lumberman, businessman, politician, b. Ogdensburg, N.Y. He moved to Wisconsin about 1873, settling in Fond du Lac. In 1878 he was hired by the J. M. Rounds Lumber Co. of Manawa; he soon acquired an interest in the business, moved it to New Lon-don, and in 1895 it became the Hatton Lumber Co. Before long, the company's holdings extended into the deep South, the Pacific Northwest, and Canada, and through these financial interests Hatton acquired a considerable fortune. A Republican, he was state senator (1899-1906); although opposed to Governor Robert M. La Follette, Sr.'s (q.v.), plan for assuming rate making power over railroads, Hatton helped draft the Railroad Commission Law of 1905. He also worked for the regulation of public land sales, forest conservation, and agricultural education in the secondary schools. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican U.S. senatorial nomination in 1907 and 1908, and for the gubernatorial nomination in 1914 and 1916. After 1916 he withdrew from politics and lived in retirement in New London until his death. B. Philipp, Political Reform in Wis. (Milwaukee, 1910); Wis. Blue Book (1905); New London Press-Republican, Apr. 1, 1937; Milwaukee journal, Apr. 22, 23, 24, 1940.

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[Source: Blue book]