Joshua Hathaway was born in Rome, New York in 1810. He was the youngest of seven
children of Judge Joshua Hathaway and Elizabeth Lord Hathaway. He came to Milwaukee
in 1835, and was the first district surveyor for the Milwaukee territory. He later
worked as a City Alderman, City Tax Assessor, probate judge, banker, real estate
dealer, and as a lawyer with clients as far away as New York and Philadelphia. He
was also involved in the Madison, Watertown, and Milwaukee Plank Road Company. In
1842 he married his second cousin Ann Jeanette Hathaway. He died in Milwaukee on
July 4, 1863 leaving behind his wife and five children.
Joshua Hathaway took one of the earliest surveys of the Wisconsin Territory in 1839
from land that was purchased from the Menomonee Indians around what are now the
towns of Wisconsin Rapids, Plover, Stevens Point, Mosinee and Wausau. Hathaway also
was the original surveyor of the Milwaukee area having won the contract to survey
the three local townships in the area.
After leaving the surveying field, Hathaway worked as a land agent and lawyer in the
area. He worked primarily with the buying and selling of land in Milwaukee and most
of the surrounding counties. He also assisted people in settling estate debts. In
1843, Hathaway was appointed Probate Judge by the Governor of Wisconsin. In 1846,
Hathaway was elected Alderman for the city’s 1st Ward. He served one year. Hathaway
also participated in meetings with the Madison, Watertown and Milwaukee Plank Road
Company, which resulted in the first railroad being brought to Wisconsin. Hathaway
worked as land agent for Thomas H. Stevens Sr. and Thomas H. Stevens Jr., prominent
naval commanders during the War of 1812 (Sr.) and the Civil War (Jr.). These men
would later have a naval destroyer named after them in 1944, the U.S.S. Stevens,
which was active in the Pacific during World War II.
John L. Hathaway was born April 12, 1830, in Bloominburgh, New York. John was the
brother of Ann Jeanette Hathaway (Mrs. Joshua Hathaway). He came to Milwaukee in the
early 1840’s and was City Comptroller from 1858-1859. He was a partner in Hathaway
and Belden, banker and real estate agent, 1858-1861, and was later in insurance. He
was very active in military affairs from 1858 on. John served as the governor of the
National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers until his death December 17, 1891.
