram Edward FitkinAlso listed as Abraham Edward Fitkin, see James Terry White, The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography Vol. 27 (James T. White & Co., 1939.):142. (September 18, 1878 – March 18, 1933) was an American minister, investment banker, businessman, public utilities operator, and philanthropist, who founded and ran dozens of companies, including A.E. Fitkin & Co.; the National Public Service Corporation; the United States Engineering Corporation; and the General Engineering and Management Corporation, which by 1926 managed 178 utility companies in 18 US states and over 1,000 local communities. As a philanthropist Fitkin donated in excess of $3,000,000 to finance the construction of the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital in Manzini, Swaziland; the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Institution in Scobeyville, New Jersey; the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Pavilion for Children at the New Haven Hospital in Yale; and the Jersey Shore University Medical Center (formerly Raleigh Fitkin and Paul Morgan Memorial Hospital) at Neptune Township, New Jersey."Our History".
Personal history Abram Edward Fitkin was born on September 18, 1878, in Brooklyn, New York,Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918. Registration Location: Kings County, New York; Roll: 1754592; Draft Board: 65.However, Fitkin's US Passport application on January 31, 1921, indicates he was born September 18, 1876. See Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925 [database on-line]. Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1.Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918. Registration Location: Nassau County, New York; Roll: 1754388; Draft Board: 4.925 (M1490). the sixth son and 11th of thirteen children of Mary E. Vought and Thomas Furlong Fitkin,Who Was Who in America with World Notables, Vol. 1 (Marquis-Who's Who, 1960):403.Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Brooklyn, Kings, New York; Roll: 847; Family History Film: 1254847; Page: 184D; Enumeration District: 113; Image: 0460. a harness-manufacturer."Milestones, Mar. 27, 1933", Time (March 27, 1933) Fitkin's parents were married on December 31, 1861.
Fitkin was a member of the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church at 95 Richmond Street, Brooklyn.Shirley V. Anson and Laura M. Jenkins, Quaker History and Genealogy of the Marlborough Monthly Meeting, Ulster County, N.Y., 1804–1900+ (Gateway Press, 1980):119.
Ministry On October 15, 1895, Fitkin met Susan W. "Susie" Norris, an ordained Canadian Quaker pastor, at a camp meeting in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Clintondale, New York.Susan Norris Fitkin, Grace Much More Abounding: A Story of the Triumphs of Redeeming Grace During Two Score Years in the Master's Service (Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House, n.d. Holiness Data Ministry, 1997):12-14,
For the next six months Fitkin was teamed with Susie Norris.See, for example, "Cornwall", Newburgh Daily Journal (February 17, 1896):4. The two grew close during this time and were married by Quaker minister William Thomas Willis on May 14, 1896.
After their wedding, the Fitkins continued to hold revival meetings. In November 1896, Fitkin and Susan opened a church in a former blacksmith shop in Hopewell Junction, New York.Timothy L. Smith, Called Unto Holiness: The Story of The Nazarenes: The Formative Years (Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House, 1962; Digital Edition: Holiness Data Ministry, 2006):55, http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/2501-2600/HDM2593.pdf At Fitkin's recommendation, the church affiliated with the newly established Association of Pentecostal Churches of America (APCA), a Holiness denomination led at that time by William Howard Hoople.Susan Norris Fitkin, Grace Much More Abounding: A Story of the Triumphs of Redeeming Grace During Two Score Years in the Master's Service (Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House, n.d. Holiness Data Ministry, 1997):15-16. Soon after the Fitkins started another church in Cornwall, New York, which they also pastored. In April 1897 Fitkin was dropped from membership by the Marlborough Monthly Meeting because he has become a member of another denomination.Shirley V. Anson and Laura M. Jenkins, Quaker History and Genealogy of the Marlborough Monthly Meeting, Ulster County, N.Y., 1804–1900+ (Gateway Press, 1980):119, see http://www.clintondalefriends.org/history.htm . In 1898 Fitkin was ordained as a minister in the APCA at Brooklyn.James Terry White, ed., The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 27 (University Microfilms, 1967):142.
By 1900 Fitkin and Susan were co-pastors of the APCA church in South Manchester, Connecticut, where they lived in a rented house on Main Street.Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Manchester, Hartford, Connecticut; Roll: T623_138; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 199. During the last four months of 1900, Fitkin and his wife devoted their efforts to traveling evangelism.
After ministry Fitkin left pastoral ministry and ceased his evangelistic work to devote his attention to making sufficient income to support both his family and his future ministry. Fitkin admitted to his friend, Rev. E. G. Anderson, that at first he only aimed to make enough to be independent in God's work. The goal he set was a half million.
Abram and Susan Fitkin had four children: A. Raleigh, Mary-Louise, Willis Carradine, and Ralph MacFarland.
One of Fitkin's last ministry activities was as one of the preachers at the dedication of new church and parsonage for the Emmanuel Pentecostal Church at Peabody, Massachusetts, on June 3, 1906."New Edifice Dedicated", Boston Daily Globe (June 4, 1906):14.
