WOODS CROSS
Demise of Orin Hatch
Honored Patriarch Closes Eventful Career in Seventy-seventh Year
Woodcross, Davis Co., Sept. 9.—
Surrounded by most of the members of his large family, and sheltered by the roof under which he and his family have lived happily for 51 years, Patriarch Orin Hatch, one of the best known and highly respected residents of South Bountiful, passed away peacefully at 2:20 p.m. Saturday. He had been ill all summer and it has been known for weeks that he could not live long. At times his sufferings have been great, but the hope with fortitude his affliction, and died full of faith that had been the guiding influence of his long and useful career. The deceased was a native of Farmersville, Cattaraugus County, New York, where on May 9, 1830, was born to Ira S. and Meltha Bradford Hatch.
Two years later missionaries of the Latter-day Saints visited the family with news of the restored gospel, and over five and other members of the family joined the new faith. In 1843 the family moved to Illinois, settling 40 miles from Nauvoo. It was while here that the boy Orin, then in his fourteenth year, was baptized, a testimony of the truth of the gospel having come forcibly to him as he stood watching a baptism being performed by elders of the Church.
The testimony never weakened or wavered, and in all the trials and hardships of frontier life through which he later was called upon to pass, trust in God and reliance upon His power were the sources of courage Elder Hatch to do his duty.
He was near the scene of the martyrdom of the Prophet and Patriarch Joseph and Hyrum, and later was driven with the Saints to Council Bluffs. There, in July, 1846, he enlisted as a member of the Mormon battalion and had the distinction of being the youngest member of that famous organization, being in his sixteenth year, and a month younger than the latest enlistment. He marched to California, wintered there, was there when gold was discovered, passed through a severe illness, and then came to Salt Lake in 1848, going the same year to Council Bluffs to rejoin his family, and returning in 1849 to Utah.
He settled in Bountiful that year, although in the performance of duty he has been away on pioneering expeditions, first to Fort Supply, then to Fort Hall and later to Carson valley and to Arizona. His home has been here ever since.
In the fall of 1855 he was married in Bountiful to Elizabeth Perry, and in 1856 he married Maria Thompson. Both wives survive him and also 19 of the 21 children that have been born to them. The youngest child is now 27 years of age. His first wife bore him 12 children, and his death was the first break in that remarkable family circle.
On Oct. 10, 1905, he and his wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, and most of their children were present.
Elder Hatch leaves 111 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, bringing the total membership of his family to 150.
Five years ago he was ordained a patriarch, a position he has been his privilege to bestow blessings on most of his children.
Two brothers of the deceased are living—Ira Hatch, the well-known Indian guide, now a resident of Fruitland, New Mexico, and Ephraim Hatch of Bountiful. His children reside mostly in Davis and Rich counties, Utah, and Big Horn, Wyo. They have all been summoned to the funeral, which will take place Tuesday at 2 o’clock in the South Bountiful meeting house.
In the death of Patriarch Hatch there passes from earth one who has never aspired to worldly honors or to prominent positions, but who has been content to live a consistently honorable career in a quiet way. His has been a life devoted to good deeds.
The Late Orin Hatch
Funeral services for Ephraim Hatch, one of the pioneers of Davis county, who died Monday night at his home in Woods Cross, at the age of 79 years, will be held Thursday afternoon at 2 o’clock in the South Bountiful chapel. Interment will be in the Bountiful cemetery.
Mr. Hatch, who was one of the best known and most highly respected citizens of Davis county, was a native of the state of New York, the son of Samuel and wealthy Bradford Hatch. His father joined the Mormon church shortly after its organization, and was among the band of founders to assemble with the church at Nauvoo and start west, but on account of the illness and sudden death of Mrs. Hatch did not arrive in Utah until 1849, crossing the plains in the company commanded by Captain Hicks and locating in Sessions settlement, now known as Woods Cross, where Ephraim Hatch has resided until the time of his death.
Mr. Hatch is survived by his widow and the following children: Parley E., Beeth, Nev.; Mrs. Minnie A. Burnham; Mrs. Lillie E. Robinson and J. Russell Hatch, all of Woods Cross; twenty-six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Mr. Hatch crossed the plains seven times by ox team, and in the early days of Utah went back to the Missouri river and secured machinery for the first paper mill built in the state.