When the discovery of gold made in California the Mecca of the hopes of so many thousand people flocking from all parts of the world, to share in the treasures proclaimed, there were some who saw at once what had escaped the eyes of those looking below the surface of the land, the rich valleys and verdant hills and sunlight as bright as the glitter of gold.
With almost every day of his life, spent in tilling the soil, it was little wonder that Rufus H. Hatch felt his eyes gladdened by the sight of such productive farming land, and wasted no time in determining where his chosen work lay at hand.
Rufus H. Hatch was born in South Reading, Vermont on September 22, 1829, and passed his boyhood in that state. At the age of 24 he came to California, landing at San Francisco, November 10, 1853. With one year’s work on a hog ranch near the old Mission, he came to San Mateo County, located January 20, 1855 on 320 acres of government land which he entered and paid for in greenbacks in San Francisco. This farm was located within three miles of Halfmoon Bay, and for about twenty years he spent his time upon it, engaged in general farming and stockraising. lie also bought some timber lands and started a mill on Purissima creek.
Mr. Hatch married Martha Schuyler, daughter of James Schuyler, one of the oldest settlers in Halfmoon Bay. The children born to this union are Alvin S., who now has the lumber yard at Halfmoon Bay; Edna L. McGovern and Clara E. Kneese. Mrs. Hatch died in 1888.
He was connected fraternally with the order of Odd Fellows and F. & A. M. of San Mateo.
