REV. JOHN W. HATCH.

EV. JOHN W. HATCH was born May 24, 1819, and died in the year 1902, in his 84th year. At the time of his death he was the oldest minister in the Western North Carolina Conference. For thirty-nine years he had been a preacher of the gospel, having been licensed at the age of forty-four. Before he entered the regular ministry, he was an active worker. In 1844, he represented Hanks' chapel in the Conference that year at his home church. In 1855, he was a delegate to the Conference at New Providence, and in 1857, to Bethlehem, and served on the committee on the character and standing of the ministry. He was elected vice-president of the Conference, and also a lay delegate to the Southern Christian Convention, the first regular session of which was held at Cypress chapel in Nansemond county, Virginia, in 1858, which he attended serving on several committees. In 1859, he was a delegate to the Conference at Union chapel in Alamance county, North Carolina, and served as chairman of the committee on Sunday schools. The report says, "We are pained to learn that there have been only eleven Sabbath schools organized within the borders of the North Carolina and, Virginia Christian Conference. . . . We do therefore recommend that each minister belonging to this body deliver at least one address on the subject at each of his charges during the Conference year."

      In 1863, at New Providence in Alamance county, he was licensed to preach and preached at Pleasant Grove in connection with or as assistant to Rev. J. W. Farrell. At the Conference at O'Kelly's chapel in Chatham county, in 1866, he was assigned to Martha's chapel, and appointed a fraternal messenger to the Deep River [347] Conference. To the Conference at Union chapel in Alamance county, he reported by letter, in 1867.

      In 1869, at Salem chapel, he served on the home mission committee At this Conference he was regularly ordained an Elder by Revs. T. J. Fowler, A. Iseley, J. N. Manning, and W. B. Wellons. There was organized at this time the Sunday School Convention of the North Carolina and Virginia Conference to which he was a delegate. And also he was again elected a fraternal messenger to the Deep River Conference. At the Conference at Wake chapel in 1869, he served on the committee on home missions, and was appointed to preach at New Elam, Bethel, and Antioch.

      In 1872, at Shallow Well in Moore county, the Conference added him to the home mission committee. He reported that he had been actively engaged in the work of the ministry, and at New Providence in 1873, he served on the committee on church records, and reported that he had pastoral charge of two churches. The Conference was held at Hanks' chapel in 1874, at which church he preached once a month; he also served Antioch as pastor. In 1875, he attended the Conference at Pope's chapel, and was on the committee to recommend a plan for the organization of a Missionary Society, and served also on the committee on temperance. At the Conference at Salem chapel, in 1876, he was chairman of the committee on Sunday schools, whose report says, "Most of the churches within the bounds of of this Conference have had Sunday schools either a part or the whole of the past Conference year. . . . We recommend that the superintendents be elected by the churches." He was appointed on the Conference Executive committee. In 1877, he attended the Deep River Conference at Pleasant Ridge as a fraternal messenger from the North Carolina and Virginia Conference. At the Conference at Damascus in Orange county, in 1878, he offered a [348] memorial to the effect that the Legislature enact a law to prohibit railroads operating in this state (North Carolina) on Sunday.

      In 1879, he attended the Deep River Conference as a fraternal messenger. At the North Carolina and Virginia Conference at Christian chapel in Chatham county, he reported that he had pastoral change of Antioch and Moore Union. In 1880, at the Conference at Bethlehem in Alamance county, he served on the home mission committee, and in 1881, at Catawba Springs on the committee on religious literature, likewise at Poplar Branch in Moore county, he was appointed treasurer pro tem. At the Conference at Union in Alamance county, he was re-appointed on the standing committee on Religious Literature. In 1885, at Hayes' chapel besides the committee on religious literature, he served on the Executive committee, and in 1886, at New Providence, he served on the committee on Temperance. At New Elam, in 1887, at the opening of the Conference he conducted the devotional services, and the same at Youngsville in 1888. In 1889, at Hanks' chapel he reported that he had served Antioch and Egypt, and preached sixty sermons. In 1891, Rev. J. W. Hatch was at Pleasant Grove, Virginia, and served as treasurer, and was continued in that office at Wake chapel in 1892, and at Shallow Well in 1893. In 1894, by the union and division he became a member of the Deep River, now Western North Carolina Conference, at which he was present and was appointed on the standing committees on home missions and Sunday schools. In 1895, he attended the Western North Carolina Conference, and was appointed on the committees on Peace and Arbitration, and Temperance. In 1897, he was at Pleasant Ridge in Randolph county, but absent from the Conferences of 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901.

      In May, 1902, he attended the Southern Christian [349] Convention, and he and Rev. J. W. Wellons administered the Lord's Supper at the opening of the Convention. He was invited to a seat as an honorary member, and conducted the devotional exercises the second day morning.

      In November, 1906, at the ninth annual session of the Western North Carolina Conference, at Brown's chapel, Moore county, the committee on memoirs says: "Since the last session of our Annual Conference a father in Israel has fallen, ripe in years, rich in spiritual attainments and in the loving respect and confidence of his brethren. . . . For about forty years he was an humble and faithful minister of Christ, devoted to the Church of his early choice. . . . . He loved the Christian Church, and was, zealous in her service, a regular attendant at her conferences and conventions, true to the old landmarks, an advocate of progress, a faithful Sunday school worker, a safe counselor and a cheerful Christian." Before he united with the Western North Carolina Conference, he was for a number of years treasurer of the North Carolina and Virginia Conference.

[LCM 347-350]