Fitkin and Susan, and their two children moved to Brooklyn because of Fitkin's increased business activities. By April 1910 the Fitkins lived in their own home on Wallis Avenue, Queens, New York.Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Queens Ward 4, Queens, New York; Roll: T624_1065; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 1279; Image: 735. While living here, their fourth child, Ralph MacFarland was born March 7, 1912.
After a fishing trip with his father in August 1914,Susan N. Fitkin. Grace much more Abounding Nazarene Publishing House. Kansas City, MO. Raleigh Fitkin was thrown from their car after its axle broke. Despite an operation in a home in Allenhurst, New Jersey, and the efforts of six physicians, on September 14, 1914, Raleigh died."Asbury Park Opens $1,000,000 Hospital; Dr. James F. Ackerman, Sponsor, Receives Bronze Medal as Memorial Is Dedicated. Largest in Monmouth Gifts of A.E. Fitkin Established First Public Institution In Shore City", Special to The New York Times (December 30, 1931):5. Raleigh had indicated that he wanted to be a missionary to Africa. Raleigh's funeral was held in Allenhurst, New Jersey.
By June 1927, Fitkin and his wife lived at a large estate, called "Milestones","Salsbury-Fitkin", The New York Times (June 13, 1927). that overlooked the Atlantic Ocean in Allenhurst, New Jersey."Landmark Burns at Allenhurst", Red Bank Register (December 1, 1960):1. After a trip to California, Fitkin relocated the original colonial house to the rear of the property,"Fitkin Sells Again", Time (June 15, 1931): 50. and had a 20-room, 3-story bungalow constructed in its place for the family residence.Landmark Burns at Allenhurst", Red Bank Register (December 1, 1960):1. On June 14, 1927, Fitkin's only daughter, Mary-Louise, married Esley Foster Salsbury (1907–1993) at "Milestones", in a ceremony conducted by her cousin, Rev. Chauncey David Norris."Fitkin-Salsbury", The New York Times (June 15, 1927)."Mary L. Fitkin Now Mrs. Salsbury: Salsbury -- Fitkin", Special to The New York Times (June 13, 1927):20. On October 21, 1927, Willis C. Fitkin married Helen Shubert at the St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church in Ocean Grove, New Jersey."Fitkin-Shubert", The New York Times (October 22, 1927).
In July 1928 Fitkin took possession of the yacht Memory III,Alexander J. Dickie and Frank A. Stanley, eds., Pacific Marine Review 25 (Pacific American Steamship Association, 1928):438. which was designed by Philadelphia naval architect Thomas D. Bowes and built by Defoe Boat and Motor Works of Bay City, Michigan specifically for Fitkin in 1927–28.Alexander J. Dickie and Frank A. Stanley, eds., Pacific Marine Review 25 (Pacific American Steamship Association, 1928):86.Yachting 77 (CBS Magazines, 1945):46."Defoe Shipbuilding, Bay City MI", (May 21, 2010), http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/defoe.htm The Rudder Magazine (January 1929). In August 1928, Fitkin's other yacht, Adios II,"George S. Lawley & Sons, Neponset MA" (September 18, 2010), http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/6yachtsmall/lawley.htm valued at $100,000, was attacked by a former steward who been fired by Fitkin."$100,000 Yacht Damaged.; Discharged Steward Accused of Trying to Wreck Engines", The New York Times (August 25, 1928).
In October 1928, Fitkin was threatened with a loaded rifle by a US Coast Guard officer while on his way up the Shrewsbury River in a motor launch, as it was suspected he may have been involved in smuggling alcohol in violation of Prohibition laws. Angered by what he considered the officer's rude manner, Fitkin, "a lifelong Republican", vowed to vote for Democrat Al Smith in the 1928 US presidential elections."Threatened by Coast Guard Is Charge Made by Fitkin", The Evening Independent (St. Petersburg, FL) (October 16, 1928):14."Fitkin Wants Explanation as Coast Guard Stops Launch", The New York Times (October 12, 1928).Chicago Daily Tribune (October 12, 1928):14.
Career In 1900 Fitkin began his business career in Boston as a bookkeeper, before moving to New York to become a manager at Pelser, Welker & Co., a financial firm that dealt mainly in railroad securities."Abram E. Fitkin, Active in Public Utilities, Dead: Turned from Pulpit to Business", Chicago Tribune (March 19, 1933):18."Abram E. Fitkin", Power Engineering 37 (Technical Pub. Co., 1933):232. Fitkin formed Fitkin Securities Corp. as a holding company for all of his interests;James Terry White, ed., The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 27 (University Microfilms, 1967):143. and in 1908 Fitkin formed a partnership with WC Harty, under the name of A.E. Fitkin & Co,"Abram Fitkin Dies; Made $250,000,000", The New York Times (March 19, 1933)."Abram E. Fitkin, Utilities Operator, Dies", Gas Age-Record 71 (Robbins Publishing Co., 1933):321. which operated as an investment bank and security brokerage, specializing in public utility securities. In December 1912 A.E. Fitkin & Co. published a stock and bond sheet listing 600 unlisted securities."Financial Notes", The New York Times (December 3, 1912):17. Additionally, Fitkin created the United States Engineering Corp., an engineering and management subsidiary.