From “The History of San Mateo” by Roy Cloud, 1928
[This is an incomplete article.]
Alvin S. Hatch
“One of the leading commercial enterprises at Half Moon Bay is the lumber business conducted by Alvin S. Hatch, who has prospered, due to his progressive methods and keen judgement in practical matters. Mr. Hatch was born in San Mateo county on the 4th of June, 1876, and is a son of Rufus H. and Maria J. (Schuyler…ed. there was the famous Schuyler Hotel in Half Moon Bay), who were married in March, 1875. The father was born, reared and educated in Vermont, where he lived until 1853, when he came to California, residing in San Francisco awhile. In 1854 he came to Half Moon Bay, his arrival being prior to the organization of San Mateo County and here he engaged in farming for a time but later turned his attention to the lumber business. In 1864 he took up a tract of government land and, in partnership with G.R. Borden, bought a large tract of timber land. They built and operated a water-power sawmill, which they converted into a steam power mill in 1871, theirs being the first sawmill in this part of the county.
“Maria J. Schuyler was born in Georgia in 1850, and in 1870 arrived in California, to which state her father had come some years previously. He served as a butcher on steamers plying between Panama and San Francisco, but later came to Half Moon Bay and from 1870 conducted the Schuyler Hotel.
“To Mr. and Mrs. Hatch were born four children, of whom two are living, Alvin S. and Edna, who became the wife of Dr. J. C. McGovern. Both parents are deceased, the mother dying in 1888 and the father in 1906.
“Alvin S. Hatch received his education in the public schools and early became familiar with the lumber business, with which he has been identified during practically all his life. He now owns and operates a large yard at Half Moon Bay, where he carries a complete line of lumber…..”