Ebenezer
& John Hatch, Mexico, NY
CT>NY> IN>O>IL
Many thanks to Esther Rancier
for sharing her information on the Hatch family. Esther is researching
in Richland and Mexico the Soul/Soule, Brace and Daniel
P. Smith families, and would appreciate hearing from anyone researching
these surnames. Esther Rancier at: [email protected]
For more information on the Hatch Family, please
contact the
Historians
and Historical Societies.
In the Maple View Cemetery
there is a marker for Eben R. Hatch “Revolutionary
War Veteran.” He died in 1838, age 72. His death was reported
in the Oswego Palladium newspaper on 27 September 1838 in an article which
also mentioned his Revolutionary service. Most records refer to him
as a Revolutionary soldier.
Apparently it was unknown to
the local residents that when Eben applied for a war pension, he was denied.
He was told, according to the American Revolutionary War Rejected Pensions,
“He was only twelve years of age at the date of his alleged service.”
So it remains problematical
if he served at all. In the matter of the War of 1812 an Ebenezer
Hatch served with Parkhurst’s Battalion, a group at the Battle of Sackett’s
Harbor.
Men of this outfit were largely
from Mexico, Oswego Co., NY. However, he would have been 49 years
of age in 1814. It is possible that the man who did fight was his
nephew Ebenezer Hatch, then 27 years old., a person who never was counted
in any census.
The older Ebenezer’s name only
appeared in the 1830 census although he had lived in Mexico likely from
ca. 1807. His wife Berniece was named in Eben’s will. She became
the mother of Isaac, Laura, Jennifer(?) and another daughter who married
a Watson. Gerniece;s date of deah remains unclear, but she may have
been buried in an unmarked grave at the Maple View Cemetery, Mexico, NY.
Eben’s will, dated 25
September 1838, was proved in the Oswego Co. Surrogate Court on 29 July
1839. It said in part: “In the name of God, Amen, I Ebenezer Hatch
of the Town of Mexico in the County of Oswego, State of New York, being
weak in body, but of sound and perfect mind and memory for which I bless
God, do make, publish and declare this my last Will and Testament in manner
following: that is to say, I will that all such debt and as I have, justly
owe, at the time of my decease and any funeral charges and expenses be
first paid by my Executor hereinafter named. And as to my real and
personal estate, I distribute to Polly Selleck the sum of one dollar.
Second, I give and bequeath unto my daughter G. Jennifer(?) Gasper the
sum of one dollar. Third, I give and bequeath unto the children of my late
daughter Kaura Virgil, deceased, the sum of one dollar to be equally divided
between them. Fourth, I give and bequeath unto my grandson Henry
H. Watson the sum of twenty dollars to be paid within five years from the
time of my demise. Fifth, I give and bequeath the residue in my estate
both real and personal to my son Isaac Hatch in trust for the maintenance
& support of my beloved wife Berniece whose … maintenance and support
….
“Lastly, I, nominate, constitute
and support my son Isaac Hatch sole Executor of my last Will and Testament
hereby revoking all former wills by me made.
“…I have herewith set my hand
and seal this twenty-fifth day of September the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred thirty-eight. Ebenezer Hatch”
By about 1807 four Hatch families
arrived in Oswego County. They were Baranbas, John and Lyman who
were all noted in the 1820 Mexico census. Only Ebenezer missed the
enumeration. Information on the families of each was hard to
locate and was very incomplete. Lyman removed by 1830 to New Haven,
NY. Barnabas moved to Parish by 1830, but returned to Mexico by 1840.
This biographical sketch does not cover the life of either Barnabas or
Lyman. It had not been possible to establish their relationship to
Ebenezer or John.
However, the likelihood of
John and Ebenezer being brothers can be speculated. John left no
will, but he was married to Sarah. Some family researchers believe
her maiden name was Fuller which could point to her being a Mayflower descendant.
She was 79 in the 1850 Mexico census, born in CT. She resided with
her daughter Emily and her husband Horace North, the clockmaker.
