Part of the American History & Genealogy Project

Harriet White Fisher

Harriet White Fisher was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Daughter of Oscar A. and Hannah Fisher White. Her first American ancestor was Peregrine White, whose parents were passengers on the Mayflower in 1620, from whom the line of descent is traced through his son, who married Frances Clark.

In London, July 20th, 1898, she was married to Clark Fisher, who was formerly chief engineer in the United States Navy, afterward proprietor of the Eagle Anvil Works, Trenton, New Jersey. During the first year of her married life, Mrs. Fisher was engrossed in social duties. She first became interested in her husband's factory during a severe illness of her husband, and her interest continued after his recovery and return to the factory, so that before and after his death she was conversant with many of the business details.

On October 8, 1902, Mrs. Fisher and her husband were injured in a railroad wreck which occurred at Menlo Park, as a result of which Mrs. Fisher was in the hospital for months, and the doctors were unanimous in the opinion that she would never again be able to walk, and, in fact, for weeks it was thought that she could not live. Her husband, Clark Fisher, died as a consequence of the injuries he received at that time, and it was while she was partially paralyzed and unable to leave her bed that she continued the management of the Fisher & Norris business, and kept it going until she was able to walk without the aid of crutches. Afterward, through the help of able physicians, she regained the use of her limbs, so that now one would scarcely believe that she had passed through such an ordeal, and except for the injury to her back and spine, she would perhaps forget it herself.

At her husband's death, instead of turning the plant over to the care of a manager, she herself took up the reins and has become one of the best-known business women In the United States. The Eagle Anvil Works are now, and always have been run under the firm name of Fisher & Norris. Mrs. Fisher is the only woman member of the National Association of Manufacturers. She is a member of the Geological Society, the Numismatic Society and of the Civic Federation. She has received a large amount of notice from the newspapers on account of her recent trip around the world in an automobile, which successful trip brought forth hundreds of press notices the world round. She was royally entertained on this trip, and has written a book since her return, giving a full account of her experiences, which book is called "A Woman's Tour in a Motor." Her business necessitates her living in Trenton, New Jersey, during part of the year, but she spends the summer months in her beautiful Villa Carlotta, Brio, on Lake Como Italy.

Women of America

Source: The Part Taken by Women in American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.