Ashbel Parmelee Fitch (October 8, 1848 – May 4, 1904) was an American lawyer, financier, and politician.

[5] He prepared for college at Williston Seminary in Easthampton, Massachusetts, before spending several years at the Universities of Jena and Berlin in Germany.

[1] At the age of 21,[1] he was admitted to the bar in November 1869, initially practicing law in New York City.

[3] He entered public life in 1884, when the Republicans offered him the nomination for Congress for his home district.

[2] In May 1888, he gave a speech "which attracted national attention" when he urged for the passage of the Mills Tariff Reform Bill.

[3] Fitch resigned from Congress to accept Tammany Hall's nomination for Comptroller of New York City in 1893.

[1][3] Writes historian David Remington, as comptroller Fitch "oversaw the city's finances during a time of terrible economic distress, withstanding threats from Tammany Hall on one side and from Mayor William L. Strong's misguided reform administration on the other.

[1] Ashbel Fitch died in New York City on May 4, 1904[3] in his home at 16 East 80th Street in Manhattan.

A prominent member of the Manhattan Club, he was involved in several major cases, including a 1923 judgement to Richard Croker concerning loans to his father.

[7] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress