Who was Colonel Lathrop?
In the book, “The history of Danbury, Conn” the authors talk about the hatting industry in Danbury, Ct going all the way back to about the year 1810.
They talk about very tough times in the industry and in the economy in general. They also discuss the wool hat coming into fashion in 1841. When local hatters were in search of a true expert in the wool hatting field, they found Colonel Lathrop of Roxbury. When the authors say, “at present time,” I assume they mean 1896.
So, it looks like Colonel Lathrop set the world straight on the best way to manufacture wool hats. He seemed to have knowledge about the process of wool hat manufacturing that few others, if any others had. With a good imagination, and/or perhaps a healthy supply of Lathrop genes floating around inside of you, you might conclude he saved the hatting industry in Danbury long before it hit its full stride!
So, now we know what Colonel Lathrop did, but; who was he???
First of all, there is no Colonel Lathrop, at least that I could find. However, I found a “Captain” Amasa Lathrop of Roxbury. This man was born in Colchester, Ct in 1792 and died in Roxbury in 1871. He was also known as “Amsie.” Amsie was a nickname, I will assume. Most importantly, Captain Amasa “Amsie” Lathrop was a Hatter from Roxbury as we can see in the 1850 Census.
Amasa’s father was Daniel Lathrop. He also had a brother Daniel Lathrop. His father Daniel Lathrop, however, (b1765 – d1861), at the age of 93, got a lawyer and had just about everyone else in his home town, (his home town was New Milford) vouching for his integrity as he insisted, he fought in the Revolutionary War but signed up under a fictitious name because he was underage. In one of his correspondences with the government he wrote the names Barnabas Lathrop, Daniel Lathrop, (himself) and Amasa Lathrop who everyone called “Captain.” The army wanted to know the genealogy of these 3 men. Whether or not he gave the correct answer is unclear but we know positively, Barnabas, that is, the Reverend Barnabas Lathrop, was his father and one of his sons was Amasa. It appears the reason why he mentioned his father and son Amasa is his father was a minister and ran a congregational Church and he had a son was well known by the title of “Captain!” If the United States Army couldn’t take the word of these men, who possibly would they ever listen to???!!!
What Daniel says about Amasa is demonstrated to be true by his church’s record of his death. So, for whatever it is worth, Amasa was, indeed, known as Captain Lathrop.
So, when you take into account the Amasa Lathrop family was the only Lathrop family in Roxbury between 1820 +/- until 1880 +/- and that Amasa was a hatter, and that his church buried him under the distinguished title of Captain Amasa Lathrop, he was positively the man the Hatters of Danbury went to see when they needed information on how to be a successful wool hat manufacturer. The Colonel title was just an error or a printo (that’s what I refer to as a typo before there were typewriters), or maybe they meant it with the upmost respect when referring to the man who saved their town’s economy!
Here are 2 by the ways: First, Amasa was a Captain in the Militia in his area. This is a far cry from being a real Colonel in the army but it is the top rung in the militia ladder. The local militias were most active before and during the Revolutionary War but hung around even after it was over and Amasa was active in his.
By the way number 2: At 94 years of age, Daniel Lathrop (actually Daniel Lathrop Sr) was denied his claim to receive a pension for serving in the Revolutionary War on the basis he could not prove he had served the minimum required length of time, which was 6 months. Still, they acknowledged he did serve in the Revolutionary War for some period of time. So, when I fill out my application to join the Sons of the American Revolution, I will do so under his name. He was my Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather. He was the father of Daniel Lathrop Jr. (Amasa’s brother) who was the father of Frederick Lathrop of West Cornwall who was the father of Charles Ozias Lathrop of Bethel.
To answer our original question Who is Colonel Lathrop? The answer is Captain Amasa Lathrop is my 3rd Great Granduncle, the man who saved the economy of Danbury, Ct!
From the Lathrop Family Bible. It was partially written by Daniel Lathrop, Jr.
Skipper