Howard W. Hathaway — One of the beautiful and well-managed farms in the vicinity of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, is the fine orchard property of C. E. and H. W. Hathaway. Howard W. Hathaway is associated with his father and ranks as a prosperous and highly esteemed citizen.
Howard W. Hathaway was born in Somerset, Massachusetts, December 12, 1876, son of Charles E. and Mary E. (Sherman) Hathaway, the latter, who was born in Massachusetts, now being deceased. The father, a native of Somerset, was formerly in the pottery business, and now he is associated with his son in the orchard industry. Our subject was educated in the public and high schools of Somerset and in the Friends’ School at Providence. Upon the completion of his schooling, he learned the trade of machinist and for three years followed this trade. He then occupied himself with the manufacture of pottery and electrical insulation material until 1915, when he moved to Tiverton, Rhode Island, and then to Portsmouth in 1917 with his father, and for four years continued to manufacture pottery. In 1919, the partners abandoned this business and gave all their attention to the enterprise of orchard development. The orchard business was started in 1905, and Howard W. was in this business with his father in Somerset before starting the Portsmouth orchards. He is still interested in Somerset orchards in a small way. In Portsmouth Mr. Hathaway cultivates some fifty acres in vegetables, and one hundred and fifty in fruit trees. The truck garden and orchards are in flourishing condition and their product is in much demand. Mr. Hathaway is keenly interested in fruit-growing and belongs to the American Pomological Society, the Rhode Island Fruit Growers’ Association, of which he is a director, and vice-president of the Massachusetts Fruit Growers’ Association, of which also he is a director, the New York Horticultural Society, and the New Jersey Horticultural Society.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Hathaway has for six years been a member of the Portsmouth School Committee, and since 1926 president of the Portsmouth Town Council. His hobbies are boating, tennis, and politics. Mr. Hathaway belongs to Eureka Lodge, No. 22, Free and Accepted Masons; Elysian Lodge, No. 73, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Somerset, Massachusetts; the Order of the Eastern Star; and Portsmouth Grange, No. 29, to which he transferred from Somerset Grange of which he was formerly Master. He attends the Friends’ Church of Swansea, Massachusetts.
Howard W. Hathaway married, in 1898, Nellie R. Calder, also a native of Somerset, and they are the parents of the following children: Rosalind J., Raymond H., Wallace C., Harold L., Clinton R., Lawrence A., Howard W., Jr., Norman C., Merrill F., Nellie R., and Milton G.
Source: Carroll, Charles. Rhode Island: Three Centuries of Democracy, vol 4 of 4. New York: Lewis historical Pub. Co., 1932.