Going Hathorn (1806-1875)

From "Pittsfield on the Sebasticook", 1966.

  A standout figure in 19th century Pittsfield, Maine, Going Hathorn had a hand in several of that town's business enterprises, being a lumber merchant, brickyard owner, and a founder of the town's first woolen mill. A central figure in the establishment of the Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield in 1866, Hathorn was also politically active, being a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention and in 1864 was a Republican presidential elector for Maine. Born in Sagadahoc County, Maine on March 28, 1805, Going Hathorn was the son of Daniel and Hannah (Gould) Hathorn.

   No information could be located on Hathorn's early life or education in the county of his birth, and by 1832 had resettled in Pittsfield, Somerset County, Maine. Soon after his arrival, Hathorn purchased a saw and grist mill from merchant Jesse Connor and through the succeeding years built up a lucrative business, sawing lumber and milling grain for the local citizenry. Hathorn would also operate a store in town, dealt in real estate, and was a pioneer in the local wool industry when in the late 1860s he erected the Pioneer Woolen Mill, the first of its kind in the town. Completed in 1869 and located on the Sebasticook River, Hathorn was affiliated with this mill's operation for only two years, selling off his interest to Robert Dobson. 

  Going Hathorn married at an unknown date to Mary W. Haskill (1812-1887), who survived him upon his death in 1875. The couple would have at least one son, William LaForest Hathorn (1844-1873), who went on to win a term in the Maine state house of representatives in 1870.

   An early figure in the Republican party in his state, Hathorn served as part of the Maine delegation to the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago that saw Abraham Lincoln nominated for the presidency. Four years later Hathorn was elected as one of seven Republican presidential electors for Maine, again casting his ballot for Lincoln. Two years following his service as an elector, Going Hathorn became a charter member of the board of trustees of the Maine Central Institute, completed in 1866 and located in Pittsfield. A financial backer of the school in addition to his service as a trustee, Hathorn also donated the land on which the institute's Founders Hall was built, and developed a brickyard to aid in the construction of the campus's buildings.

  The latter portion of Going Hathorn's life saw him engaged in the manufacture of orange and lemon boxes near Bangor, Maine. A month prior to his death in 1875, Hathorn was afflicted by "nervous prostration", necessitating a stay at Maine General Hospital. One week after leaving the hospital, Hathorn died in Pittsfield on August 11, 1875, aged 69. He was preceded in death by his son William and was survived by his wife Mary. Following her death in 1887, Mary Hathorn was interred alongside her husband at the Pittsfield Village Cemetery. One should note that Hathorn's Portland Daily Express death notice (shown below) mistakenly records him as having served in the Maine legislature, obviously confusing him with his son, who did serve as a representative.

From the Portland Daily Press, August 12, 1875.