Kings County Biographies


This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm



 
HENRY LEWIS HATCH
 
was born in Vermont, March 22, 1814.  His father, James Hatch, was born in 
Connecticut, his grandfather, Asa Hatch, having removed from that State to 
Vermont at an early day.  Many generations of the Hatch family belonged to the 
Episcopal Church.  James Hatch married Miss Betsey Lewis, a native of New 
Hampshire, and to them were born thirteen children, some of whom died in 
infancy.  At this writing only two are living.  Mr. Hatch was next to the oldest 
in the family.  He was reared in Vermont and educated at Newbury Seminary.  At 
the age of nineteen he began teaching, and the most of the time for twenty years 
followed that profession.  In 1844 he removed to Illinois and built an academy 
at Waukegan, where he remained until 1850.
            Mr. Hatch dates his arrival in California July 15, 1850, having made 
the journey across the plains, with no serious mishap.  At one time they were 
short of provisions and exchanged a two-horse wagon for a peck of corn.  After 
reaching the Golden State he was engaged in the mercantile business for one year 
at Georgetown, El Dorado County, and with average success mined two years in 
Nevada County.  He then turned his attention to farming, purchasing a possessory 
right to 1,000 acres, began the stock business and also built a hotel.  He 
occupied the hotel for twenty years, and a portion of that time was postmaster 
and Justice of the Peace. In 1865-�66 he was elected to the State Legislature by 
the Republican party, and was in the Legislature when the 14th and 15th 
amendments to the United States constitution were passed.  In later years Mr. 
Hatch engaged in horticultural pursuits, but since 1883 he has been retired from 
active business.  In 1889 he came to his present home, adjoining that of his 
son, M. P. Hatch, near Lemoore.
            Mr. Hatch was married, in 1838, to Miss Elizabeth W. Jefferds, and 
after a happy wedded life of over fifty years the companion of his youth is 
still by his side.  He has never been sick a day in his life, and his wife is 
blessed with unusually good health.  They have never had a death in their family 
and all their children are strong and healthy.  Their daughter, Lucy E., is the 
wife of A. B. Driesvock and resides in Nevada County.  James J. is a dentist of 
San Francisco.  M. P. and M. D. are twins, the former a horticulturist near 
Lemoore, and the latter a railroad employe residing  in San Francisco.
            Now, in the declining years of their lives, Mr. and Mrs. Hatch are 
happy in their comfortable home and in the enjoyment of each other�s society.
 
Memorial and Biographical History of the counties of Fresno, Tulare and Kern, 
California
Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1892  p. 666
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler