Craft Masonry in Oneida County, New York - Onondaga and ...

http://www.romanhatheway.org/JoshuaHatheway.html
Joshua Hatheway - Born in Suffield, CT, 13 Aug 1761, the son of Simeon Hatheway, and nephew of Shadrach Hatheway (Yale
1738). His father later removed to Bennington, VT, and was engaged in the battle of Bennington, in Aug1777, with seven sons, of
whom Joshua, the graduate was of Yale was one. Joshua Hatheway was admitted to College in February of the Freshman year,
and united with the College Church on profession of faith in January of his Sophomore year. Upon graduation he studied law, and
after settling in practice in Bennington, married on 19 Feb 1791 Elizabeth Lord, third daughter of John Haynes Lord (Yale 1745), of
Hartford, CT.
In 1795 he removed to Fort Stanwix, now Rome, NY, and was admitted to the bar of Herkimer County. When Oneida County was
organized, in 1798, he was given a commission as Justice of the Peace, which he held for some thirty years. He was also appointed
the first County Treasurer, and held that office until 1802. He held many other local offices of trust, and was the first Master of the
first Lodge of Masons in Rome in 1800, known now as Roman-Hatheway Lodge.
He was at first actively associated with the Federalists in politics: but became dissatisfied with the policy of that party in the
presidential contest of 1800, and acted thereafter with the Democrats. About 1810 he was appointed by President Madison
Postmaster of Rome, and he retained that place until 1833, when he was succeeded by his eldest son. As an illustration of the
dignity with which he clothed his office, it is narrated that whenever the mail arrived for distribution, he commanded silence on the
part of the spectators present, required them to be seated, and said: “Gentlemen, take off your hats, for the United States mail is
now to be opened and distributed.”
In 1808 he was appointed County Surrogate, but was turned out by the Federalists in February, 1813. In 1813 he accompanied as
Quartermaster to Sacket Harbor the regiment raised in Rome.
In March 1815, he restored to his old place, and held it until 1819, when he was again displaced because of a split in the Republican
party. On 4 Jul 1817, as President of the village, he was entrusted with the duty and privilege of breaking the first ground for the
construction of the Erie Canal, in Rome. In April,1821, he was again appointed Surrogate, and was finally superseded by a younger
candidate in his own party in 1827. When restored to the office for the last time, in 1821, he was also made one of the Judges of the
Court of Common Pleas, and held that place until 1833. Joshua Hatheway died in Rome on 8 Dec 1836, in his 76 th year but his
accomplishments engraved in Rome, will live on past our time.
Source: Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Yale
On 4 Jul 1817, ground was first broken at Rome for the excavation of the Erie Canal. The place selected for the ceremony was a
few rods west of what was then the United States arsenal [near Ft. Newport], near Wood Creek, and to Oneida County Judge
Joshua Hatheway, of Rome, was assigned the honor of being the first to hold the first shovel for the ceremony.
For a further discussion of the 4 Jul 1817 Ceremony see Appendix V
Wisconsin: its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume 5, by Ellis Baker Usher. Page 1267.
http://books.google.com/books?id=5J0UAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Joshua+Hathaway%22+%22rome%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Joshua Hatheway (Hathaway) was born in Suffield, CT, 13 Aug 1761, and was a son of Simeon Hathaway, who immigrated in an
early day to Bennington, VT, where he became one of the first settlers in the territory then designated as the Hampshire Grants. The
founders of the American branch of the Hathaway family were three brothers, Ephraim, Isaac and Jacob, who immigrated from the
west of England in 1670 and settled at Taunton, MA. Joshua Hathaway, Sr., father of him whose name initiates this review was a
valiant soldier of the Continental forces in the war of the Revolution, in which he and his six brothers fought side by side in the battle
of Bennington. He was a man of specially high intellectual attainments, having been graduated in Yale College and having adopted
the profession of law. In 1796 he removed to Port Stanwix, NY, a place now known as Rome, his marriage to Elizabeth Lord having
been solemnized in 1781. He became one of the most honored and influential citizens of Oneida county, where he served many
years on the bench of the court of common pleas, besides which he held for thirty consecutive years the office of postmaster of the
village in which he had established his home. He was a man of broad views and progressive ideas and was one of the earnest
supporters of the project of constructing the Erie canal. To further the success of this important enterprise he assumed an extensive
contract for construction work, and at so low a figure did he take this contract that his entire fortune was absorbed in its completion.
He continued his residence at Rome until his death on 8 Dec 1836, and was one of the most honored pioneers of the central part of
the old Empire state. His son, also Joshua, moved west to Wisconsin where he engaged in the early surveying of that state (then a
part of Territory of Michigan), when he was high esteemed. A more complete biography of Joshua (Jr.)and his wife may be read at
the above referenced website.
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