Hatch Family Papers
About
This collection documents the lives of three generations of the Hatch Family. James Hatch lived in Dixon, Illinois and was a baker. Harvey Hatch, his son, was a lawyer and moved to Marquette in the late 1800s. Perry Hatch was the son of Harvey and grandson of James. He married Martha Breidemeir in the 1930s. Martha Hatch served as Northern Michigan University's first nurse from 1942-1948. She resigned to become an instructor for Northern's Licensed Practical Nursing program. Perry Hatch was a long time Scout Master for the Boy Scouts of America, Hiawathaland Council.
The collection contains correspondence, greeting cards, photographs, boy scout memorabilia, and newspaper clippings as well as tax receipts, financial records, and letters written by Civil War Soldier Charles Henry Hatch to his brother James. Other materials include class notes and exams from nursing school at the University of Minnesota (1923-24), various personal correspondence of Perry and Martha, diary account of her last days in a nursing home (Norlite), personal financial account books kept by Perry, various nursing related memorabilia, and professional certifications. Harvey Hatch's documents include mostly financial records, a few legal records, some lantern slides, and quite a bit of material on the Keewenaw Mining Company. The accession also includes a large amount of Perry Hatch's literary material, such as manuscript notes and writings of poems. The collection's materials date from the 1850s to 1996.
Only a few portions of the collection have been digitized. One is a set of letters from Charles Henry Hatch to his brother James Hatch while Charles was fighting in the Union Army during the Civil War. Charles' letters not only document his war experiences but also document his attempts to manage financial and familial matters long-distance, providing insight to economic and social conditions during the war. The other are letters written to Perry Hatch by various men serving in the military during World War I and World War II. Most of them were boys from Marquette who had been in Perry's Boy Scout troop.