John Hatch, from CT, died in the 1840’s. He came from CT, the son
of John Hatch, Sr. This line of Hatches were seafaring men
of New England stock. John Hatch Sr. was reputed to be a sea captain.
Many Hatches lived in the New London County area of CT, yet the precise
connection for this part of the family still needs further research.
For example, Preston, CT had several John Hatch families.
John took his family from a life
of marine interests and became a farmer in Mexico, NY. He owned
lot 116 in Mexico where he reared a large family of children whose names
remain partially unknown. The indenture for the purchase of lot 116 was
recorded in the Oswego County Deeds, v. B, p. 171-172. The purchase
was made on 15 August 1815. George Scriba’s lawyer sold fifty acres
from the south end of lot 116 for $300. At that time Oswego County
had not been formed. The lost was described as being in Mexico, County
of Oneida. Neither John nor Sarah received tombstones to identify
their graves. John left few records behind except for the deed and
his service in the War of 1812 with Parkhurst’s New York Militia.
With his son Ebenezer he likely fought at Sackett’s Harbor.
The most telling records on John
were provided through his oldest son Ebenezer born in CT during 1785 who
married Cynthia Greene also of CT. Ebenezer and his family left Mexico
ca. 1818/20. they traveled with several children, joining a colony
going to Ohio. The Hatches loaded all they owned on a raft in the
Ohio River. They slowly floated to the vicinity of Madison or Elizabethtown
IN where they settled for two or three years. (Family accounts vary.)
Using teams to transport them, they went overland, settling in Silver Creek
Township, Greene Co., O in 1823. Later Ebenezer bought 40 acres of
heavy timber to which he added over the years.
Cynthia
became the mother of four sons and eight daughters, only one of whom died
young. However, not all were identified. The known names were
Charles, Stephen, Ebenezer, Orange S., Eliza, Emma, Cynthia (Maria) and
Lucinda.
Cynthia died on 11 June 1845 on
the homestead. She had been born in 1783. Ebenezer married
again before 1850. His new wife was Violet Barber born in WV.
She never had children. She died 12 March 1914 in Jamestown, O.
In the 1850 census for Xenia, O.
the following two Hatch families were given:
Hatch, Stephen 35
grocery keeper IN
Phebe [sic] E 26
O
Martha E
18 O
W C
6 O
John C
4 O
D A
2 O
Hatch, Ebenezer 35 brick maker
O
Lydia
35 O
Malinda
16 O
Sam’l
12 O
John S
8 O
Melisa [sic] J
14 O
Sarah A
13 O
Cyntha [sic] M
8 O
Iiving with his father and stepmother
Orange S. was 25 years old. He was helping his father on the homestead
in 1850. After his father’s death on 2 January 1874, he inherited
the place.
The daughters made good marriages.,
save Lucinda who in 1850 worked as a servant in the home of her stepmother’s
family., the Barkers. By 1890 she still apparently had not married.
Eliza wed _____ Chapman of Richmond, IN. Emma wed James Tuttle.
They appeared in the 1840 Xenia census, but by 1880 they resided in Atlanta,
IL. James was then 72; Emma, 70. Emma had been born in NY (probably
Mexico). Also living in 1880 Atlanta was Cynthia (Maria) Myers, age
53. She was a widow living with her children: Elmer Myers, 19; Mary
Myers, 19; and Orange Myers, 17.
By 1880 Stephen, Phebe[sic] and
their younger children removed to Atlanta, IL. Their children still
at home were Marrion [sic], 21, and Lue E., 15, both born in IL.
Stephen’s son W C or William C., 37, lived in Waynesville, IL with his
wife Loretta, 24, and son Wm. A., 6.
Ebenezer and his wife Lydia continued
in1880 living in Xenia. Orange Hatch who wed Clara Thomas, born on
28 June 1837 in Amsterdam, Jefferson Co., O. Their children were
John, Emma, Minnie, and Charles. By 1880 only Minnie, 13, and Charles,
4, were at home. However, also in the household were Orange’s stepmother
Violet Hatch, 68, and Elizabeth Thomas, 81, his mother-in-law.
Later Minnie became Mrs. George Oldham of Xenia. Emma wed Allen T.
Sutton, a farmer at Silver Creek. Son John died ay age 4. All
in all Orange and Clara had ten children of whom only six survived past
1905.
Violet (Barber) Hatch, living to
1914, recorded most of the above data on John, Ebenezer and Orange S. Hatch.
It was her version of each man’s life that made its way into local history
books. That her memory became imperfect with age was likely.
She always mentioned Mrs. Myers as Maria while census records called her
Cynthia. She appeared to have no memory at all on some of the children.
She never referred to her husband Ebenezer’s War of 1812 stint. Possibily
he was not the one who served after all.
As for John’s other children who
remained in Mexico, probably only two can be tracked. The 1820 Mexico
census taken after the departure of Ebenezer showed three younger sons
and two daughters still at home. John himself was cited as over 45
years of age.
In 1850 daughter Emily (Hatch) North,
age 40, whose husband Horace North, age 60, provided housing for her widowed
mother Sarah (Fuller) Hatch, age 79. There were also two children
in the household: Hellen, [sic] age 3, born in Canada, and Julia Bess,
age 1, born in NY.
Also in 1850 Mexico was a likely
son Jarvis Hatch whose age varied in each census. His wife was Hannah
Schemerhorn from Schoharie, NY, the daughter of Peter and Maria (Miller)
Schemerhorn. They were enumerated as follows:
Hatch, James [sic] 42 farmer
$1800 NY
Hannah 39
NY
Lester S 17
NY
Mary S 15
NY
Minor W 9
NY
Justice [sic] 7
NY
Fralene [sic] W 5
NY
By 1860 the enumeration looked thusly:
Hatch, Jarvis 50 farmer $1410
NY
Hannah 49
NY
Lester 27 master carpenter NY
Mary 27
NY
Minor 20
NY
Ferline 15
NY
The 1870 Mexico census expended to
cover two Hatch households:
Hatch, Jarvis 64 farmer
$3500 NY
Hannah 59 NY
Curtiss 27 NY
Hillgate, John 8
NY
While two houses away –
Drake, Ezra
71 $2600 NY
Hatch, Lester 37 farmer
NY
Mary 27
NY
Clinton 4
NY
Frank 2
NY
Drake, Luther 20 day laborer
NY
It would seem that Lester wed
Mary Drake. In the Civil War Lester S. enlisted as a private on 3
September 1864 at the age of 31 in Co. H, 185th NY Inf Regt. He was discharged
in Elmira, NY on 6 July 1865.
By the 1880 Mexico census the Hatch
households were as follows:
Hatch, Jarvus [sic] 72
NY
` Hannah 69 NY
In another household:
Hatch, Justin C. * 36
NY
Eva F. 30 NY
Mirtis [sic] E. 7 NY
Mary E. 2 NY
*Justin Curtiss Hatch
Jarvis and much of his
family were buried in the Colosse Cemetery, Mexico, NY. Their graves
with markers are as follows:
Parents-
Hatch, Jarvis 1807-1886
Hatch, Hannah S. 1810-1893
Children-
Hatch, Alice M. 1851-1860
Hatch, Henry 1838-1839
Hatch, Lester Stephen 1832-1886
Hatch, Morgiana E. 1832-1848
Hatch, William Miner 1846-1886
Wife of William Minor Hatch:
Hatch, Dora Clark d. 1875, age 35
In the 1920 Mexico census Justin
C. Hatch still resided on his farm at age 77 with his wife Evaline F.,
age 70. They lived between George Beley and Henry C. LeClair from
the then closed French Lutheran Church begun by their forebears from France.
