Nathaniel Holcomb, of Simsbury, and lived in that part of Simsbury, now Granby, until 1742, when he settled in West Simsbury.

Children, born in Simsbury: 1. Sarah, born January 11, 171011. 2. Joseph, Jr., born April 25, 1713. 3. Jehiel, born November 11, 1715. 4. Isaac, born March 29, 1717; married Hannah Alford. 5. Catherine, born September 29, 1720. 6. Elijah, born January 21, 1722-23. 7. Nathaniel, of whom further.

IV. Nathaniel Messenger, son of Joseph and Catherine (Holcomb) Messenger, was born in Simsbury, Connecticut, June 8, 1725, and died in Windsor, Vermont. He was among the earliest settlers of Norwich, Vermont, and enlisted from Norwich in the New Hampshire company of Captain John House, under Colonel Baldwin, in September, 1776, and again in Captain Solomon Cushman's company of Colonel Timothy Bedel's regiment of volunteers for an expedition against Canada, serving as private from January 19, 1778, to March 31, 1778, two months and eleven days. He lived in Norwich until about 1805, when he deserted his family and was last heard of in New York. Wife's name unknown.

V. Oliver Messenger, son of Nathaniel Messenger, was born in Norwich, Vermont, and died there. He married, in 1803, Charlotte Smith.

Children: 1. Erastus, of whom further. 2. Nelson.

VI. Erastus Messenger, son of Oliver and Charlotte (Smith) Messenger, was born in Norwich, Vermont. He lived for many years in the Hatch house, built in 1773, married Sarah Hatch, daughter of Alpheus and Sarah (Hutchinson) Hatch, of Norwich, Vermont. (See Hatch VII.) Erastus Messenger had a large family, of whom George, town clerk, of Norwich, Vermont; Charles and Nelson, who settled in New Hampshire, and Benjamin F., of further mention, are on record.

VII. Benjamin Franklin Messenger, son of Erastus and Sarah (Hatch) Messenger, was born in Norwich, Vermont. He served in the Civil War, with the Vermont Volunteer Regiment. He married Helen Elizabeth Boardman, who was born in Orleans County, Vermont, daughter of Dr. Jonas and Nancy (Root) Boardman. (See Boardman II.)

(The Hatch Line).

The surname Hatch is usually from residence at a hatch, or half-door. Richard de la Hacche is in the Hundred Rolls of Wilt

shire, and John atte Hache in those of Oxfordshire, A. D. 1273. It may be occasionally for Hack or Hake, a personal name introduced with the Daws in England. Burke records eleven coats-of-arms for various branches of the Hatch family, nine of which show two demi-lions as principal charges. The armorial bearings blazoned herewith are recorded by Burke for Hatch of County Devon. They are similar to those recorded for counties Berks, Cornwall and Surrey.

Arms-Gules, two demi-lions passant guardant or.
Crest-A lion's head cabossed argent.

1. Thomas Hatch, of Sandwich, County Kent, England, brother of William Hatch, emigrated to Massachusetts, and was in Dorchester in 1634, but soon moved with William to Scituate in Plymouth Colony, where he died about 1646. He was married and left five children.

Children, probably born in England: 1. Jonathan, possibly son of a contemporary Thomas. 2. William. 3. Thomas, of whom further. 4. Alice. 5. Hannah.

II. Thomas Hatch, son of Thomas Hatch, married, February 4, 1662, Sarah Elmes, daughter of Rodolphus Elmes.

Children, born in Scituate, Massachusetts: 1. Returah, born April 8, 1672. 2. Hannah, born July 26, 1673. 3. Rodolphus, of whom further.

III. Rodolphus Hatch, son of Thomas and Sarah (Elmes) Hatch, was born December 26, 1672, baptized in 1682. He married, December 16, 1701, Elizabeth Tilden, probably left Scituate, last on record in 1705.

Children, born in Scituate, Massachusetts: 1. John, of whom further. 2. Joseph, born May 14, 1705.

IV. John Hatch, probably son of Rodolphus and Elizabeth (Tilden) Hatch, was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, March 16, 1702-03, and died in Preston, Connecticut, in 1751. He married, at Preston, Connecticut, August 31, 1726, Jerusha Herrick, daughter of Ephraim and Judith Herrick, of Beverly, Massachusetts.

Children, born in Preston, Connecticut: 1. John, of whom further. 2. Elizabeth, born March 12, 1731; married Major Thomas Murdock. 3. Benjamin, born August 23, 1733. 4. Rufus, born December 5, 1735. 5. Joseph, born May 13, 1738, died in Norwich, Vermont, in 1811; married (first) Elizabeth Brown, (second), in

1773, Hannah Freeman. 6. Jerusha, born August 29, 1740. 7. Eunice, born June 16, 1741; married, in November, 1769, Lieutenant Elijah Gates.

1.

John Hatch, son of John and Jerusha (Herrick) Hatch, was born in Preston, Connecticut, June 9, 1727, and died in Norwich, Vermont, April 24, 1806. He was a land surveyor, made the survey of Norwich, Vermont, into lots in 1766, and laid out most of its highways during the first twenty-five years after its settlement. He was selectman in 1769, and town clerk continuously until 1780, except in 1766. He was county surveyor of Cumberland County, appointed by the Governor and Council of Vermont in 1778, when he was employed to make a survey of the town of Hartford, Vermont, into lots; and justice of the peace of Gloucester County, 17721778. He married, at Preston, Connecticut, April 7, 1748, Sarah Richards, who died April 13, 1806, aged seventy-eight years.

Children, born in Preston, Connecticut: 1. Benjamin, born December 16, 174. 2. Alpheus, of whom further. 3. Asher, born August 27, 1752. 4. Rizpah, born September 30, 1754. 5. Adrian, born July 7, 1756. 6. Naomi, born December 9, 1758; married, December 9, 1799, Jeremiah Percival. 7. John, born June 8, 1761, settled in Norwich, near his father. 8. Harper, born August 12, 1763. 9. Sarah, born December 9, 1769; married, March 19, 1789, Jehiel Boardman.

VI. Alpheus Hatch, son of John and Sarah (Richards) Hatch, was born in Preston, Connecticut, December 22, 1750, and died in Norwich, Vermont. He married Sarah Hutchinson, daughter of Samuel, Jr., and Hannah (Burr) Hutchinson, of Ashford, Connecticut.

VII. Sarah Hatch, daughter of Alpheus and Sarah (Hutchinson) Hatch, was born in Norwich, Vermont. She married Erastus Messenger, of Norwich. (See Messenger VI.)

(The Boardman Line).

Bardsley in his "Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames" calls this patronymic, with its variations, Boarder, Bordman, and Border, "a curious memorial of a past state of life." They were the tenants of lands which their Lord kept expressly for the maintenance of his table, the rental being paid in kind. Hence the English law-books speak familiarly of bord service, or bord-load, or