Jethro Hatch was born around 1791 in Sherburne, New York, to Timothy Hatch. His father was a soldier in the American Revolution. He married Minerva Pierce, and they had at least five children: Marcella, born around 1830; Fayette, born around 1832; Jethro, born around 1834; Martha, born around 1840; and Austin, born around 1843. They lived in New York until around 1847, when they moved to Sugar Creek, Illinois. He worked as a farmer, and by 1850, he owned $5,000 of real estate. According to one writer, he became a “wealthy and influential” member of the community. He was “deeply interested in all public questions and was an earnest opponent of human slavery.” He served as chairman of the first Republican Party convention in Kane County, Illinois. The family moved to Aurora, Illinois, around 1869, and by 1870, he owned $15,400 of real estate and $700 of personal property. He died in Aurora in 1875.