Horace H. Atherton
Member of the Massachusetts Senate for the Fifth Essex District
In office
1895–1896
Preceded bySamuel L. Sawyer
Succeeded byJames H. Derbyshire
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the 20th Essex District
In office
1888–1889
Preceded byCharles S. Hitchings
Succeeded byAlonzo Penney
Personal details
BornOctober 23, 1847
Saugus, Massachusetts
DiedJuly 24, 1917 (aged 69)
Saugus, Massachusetts
Resting placeRiverside Cemetery
Saugus, Massachusetts
Political partyRepublican
SpouseHannah Preston Oliver (1870-1913; her death)
OccupationLumber merchant

Horace Hale Atherton (October 23, 1847 - July 24, 1917) was an American politician from Saugus, Massachusetts, who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives after being elected to the 109th Massachusetts General Court in 1887. He represented the twentieth Essex district, and went on to also serve in the 110th Massachusetts General Court. He subsequently was a member of the Massachusetts Senate for two terms.[1] He was a member of the Executive Council of 1898.[2]

Early life and education

He was the son of Artemas S. Atherton and Sarah Ann Morse. His father was a shoe manufacturer.[3]

Atherton was educated in public schools and Lynn high school. In 1865 he became a clerk at Oliver Breed, a lumber business, which evolved into S.A. Guilford & Co, soon after becoming a junior partner at the firm.

Career

His civic roles prior to being a state representative were as town auditor, and then as selectman. Atherton was elected as a Republican candidate at a state level. As an elected member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, he was appointed to the committee on banks and banking; on prisons; and also as a special committee to represent the state at the Ohio centennial in Columbus, Ohio.

He was a Member of the Republican State Committee during 1893 and 1894; thereafter becoming elected as chairman of the committee on towns; on parishes and religious societies, and then for street railways.[4]

Senator Horace H. Atherton (1896)

Other interests

He was a director of the Saugus Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Atherton was an author of historical articles. An avid historian of Massachusetts and New England, in 1916 he wrote the “History of Saugus, Massachusetts”, which included a biographical entry on Joseph Roby.[5] He was a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society for many years and became president of its Lynn chapter.[6][7] He was a Mason and published a book on Freemasonry titled ”A half century of William Sutton Lodge F. & A.M:1867-1917”.[8] As a historian in 1915, and perhaps lack of foresight, he questioned the cost of maintenance of the U.S. Route 1 turnpike, proclaiming that Saugus did not at all reap the benefit, and that it was an unnecessary expense on the town.[9]

Personal

Atherton married Hannah Preston Oliver (1851-1913) on May 15, 1870, in Lynn, Massachusetts.[10] They had 7 children. His son Horace Jr, married Edith Hall,[11] and followed his fathers footsteps as a local historian.[12]

Ancestry

Atherton was a New England descendant of Puritan heritage,[13] whose ancestors had settled in Massachusetts Colony. He a direct descendant of James Atherton,[14] one of the First Settlers of New England; who arrived in Dorchester, Massachusetts in the 1630s. His relatives include Henry B. Atherton, Thomas H. Atherton, Charles Humphrey Atherton, Cornelius Atherton, Joseph Ballard Atherton, and Uriah A. Boyden.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Massachusetts State Representatives Horace Hale Atherton, Albert Levi Dame, Michael Garity, Frederick Stanley Hall, William Henry Monahan". State Library of Massachusetts. 1888.
  2. ↑ "A Legislative Souvenir 1898" (PDF). archives.lib.state.ma.us. p. 15,115.
  3. ↑ "Entry for Artemas S. Atherton". atherton.one-name.net.
  4. ↑ "A Manual for the Use of the General Court (1895)". Massachusetts General Court. 1895. pp. 504, 507, 508.
  5. ↑ Atherton, Horace A. (1916). History of Saugus, Massachusetts. Citizens Committee of the Saugus Board of Trade. pp. 27–32.
  6. ↑ "National Year 1914". National Year Book By Sons of the American Revolution. 1914. p. 46.
  7. ↑ "Register of Members and Records of Their Revolutionary Ancestors". The Society. 1910.
  8. ↑ Atherton, H. H. (1917). A half century of William Sutton Lodge F. & A.M: 1867-1917. Newcomb & Gauss, Salem, Mass. OCLC 50929071.
  9. ↑ Down, Norman E. (1997). Saugus. p. 115. ISBN 9780738590295.
  10. ↑ "Entry for Horace Hale Atherton". atherton.one-name.net.
  11. ↑ "Horace Atherton Jr, wife Edith". Saugus Historical Society.
  12. ↑ Atherton, Horace H., Jr. (1915). Saugus Centenary, One Hundredth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town of Saugus, 1815-1915, July 3-4-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ Farmer, J. (1829). A genealogical register of the first settlers of New England. Carter, Andrews & Co, Lancaster, Massachusetts (refers to James Atherton of Dorchester settled in Lancaster Massachusetts in 1654).
  14. ↑ "James Atherton entry on the Atherton ONS".
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