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EBENEZER HATCH. Although
many years have elapsed since this gentleman, having reached a good old age, passed from the busy
scenes of earth, yet he is still not only affectionately remembered by his
family, but by all who knew him. For
many years he was a leading member of the Primitive Baptist Church, in the faith
of which he died. His portrait,
which is presented on the opposite page, represents one of the pioneer settlers
of the Buckeye State, and one who was as a husband and father, kind and
indulgent, and at the same time a good neighbor and a safe friend.
Fortunate is he in the estimation of the more
intelligent class of humanity who can trace his ancestry to the early times, and
find them to be worthy of honorable mention.
The subject of this notice was proud to record himself as a son of John
Hatch, Sr., a sturdy old veteran who made for himself a fine record as a man and
a citizen. John Hatch was born in Connecticut, and came of a race of seafaring
men who sprang from New England stock, and who himself was the
son of a sea captain. He
was married in Connecticut, in which State he made his home until he decided to
change his calling and settle permanently on terra firma.
Then emigrating with his family to Oswego County, N. Y., he there with
his estimable wife spent his last days. They reared a family of children, one of whom, the eldest
son, was Ebenezer, the subject of this notice.
Ebenezer Hatch was reared to manhood in Oswego
County, N. Y., and married Miss Cynthia Greene, a native of Connecticut, who
likewise removed with her parents to the Empire State when a child.
After the birth of several children they joined a colony which had
decided upon coming to Ohio, and loaded their earthly possessions on a raft on
the Ohio River, by which means they proceeded slowly and laboriously to the vicinity of
Madison, Ind. They sojourned two
years in the southern part of that State, then resumed their journey with teams
overland, and upon arriving in Greene County, this State, settled in what is now
Silver Creek Township, upon the land now occupied by their son, Orange S.
This was in 1823. Our subject rented land the first year, and then purchased
forty acres of heavy timber, which is now included in the old homestead. Father
and sons felled trees, grubbed out the stumps and brought the soil to a state of
cultivation. Later, additional land
was added to the farm, which became quite valuable, and there Ebenezer Hatch
spent his last days, dying January 2, 1874, aged eighty-nine years.
As has been above stated the first wife of our
subject bore the maiden name of Cynthia Greene. She was born in 1783, and
departed this life at the homestead in Silver Creek Township, June 11, 1845.
There had been born to her and her husband four sons and eight daughters,
all of whom, with the exception of one, lived to mature years. There are now
living two sons and three daughters of that goodly family-Orange S., who lives
in Silver Creek Township, and his brother Stephen, a resident of Logan County,
Ill. The daughters are: Mrs. Eliza Chapman, of Richmond, Ind.;
Mrs. Emma Tuttle, of Logan County, Ill., and Mrs. Maria Myers, also a resident
of Logan County. The mother was a woman of many estimable qualities, and a
consistent member of the Baptist Church. Ebenezer
Hatch was married a second time, his wife being Miss Violet Barber, who is still
living. This lady was born April
16, 1812, in what is now Carroll County, W.Va., and is the daughter of Allen and
Jane (Haughey) Barber, who were natives respectively of North Carolina, and what
is now West Virginia, and were of Scotch and Irish descent.
They were married in the latter State, and there spent the remainder of
their lives, becoming quite aged. They
were most excellent and worthy people, and devoted members of the Methodist
Church. Allen Barber distinguished
himself as a gallant soldier during the War of 1812.
Mrs. Hatch is thus the wife and daughter of patriots, and is now in the
enjoyment of a monthly pension tendered her husband by the
Government.
There were born to the parents or Mrs. Violet
(Barber) Hatch a family of eleven children, all of whom lived to mature years
and were married, while six are yet living.
Of these Violet was the eldest. She
was reared under the parental roof, and received a fair education in the common
school. She came to Greene County
with her uncle in 1837, and since that time has resided within its limits.
Of her union with Mr. Hatch there were no children, but she is regarded
with great affection by her step-children, with whom she makes her home.
Notwithstanding she is seventy-eight years old (having been born in
1812), she retains all her faculties, and is more than ordinarily bright and
active for one of her years.
Orange S. Hatch, the eldest son of our subject,
was born August 18, 1826, at the old homestead in Silver Creek Township, and is
the youngest child of his father by his first wife.
He
spent his boyhood days in the manner of pioneer farmers' sons, acquiring a
limited education in the primitive schools, and becoming familiar with the arts
of plowing, sowing and reaping as prosecuted in the early days.
He
grew up to a healthful and vigorous manhood, and when ready to establish a home
of his own was married, October 22, 1856, at Harlem Springs, Jefferson County
to Miss Clara Thomas.
Mrs. Clara (Thomas) Hatch was born in
Amsterdam, Jefferson County, this State, June 28, 1837, and is the daughter of
Daniel and Elizabeth (McDowell) Thomas, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and
Maryland, and of Irish and Scotch descent.
Early in life Mr. Thomas learned black�smithing, which he followed for
many years, and after his marriage, which occurred in Pennsylvania. They lived
there until the birth of two children, then deciding to seek what at that time
was considered the far West, they emigrated to Ohio, settling first in
Steubenville, from there going to Springfield, thence to Amsterdam, where the
father spent the remainder of his life. Mr.
Thomas was for some years a merchant of Springfield, Ohio; he died in 1846, at
the age of forty-one years. His
wife survived him for a period of forty-four years, remaining a widow, and died at the advanced age of
nearly ninety-one. Both were strong
Methodists in religious belief, and took an active part in church work.
They were possessed of more than ordinary intelligence, and the mother
was especially well educated in both German and English. Mr. Thomas served as a
soldier in the War of 1812.
Mrs. Orange S. Hatch was carefully trained and educated, and when attaining to womanhood learned the trade of a milliner, which she followed until her marriage. Of her union with Mr. Hatch there have been born four children, one of whom, a son, John, died at the age of four years. The survivors are Emma, the wife of Allen T. Sutton, a farmer of Silver Creek Township; Minnie, Mrs. George Oldham, living in Xenia, where her husband is engaged in the wholesale grocery trade, and Charles, who remains at home with his parents. Mr. Hatch, politically, is a sound Republican, and in religious matters coincides with the doctrines of the Missionary Baptist Church, of which he is a leading member.
30 Jan 2000