Thomas Hatfield
Thomas Hatfield, farmer, was born October 1, 1821, in a log cabin which stood near the site of his present home. His paternal grandfather, Thomas Hatfield, was a native of Delaware, of Welsh descent, served as a drummer boy in the Revolutionary war, and ever afterward was a stanch hater of the English flag and government, which he believed was symbolical of tyranny and oppression. His brothers, John and Samuel, were killed in that struggle for liberty, one at the battle of the Cowpens and the other at Greenbrier C. H. Thomas married Sarah Allen, a native of Culpeper County, Va., but a resident of Kentucky at the time of her marriage. After the Revolutionary war closed with the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Thomas traveled through Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, Tennesee and into Kentucky, where he was married and lived until 1801, when he and family came to Montgomery County, Ohio, and entered the land now owned by his grandson, Thomas. By his union with Sarah Allen our subject’s grandfather became the father of nine children, of whom John, the father of Thomas, Jr., the second child, was born in Mason County, Ky., in November, 1793. When John was eighteen years of age, he was drafted to serve in the war of 1812, but having imbibed his father’s spirit of liberty and freedom he could not brook the idea of going into his country’s service as a drafted man, and therefore enlisted in Capt. Perry’s Rangers. His father, fired with that spirit of hatred against the same old foe he had helped to humiliate in 1776, enlisted in the same company and did excellent service as scout and guide, and being of a fearless nature was ever the first man to ford any stream that lay in their pathway. After serving one year, he and his son were honorably discharged at Vincennes, Ind. John was married about 1817 to Nancy Hatfield, a distant relative, who bore him six children, viz.: Ann L. (the wife of William Dodds), Lydia C. (the wife of Daniel Crosley), Thomas, Allen, Ambrose B. (deceased) and Maria (the wife of John C. Martin). John Hatfield was a stone-mason by trade, but after the war of 1812 turned his attention chiefly to farming. He died May 11, 1829, and his wife survived him until August, 1852. They were members of the Baptist Church and highly respected by all who knew them, he being a hard-working, generous and kind-hearted man, who was always careful to be right before acting. Our subject has never lived away from his birthplace, and was married August 15, 1845, to Mary Elizabeth Stansell, daughter of William and Sarah (Myover) Stansell, her parents having come from Kentucky to this county about the year 1801. Mrs. Hatfield was born in Washington Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, August 12, 1827, and has had the following children; Louisa J. (deceased), Albert P. (deceased), Laura E. (deceased), Mason W. and Alice S. Mr. Hatfield and wife have been members of the Baptist Church since 1859, and he is looked upon as an honorable, upright and worthy citizen.
From The History of Montgomery County, Ohio, W.H. Beers & Co., 1882