It is unknown when John and his family moved to New York state.  For a long time it was
thought that the John Hatch listed in Salem, Washington County, New York census records for
1790 and on the tax rolls of Salem dated May 24, 1794, as owing real estate or personal property,
was our John Hatch.  Nothing conclusive has been found that this is the correct John Hatch.
Research in several sources in Washington County has not turned up anything on John Hatch
other than the 1790 census and 1794 tax roll.  In 1789, a John Hatch along with Wm. Tunnicliff,
Dan'l Hawks, Ebenezor Eaton, and Jos. Rockwell settled at or near Richfield Springs, Otsego
Co., NY.¹   This is not our John Hatch either.  The John Hatch of Richfield, bought and sold
several pieces of property in and around Richfield.  One of his grantor’s deeds dated in 1805
referred to his wife as “Lucy”.²

Butternuts

Jacob and his father, John, along with his younger brothers and sisters were probably in
Butternuts, Otsego County, New York before 1809.  The first three children of Jacob’s brother,
Sylvanus,  Henry S., Seth, and John are alleged to have been born in Butternuts.   The 1810
census of Butternuts  indicates  that J. Hatch and J. Hatch were neighbors: and others living in the
neighborhood were D. Davis, Seth Gardner, H.. Wood, Adam Gardner and Dr. L. Hathaway.³
Either of the Gardners could possibly have been the father to Eunice Gardner, Sylvanus’ wife.
Jacob’s older brothers, William and Rufus, apparently never resided in Butternuts.  William
Hatch’s residence was New Haven, Vermont until after 1820.  The 1820 census record for New
Haven lists William’s wife, Tempi (Temperance), as head of household.⁴  It appears that William
was traveling a lot, visiting family, and perhaps attending school.  There is some evidence that he
was a doctor.  Rufus Hatch, was living in Henderson, Jefferson County, New York as early as
1806.  It was the connection to Butternuts led me to the Gilbertsville Free Library in Gilbertsville,
Butternuts Township.  On Thursday, June 17, 1999, I received  the following e-mail: “One of our
volunteers has completed indexing a general store account book which dates transactions from
1814-1824.  The following Hatches are listed:

 Jacob Hatch: 1814, 15, 16, 17
 Jno Hatch: same as above
 Sylvanus Hatch: 1814, 15, 17
 Wm Hatch: 1814, 15, 19, 20"⁵

The balances were “brot fwd” from the 1813 Book.  The accounts were for basic general store
transactions for the purchase of such items as whip lashes, ribbons, carding wool, salt, tobacco,
whiskey, calico, mustard seed, and buttons in return for which, credit was obtained for providing
butter, wheat, fish, flannel, tow cloth and either cash or a note.  It wasn't unusual for  families to
weave during the winter and sell some of their cloth as well as butter and other products they
either made or obtained on the farm.  John, Jacob and William settled their accounts in September
and November, 1817. However, the store had to get a judgment against Sylvanus in 1817.  None
of the purchases were large and they were made infrequently.⁶  The ledger more or less identifies
the J. Hatch and J. Hatch in the 1810 census as John and Jacob.

It would have been in Butternuts that Jacob met and married Elizabeth “Betsy” Wild.  Betsy’s
father, Thomas Wild, was in Butternuts in 1806.⁷  Jacob married Elizabeth “Betsy” Wild on April
18, 1809.  Because Betsy and Jacob both appear to have been living in Butternuts in 1809, the
marriage probably took place in Butternuts.  Betsy was born 1 Jan. 1788 in Williamsburg,
Hampshire, Massachusetts to Thomas Wild and Anna Williams.   Thomas was a veteran of the
War of the Revolution in 1779 and 1780 and received a pension.⁸  Thomas moved his family to
Northampton, Massachusetts after the war and sometime before 1806 he moved to Butternuts.⁹
After their marriage, Jacob and Betsy made their first home in Butternuts and between 1810 and
1817 four daughters were born to them: Eliza (about 1810), Almira (1811), Annie (about 1816),
and Charlotte (10 Oct 1817).

Betsy Hatch gave a recitation in Church of her “hope in God” on March 23, 1816,  that  “was to
the satisfaction of the Church.”¹⁰  This must be Betsy Wild Hatch, wife of Jacob.  According to
the Gilbertsville Free Library, Betsy would have been an adult and the speech was probably made
in connection with her being accepted by the church.  Other possibilities that I have ruled out are
Elizabeth Walden who died sometime around 1788.   Jacob’s sister, Elizabeth, was born around
1782.  She would have been around 32 and I would have thought she was married by then, but
maybe not.  We don't know what happened to John's oldest son, John.  If he was living perhaps he
had a daughter or a wife named Betsy.  Rufus had a daughter, Elizabeth, born in 1804, but he
wasn't in Butternuts and she would have been too young.  As far back as I have been able to trace
the Wild family, they belonged to the Congregationalist Church, including Thomas Wild.

At the time John and his family were in Butternuts, there were four Baptist Churches, roughly
corresponding to the points of the compass.  Also, Butternuts was two and a half times larger
than it is now.  It included all of what is now the town of Morris and parts of the towns of
Pittsfield, New Lisbon, Laurens, Otego, Huntsville (which has been completely eliminated), and
Unadilla.  The First Baptist Church was, and still is, at the northeastern end of the township.  The
early records of the First Church have disappeared.  The Second Baptist Church was in the
northern part of the township.  Although its records are thought to exist they have not been
forthcoming.  The Second Church was in the neighborhood that J. & J. (John & Jacob) Hatch
were living, side by side.¹¹  According to the current Baptist Church records, basically the Third
and Fourth have been combined,  John Hatch was one of the representatives sent from the Second
Baptist Church of Butternuts to the organizational meeting held  Oct 4, 1806.¹²

The Townsends, Pettingills, Caulkins, Tanners, and others came to Butternuts between 1790 and
1810.  The earliest settlers may have been young men without their families. “The typical pattern
was to send some of the young men over to clear some land, build a shelter of some kind and put
in a crop of winter wheat.  They would then return home and come back the following spring and
make some more progress.  Then, when they had made things ‘civilized’ enough they would bring
more of their families over.”¹³  Perhaps this type of migration explains why we cannot pinpoint
John in census records.  He may have been living with part of his family and perhaps others not
part of his immediate family were also living with him.

A number of families left Butternuts between 1815 and 1820 for Jefferson County including
James LeRay de Chaumont, the proprietor of LeRay.¹⁴  Some of the migration was directly
related to religious beliefs and some like LeRay went for riches.  Others would have left to find an
easier life and better land.  Of those who went from the Hatch neighborhood was Deacon
Benjamin Tanner and his family.  Deacon Tanner was one of the leading lights of the Second
Baptist Church.  It seems he and other were given a very good deal by James LeRay du
Chaumont to trade land from West Hill in Butternuts for land in Jefferson county.  A major
migration took place in February of 1817.  It was easier to travel in the dead of winter when the
ground was frozen.  John Hatch and his family probably left the following winter since their
accounts with the general store were settled in the autumn of 1817.¹⁵

1816 has been called the "Year without a Summer" when a weather phenomenon caused by the
eruption of Mount Tambora¹⁶ in the Pacific Ocean in 1815.  The eruption resulted in frost in
every month of 1816 .  The farmers suffered terribly and would not have known what caused the
terrible weather or when it would end.  They had nothing much to lose by moving.  By the spring
of 1817 many families had left the Butternut and Cherry Valleys.  Moving in the dead of winter
was fairly common in New York because the ground was hard they could avoid mud and the
numerous streams and rivers were frozen making them easier to cross.¹⁷  Also, by leaving in the
winter, families could get where they wanted to be in time to plant their spring crops.
 

Sacket’s Harbor

Jacob maintained on several occasions that he fought in the battle at Little Sandy about twelve
miles from Sacket's Harbor in the War of 1812.   On March 26, 1856, Jacob signed an affidavit
before Elias Smith, Probate Judge of the Probate Court, Great Salt Lake County, in the Territory
of Utah;

     [O]n his [Jacob’s] oath did say that he is the identical Jacob Hatch who was a
     private in company no. 46, he thinks though as to the no. He is not positive,
     commanded by Capt. Sylvanus Barney in the Regiment the no. Of which he has
     forgotten.  Commanded by Col. [blurred] Brown he thinks.  In the late war with
     Great Britain Declared by the United States on the 18th of June 1812 that I
     volunteered as a private in Ellis Burg [Ellisburg], Jefferson County New York
     about the month of August 1813 for one month and actually served one month and
     was honorably discharged at Sauciest Harbor in the State of New York about the
     month of Sept. 1813.  That he was in the Battle fought at Little Sandy about
     twelve miles from Sauciest Harbor.  He further says that he now makes this
     statement to obtain the bounty land to which he may be entitled under the act of
     Congress Mar 3rd 1855 that he has never rec’d any Certificate for any Bounty land
     under this or any other act of Congress nor made any other application therefor. /s/
     Jacob Hatch.¹⁸

Jacob may have been referring to the Battle of Sandy Creek, located in Ellisburg about 14 miles
south of Sauciest Harbor.   “In 1814 supply boats from New York City; carrying guns, rigging,
and supplies for the U.S. frigate, the Superior, were halted near Sandy Creek by British forces.
But American troops deceived the British into an ambush at Sandy Creek and the troops
succeeded in transporting the supplies over land to Sauciest Harbor, allowing the Superior to be
launched.”¹⁹   The main battle at Sacket’s Harbor began May 29, 1813 and lasted about four
hours with mistakes on both sides.

Jacob’s brother, Rufus, enlisted at Henderson, NY and served from March 10, 1813 to May 17,
1813, as a private in Captain George W. Clark's Company of New York Militia, and from Oct.
12, 1814 to Nov. 15, 1814, as a private in Captain. Solomon McCumber's Company of New York
Militia. At the time of his discharge Rufus was described as five feet, eight and one-half inches
tall, brown hair, blue eyes, fair complexion and by occupation, a farmer.²⁰

Jacob submitted two affidavits and two Powers of Attorney between 1856 and 1875,  when he
applied for his pension of bounty land pursuant to Circular A., of the Acts of  March 3, 1855 and
May 14, 1856, from the Department of the Interior giving away free bounty land for those
persons who were entitled to such land through military service.  Jacob’s applications were denied
because was unable to produce three witnesses who were with him at Sacket’s Harbor and he was
not listed on the official militia rolls.

LeRay, New York

Jacob and Betsy settled in LeRay, Jefferson County, New York around the fall of 1817 and lived
there until 1839.   Six more children were born to them between 1818 and 1832:   Hosea, Polly
(17 Aug 1821), Isaac (14 Feb 1823), Layton (3 May 1826), William (12 Nov 1828), and Lewis (5
Oct 1832).  Hosea died before they left LeRay, probably soon after his birth about 1819.

On 24 June 1820, “Bro. John Hatch formerly of the church in Butternuts, Otsego, NY. was
received by the Baptist Church in Champion, Jefferson, NY.”²¹  John and his sons, Jacob,
Sylvanus, and Rufus were listed  in Jefferson County census of 1820.  In the 1810 census for
Henderson Rufus Hatch, between the ages of 26 and 45, was residing there.  Since Rufus was not
listed on the General Store Ledger  in Butternuts, there is little doubt that Rufus was in
Henderson before 1810.  William was still listed as a resident Vermont in 1820 and in Canton, St.
Lawrence, New York in 1830.

According to the 1820 census records of LeRay, John was living next to Sylvanus Hatch and
James Walden, possibly his son-in-law.  John’s family consisted of 1 male and 1 female over 45
and 1 female between 16 and 25.  John Hatch is also listed in LeRay in the 1825 census.  His
family consisted of 1 male and 1 female over 45 and 1 other male under 18.  He owned 2 acres
improved land, 2 cows, 2 hogs, 123 yards of home manufactured cloth.  Jacob is also listed in the
1820 and 1825 census records of LeRay.  In 1820 Jacob’s family consisted of 1 male and 1 female
between the ages of 26 and 45, with 1 male and 4 females under the age of 10.  By 1825 his
family had grown to 9 with the addition of a daughter and a son who was born within the
preceding year.  He also had 40 acres of improved land, 16 cattle, 19 sheep, 1 hog and 50 yards of
domestic cloth.  Evidently none of the family owned a horse in 1825, but in 1835, Jacob owned 3
horses, Rufus owned 6 and Sylvanus owned 5. I have not been able to find any real estate
transactions for John showing he either purchased or sold property.  It may be someday we will
be able to find him on a land grant or patent record.  John was not listed in any census schedule
after 1820.

