Herschel Harrison Hatch was a politician from the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

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Hatch was born in Morrisville, New York

Morrisville, New York

Morrisville is a village in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 2,148 at the 2000 census. The village is named after its founder, Thomas Morris.The Village of Morrisville in the northwest part of the Town of Eaton on US Route 20....

, where he attended the common schools. He graduated from Hamilton College Law School in Clinton, New York

Clinton, Oneida County, New York

Clinton is a village in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 1,952 at the 2000 census. It was named for George Clinton, a royal governor of the colony of New York....

, in 1857. He was admitted to the bar

Bar (law)

Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...

 and practiced in Morrisville, 1858-1863. Hatch moved to Bay City, Michigan

Bay City, Michigan

Bay City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and is the principal city of the Bay City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Saginaw-Bay City-Saginaw Township North...

, where he was elected alderman of Bay City at its first organization in 1865. He was judge of probate of Bay County

Bay County, Michigan

-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 110,157 people, 43,930 households, and 30,048 families residing in the county. The population density was 248 people per square mile . There were 46,423 housing units at an average density of 104 per square mile...

, 1868-1872, a member of the constitutional commission of Michigan in 1873, and a member of the tax commission in 1881.

He was a descendant of John Lothropp (also Lothrop or Lathrop, born Etton, Yorkshire, 1584; died 1653) was an English Anglican clergyman, who became a Congregationalist minister and emigrant to New England. He was the founder of Barnstable, Massachusetts

Barnstable, Massachusetts

Barnstable is a city, referred to as the Town of Barnstable, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the county seat of Barnstable County. Barnstable is the largest community, both in land area and population, on Cape Cod. The town contains seven villages within its boundaries...

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His cousin, Jethro A. Hatch

Jethro A. Hatch

Jethro Ayers Hatch was a U.S. Representative from Indiana.-Early life and ancestors:He was born on June 18, 1837 in Pitcher, New York the son of Jethro Hatch, Sr. and Minerva Pierce, the daughter of Gordon Pierce and Thirza Smalley. He was the grandson of Timothy Hatch, one of the Proprietors and...

, was the first physician in Kentland, Indiana

Kentland, Indiana

Kentland is a town in Jefferson Township, Newton County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,748 at the 2010 census. The town was founded in 1860 as "Kent", though this name was soon lengthened to Kentland. The name honors Alexander Kent, who acquired the then marshy plat and prepared it...

 and a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Indiana's 10th congressional district

Indiana's 10th congressional district

Indiana's 10th congressional district was a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in Indiana. It encompassed roughly the "Old City Limits" of Indianapolis from 1983-2003...

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Hatch was elected as a Republican to the 48th United States Congress

48th United States Congress

The Forty-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1883 to March 4, 1885, during the last two years...

, becoming the first to represent Michigan's 10th congressional district

Michigan's 10th congressional district

Michigan's 10th congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, covering a region known as the Thumb. It consists of all of Huron, Lapeer, St...

, and served from March 4, 1883 to March 3, 1885 in the U.S. House. Hatch declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1884 and resumed the practice of law.

Herschel H. Hatch moved to Detroit

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 in 1895 and practiced law until 1910, when he retired. After ten years of retirement, he died in Detroit at the age of eighty-seven and is interred in Elm Lawn Cemetery of Bay City.