Hon. John Hatch of Portsmouth, NH Biography from A History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire (1915)

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Source: A History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and Representative Citizens
         by Charles A. Hazlett, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, Ill, 1915

Page 858

     HON. JOHN HATCH, whose death on March 15,1904, deprived the
city of Portsmouth of one of its most honored and beloved citizens,
was born in Portsmouth, N. H., January 1, 1849, came of a prominent
family in this section whose ancestry extends back for a number of gen-
erations in this country.  He was educated in the public schools of his
native city and at St. Paul's School, Concord, and was for some time
connected with the latter institution in an administrative capacity.  He
afterward studied law with his father, Albert R. Hatch, and established
himself in practice at Portsmouth, taking up a residence at the old family
homestead in Greenland, where he lived for thirty-one years.  From this
town he was sent, in 1879, to the legislature, and again, also, in 1881.
During both these sessions Mr. Hatch was a prominent member of the
house.  He served upon its most important committees, and though a
member of the minority party, was a forceful factor in legislation.  In
1885, he sat in the State senate as a member from the New Market dis-
trict, and added to his credit the record of faithful service in that body.
He was a member of the constitutional convention in 1889, and served
his town as a member of the school board and town treasurer for a
number of years.  In August, 1893, he was appointed a member of the
bank commission, succeeding William A. Heard, and entered upon his
new duties with earnestness and vigor, serving on that commission until
March 15, 1904, the time of his death.
     Mr. Hatch. was one of the most active laymen of the Episcopal

Page 859

church in New Hampshire, and became a familiar figure at diocesan and
other church conventions, numbering also among his other services to
the church several years of membership on the standing committee of
the diocese.
     Mr. Hatch married Alice Carolina Benton, who survives him, mak-
ing her home in Greenland.  Their union was blessed with seven chil-
dren, namely: John K., who is assistant treasurer of the Strafford Sav-
ings Bank of Dover; Margaret H., who married Charles H. Batcheler,
an attorney of Portsmouth; Caroline B., who became the wife of Dr.
D. C. McLachlan, of Greenland, N. H.; Mary A., now Mrs. John E.
Gardner, of Chicago; Samuel F., a resident of Boston, Mass.; Alice,
wife of Theodore Parker, of Brookfield, Mass., and Albert R., an attor-
ney, of Portsmouth.