Captain Joseph Hatch came to Norwich with his elder brother, John, and located at the south end of Norwich Plain, where he built himself a log cabin on a site near the building now standing and formerly used by the late David Merrill for a paint shop. Subsequently, in 1771, he built the house on the opposite side of the way (now known as the Messenger house) which is believed to have been the first frame dwelling house erected at the Plain. He became the owner of a large amount of land, embracing much of the southern and eastern parts of the Plain, to the Hartford line.
Mr. Hatch‘s first wife was Elizabeth Brown, by whom he had two children, one of whom, Elizabeth, died October 7, 1776. For his second wife he married Hannah Freeman, in 1773, and they became the parents of six children.
Captain Hatch was 73 years of age at the time of his decease in town in 1811. His first wife died in 1773 and his second wife in 1810, aged 69 years.
See: Biography of Honorable Reuben Hatch for a son of Joseph.