Jefferson County is located in upstate New York.  In the early eighteen hundreds, upstate New
York consisted mainly of farms.  Each with a log cabin and an outhouse standing in the clearing
where the trees had been cut down for building logs.  Each farm was surrounded by a rail fence.
The farms were surrounded by forests and cemeteries.  The roads leading to the farms were soft
with deep ruts made by wagon wheels.  It was also necessary to cross many small creeks.  Bridges
were built using five fence poles held together with pieces of board.  Originally, this part of the
country was covered with pines.  The land surface had level or gently rolling hills.  Because of the
large quantities of pine that were cut or because of fire, LeRay was stripped of its timber.  The
light, sandy soil that remained was barren and of little value for farming.  However, there were
areas containing a clay loam that produced some of the best hay in the State of New York.

The Black River formed LeRay's southern boundary.  The Indian River enters the town on the
east from Philadelphia (northeast of LeRay) and flows a few miles southwest and then abruptly
turns north at a place known as Indian River Bend.  During the long, cold New York winters,
farmers would cut down large pine logs and haul them to the Beach River.  In the spring, the logs
would be carried down stream during the spring thaw to Lake Ontario.  Here they were grouped
together in what appeared to be giant rafts.  At Montreal they were loaded onto vessels and found
their way to various markets in the Old World. Indian River was always a good place to fish for
Bass and Pickerel and occasionally Muskellunge.  Speckled Trout could be found in Pleasant and
West Creeks that ran through town.  These creeks were colder having originated as cold springs.
Fish and game were plentiful.  Thousands of bushels of wild  huckleberries were picked by the
women and children to help support them through the winter.  Planting and harvesting crops and
preserving and storage of food was a year-round necessity that involved the entire family.

LeRay was a village which had its first Post Office in 1823, and consisted of two inns, two
grocery stores, a hardware store, three blacksmith shops, a grist mill, a saw mill and about sixty
dwellings with 300 to 400 people having a variety of occupations including mechanics and four
physicians.  There were three churches:  Presbyterian, Baptist and Methodist.  A few years later
there was a Catholic Church.²²

The expansion of Fort Drum displaced several small communities, including LeRay.  I mention
this because several sources on Jacob list LeRoy in Oneida County, Oswego County or Genesee
County as the birth place of Jacob.  Fort Drum has been used as a military training site since 1908,
however the Army's presence in the North Country may be traced back to the early 1800s.²³  In
1809 a company of infantry soldiers was stationed at Sacket's Harbor to enforce the Embargo Act
and control smuggling between northern New York and Canada. Following the outbreak of the
War of 1812, Sacket’s Harbor became the center of United States Naval and military activity for
the Upper St. Lawrence River Valley and Lake Ontario.  With the outbreak of WWII an
additional 75,000 acres of land was purchased.  With that purchase, 525 local families were
displaced. Five entire villages were eliminated, while others were reduced from one-third to
one-half their size.  By Labor Day 1941, 100 tracts of land were taken over. Three thousand
buildings, including 24 schools, 6 churches and a post office were abandoned.  The post was
designated Fort Drum in 1974.

Baptism

Jacob and Elizabeth were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in New
York State.  Payson Ward records state that Jacob was baptized by Noah Dutcher, 23 October
1838.²⁴  All that is known of Noah Dutcher is the Payson record and two IGI records.  One states
Noah Dutcher was born in 1783 in Oppenheim, New York and gives his relative as Azariah
Smith.  The other says Noah Dutcher was born in 1783, Apperheim, Fulton, 'New York, relative,:
Azariah Smith.  Both records agree, but don’t give any real information.  According to the
Geographic Reference Library,²⁵ Oppenheim, New York is in Fulton County.  Evidently, Noah
Dutcher did not immigrate to Utah and possibly he never left New York.  This is an area worth
investigation.  Was he one of the missionaries who converted Jacob and his family?  If so, who
was his   companion?  What happened to him?   On January 13, 1839 there was a “Conference
held at Br. Thomas Laird’s, in Pamelia” where Ruben T. Nicholes was ordained an Elder in the
LDS Church by Elders C.B. Childs and Jonathan Allen.²⁶  Sometime during that year or early in
1840, Jacob and his family moved to Lee County, Iowa to be near the Church and the Prophet,
Joseph Smith.

