September 2, 1961: Death of former Duluth and Eveleth Mayor Edward. H. Hatch

On this day in Duluth in 1961, 79-year-old Edward H. Hatch—former mayor of both Duluth (1941–1945) and Eveleth (1918–1920)—died at his home at 4218 Robinson Street in Duluth. A native of Truro, Devonshire, England, Hatch came to the U.S. with his family when he was five years old. An education as a chemist brought him to Eveleth in 1902 to work for the Oliver Mining Company and later became the clerk and then cashier of the Spruce Mine. In 1909 he married the former Ella Tallboys in Eveleth, where he acted as postmaster from 1911 to 1914, leaving that position to become an insurance Agent for New York Life. He stuck to that job for the next 45 years, and during that time the Republican was civically active, serving three years on the Eveleth City Council before being elected mayor of the city as the U.S. entered the war in Europe, during which he also acted as the secretary of the Eveleth Selective Service Board. He moved to Duluth after his term expired in Eveleth, but returned to Eveleth each year on July 4 to stand on the corner of Jones and Grant Streets and greet old friends during the Independence Day parade. In Duluth he chaired the St. Louis County Republican Party from 1936 to his election to Duluth’s top job in 1941, and after he left office served as the city’s parks superintendent. He also served as president of the Duluth Dukes baseball team in the 1930s and was a champion rose gardener (note the rose in his lapel in his official Duluth mayoral portrait, below). A month before his death, the Minnesota Horticulture Society awarded him the bronze medal of the American Rose Society and cited for “pioneering study of rose culture. ”

Former mayor of both Virginia, Minnesota, and Duluth (and champion rose gardener) Edward Hatch, shown here in his official Duluth mayoral portrait. Note the rose in his lapel.(Image: Duluth Public Library)