Eva, age 79 in the 1830 Mexico census, lived with her daughter Myrtis (Hatch)
House, age 57. Myrtis had wed Frederick W. House, age 61., who was
the head of household.
Returning to the matter of Ebenezer
Hatch’s 1838 will the text of which was included at the beginning of this
biographical sketch. It names only one male heir: Isaac Hatch who
married Harriet ______. Isaac died in 1856, age 57. He was
buried in the Maple View Cemetery. Harriet and Isaac’s two-year old
daughter Sarah died in 1828. The child was buried in the Maple View
Cemetery. This burial ground is stunning in the fall as the Maple
trees turn scarlet and orange. This part of Oswego County each year
is ablaze in color probably looking much as Isaac and even Ebenezer originally
viewed it.
Isaac’s sister Laura married Abram
Virgil. Laura died in 1829 at age 36. Abram died in 1840, age
52. They were both buried in the Maple View Cemetery. They
had four (?) children.
To date it has not been possible
to locate more on the other two daughters. The handwriting of the
will remains difficult to decipher.
Another record on Isaac was
his enumeration in the 1850 Mexico census which appeared as follows:
Hatch, Isaac 50 hotelkeeper
$1000 NY
Harriet 57 wife
NY
Henry 57 other
"
Unice [sic] 86 other
MA
The identity of Eunice
remains uncertain. She might be the mother of Harriet as Harriet
stated in the 1880 census that she was born in MA. Henry probably
was not a Hatch, but a relative of Harriet and/or Eunice.
There is evidence that Isaac
and Harriet had a surviving child called Laura. The 1850 Williamstown
census give the following:
Hough, James 32 innkeeper
NY
Laura 30 wife MA
Sarah 11 daughter NY
Albert 8 son
“
Loretta 7 daughter “
Henry 2 son
“
James 3 mos “ “
In the 1880 Williamstown census
Harriet at 82 lived with Laura, a 60-year old widow. The two women
ran a boarding house.
Even though to date it has not been
possible to obtain accurate documentation about John Hatch, Sr., the sea
captain. It may be that this line for the possible brothers Ebenezer
and John, Jr. was derived from Thomas Hatch of Barnstable, MA, an immigrant
from England whose descendants spread across America.
SOURCES:
American Civil War Soldiers.
Available [online] http://ancestry.com
[7 December 2003]
Cemetery Census of the Town of Mexico,
Oswego County, New York. Mexico: Mexico Historical Society, 1984.
Hatch Family Genealogy Forum.
Available [online] http://genforum.genealogy.com
[6 December 2003].
International Genealogical Index.
Available [online] http://familysearch.org
[6 December 2003].
N.Y. Oswego Co. Deeds, v. B, p.
171-172 (LDS microfilm #1012256).
N.Y. Oswego Co. Probate, v. B, 110-111.
(LDS microfilm #0866848).
Obituary for Eben Hatch from Oswego
Palladium newspaper September 28, 1838.
Portrait and Biographical Album
of Greene and Clark Counties. Chicago: chapman, 1890.
Rejected or Suspended Applications
for Revolutionary War. Washington: 1852.
Simpson, Elizabeth. Mexico:
Mother of Towns. Buffalo: Clement, 1949.
U.S. Census, Atlanta, Logan Co.,
IL 1880.
U.S. Census, Waynesville, DeWitt
Co., IL 1880.
U.S. Census, Mexico, Oswego Co.,
NY 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1920 & 1930.
U.S. Census, Williamstown, Oswego
Co., NY 1840, 1850, 1870 & 1880.
U.S. Census, Silver Creek, Greene
Co., O 1830, 1850 & 1880.
U.S. Census, Xenia, Greene Co.,
O 1840, 1850 & 1880.
War of 1812 Service Records.
Available [online] http://ancestry.com
[8 December 2003].
Williamson, C. W. History of Western
Ohio and Anglaize County. Columbus: Linn, 1905.
WorldConnect Project. Available
[online] https://sites.rootsweb.com [8
December 2003].