Continue to Part III - Illinois (in progress)
Return to Part I - Massachusetts and Vermont
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_____________________________________________________________________________

Footnotes

1. French, J. H., Otsego County, Gazetteer of the State of New York.  R. Pearsall
Smith, Syracuse, N. Y., 1860 as published on the Otsego County NY GenWeb Page
<http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyotsego/frotsego.htm> 1999.

2. Otsego County Deeds, Vol G page 219, FHL Film 1023765.

3. 1810 Census, Butternuts, NY:  # 62 b. D. Davis, # 63 b. S(eth) Gardner, # 64 b. H. Wood, # 65
b. J(ohn) Hatch (the father?), # 66 b. J. Hatch (the son?), # 67 b. A(dam) Gardner, # 68 b. Dr. L.
Hathaway.

4.1820 Census New Haven, Vt.: Tempi (Temperance?) head of house. School held in home of Dr.
William Hatch, New Haven, VT.  William was not with Temperance at this census.

5. "General Store Account Book, 1814-1824,” Local History Collection, Gilbertsville Free Library,
Butternuts, New York.   E-mail <glibary@citlink.net>.

6. "General Store Account book, 1814-14,” Local History Collection, Gilbertsville Free Library,
Butternuts, New York.

7. Newspaper Publications:  Otsego Herald and Western Advertiser, November 27, 1806, and
December 4, 1806 (same notice published in 2 different publications).   A copy of the article which
names Thomas Wild was sent to me by the Local History Collection of the Gilbertsville Free Library,
Gilbertsville, NY, July, 1999.

8. Pension of Thomas Wild, #20819: New York [4 Mar 1832]

9. Pension Application of Thomas Wild, 15 Oct. 1832.  Photocopies in my possession.

10. "Third Baptist Church of Butternuts", in the Local History Collection of the Gilbertsville Free
Library.  The records are currently being indexed.   June, 1999.

11.1810 Census, Butternuts, Otsego, NY.

12. Gilbertsville Free Library.

13. Local History Collection of the Gilbertsville Free Library, Gilbertsville Free Library, January 17,
1998.

14. Local History Collection of the Gilbertsville Free Library, Gilbertsville Free Library.

15. Local History Collection of the Gilbertsville Free Library.  June 21, 1999.

16. The Year Without a Summer, links to sites: The Reason Why, Tambora, Volcanoes & Climate, and Volcanoes and Climate Change.

17. Nancy Dixon <nandixon@gisco.net>.Jefferson County GenWeb.
 <http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyjeffer/>

18. Pension Applications, No. 252.246, General Services Administration, Washington, DC 20408.

19. A History of the Jefferson County Region - Jefferson Co. Web page.  Compiled by Marc E.
Mosher, e-mail: lectrichead@bigfoot.com.  Copyright 8 1997, 1999.
 <http://www.imcnet.net/~lectrich/jeffco.htm>

20. Pension Record, Veterans Administration, Washington D. C., 28143.

21. "Champion, NY Baptist Church Records of covenant Meetings between March 27, 1819 and
December 11, 1824", FHL film 0017719.  “After reading and meetings, voted that we receive Brother
John Hatch as a member of our church formerly a members of the church in Butternuts.”  Signed by
Abel P. Lewis, Church Clerk.

22. Description of LeRay taken from the research notes of Margie Hatch Evans.

23. Fort Drum a Great Place to Live and Work, web page <http://drum-www.army.mil/>

24. "LDS Membership Records", Self, Payson Ward Records p 94 FHL Film 26401. Baptized by
Noah Dutcher.

25. LDS Family History Suite, CD-ROM for Windows; Infobases, Provo, UT, 1996.

26. Ministerial Labors of Reuben T. Nichols, p.2, provided to me by Lori Linnell, January, 2000.

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