Nathan Hathaway was born on November 30, 1843 in Steuben County, New York. It is believed he came to DeKalb County, Illinois with his family sometime around 1847.

When he enlisted in September of 1861, he was described as being 5’9″ tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes, brown hair, and by occupation, a farmer. His residence at enlistment was New Lisbon, Illinois, but in 1864 when he reenlisted, his papers give his residence as Genoa, DeKalb County, Illinois. He was sent home sick in December of 1861, and his furlough appears to have continued into January and February 1862. In November of 1864, he was promoted to corporal, and was discharged in August of 1865.

After the war, he married Orpha Maria (or at times in the records, Marie A.) Smith. They were married in Sycamore, Illinois, on March 5, 1867. She died on either April 5 or 15, 1887 or March 5, 1882 (descrepancies in records), at a place in Iowa “formerly named” Brush Creek. He then married Emily J. Smith on March 26, 1884 at Springfield, South Dakota. It is unknown if she was a relative of Nathan’s first wife.

Nathan had only three children: John (b. Aug. 9, 1870 at New Lisbon, DeKalb Co., Illinois); Minnie A. (b. Feb. 16, 1877, Brush Creek, Fayette Co., Iowa); and Milicent W. (b. July 12, 1889 at Sioux City, Iowa).

After the war, Nathan’s places of residence appear to have been:
DeKalb Co., Illinois 1865-1871
Buchanon Co., Iowa for 4 years (no dates given, possibly 1871-1875)
Fayette Co., Iowa “until 1884”
Springfield, South Dakota 1884-1888
Sioux City, Iowa 1888 until 1932

In 1906, Nathan gave his occupation as a produce dealer in Sioux City, and he died at that place on Christmas Day, 1932.

SOURCES: Nathan Hathaway’s military service record and pension file, National Archives.