Frederick William Hiatt was born in October 1863 in Somerville, Massachusetts. He spent his working life keeping the books for Boston businesses, married Elizabeth Harper of Wakefield, and was the father of Edith Hiatt. His grandchildren called him Grandpops.
A Boston Boyhood
Frederick's father, William Hiatt, came from England to Boston. His mother, Margaret Ann Taylor, was born in Nova Scotia. The two met and married in Boston. Frederick had one brother, Winfield, about ten years younger. Winfield never married and worked at many jobs over his life, among them actor and theatrical manager.
Frederick's father was a chronometer maker. A chronometer was a very accurate clock carried on ships, so that sailors could work out their position at sea. The Boston city directories list William J. Hiatt, chronometer maker, from 1880 on, with his shop at 97 Water Street, near the harbor. In 1890 he also sold confectionery at 1609 Washington Street. Father and son lived together for years. In 1883 Fred boarded at 55 Chandler Street, the house where his father lived, and in 1890, 1892 and 1893 both of them lived at the Hotel Clifton, 455 Columbus Avenue, in the South End.
Frederick finished the first year of high school. He was working by the time he was 17. The 1881 directory lists him as a bookkeeper at 181 Washington Street.
A Bookkeeper in Boston
Year after year the Boston directory shows Fred as a bookkeeper:
- 1881: bookkeeper, 181 Washington Street; boards at 79 Church Street
- 1883: bookkeeper; boards at 55 Chandler Street
- 1887: bookkeeper, 37 Cornhill; boards at West Somerville
- 1890: bookkeeper, 37 Cornhill; lives at the Hotel Clifton
- 1892 and 1893: bookkeeper, 37 Cornhill; lives at 455 Columbus Avenue, the Hotel Clifton
- 1896 and 1898: 224 Friend Street; lives at Wakefield
Number 37 Cornhill, at the corner of Franklin Avenue, was the store of Frost & Adams, importers of artists' materials, mathematical instruments, and architects' and engineers' supplies. Fred worked there for at least seven years. By 1896 he had moved to 224 Friend Street, in the Haymarket Block, the address of E. W. Emery & Co., which sold doors, windows, blinds and window frames. The directories give only the address, not the employer, so these are the businesses at his address rather than a record of who paid him.
In 1892 and 1893 the directories list Fred at 455 Columbus Avenue. That was the address of the Hotel Clifton. An advertisement in the 1892 directory lists "Hotel Clifton, No. 455 Columbus Av." In both years his father, William J. Hiatt, chronometer maker, is listed at the same address. Fred was still living with his father at the Hotel Clifton in 1893, the year he married. His marriage record calls him a clerk working in Boston, while the directory for that year calls him a bookkeeper.
Marriage and Wakefield
Fred married Elizabeth V. Harper in Boston on November 4, 1893. The marriage was recorded in Wakefield, where the bride lived, and in Boston, where the groom lived. The Wakefield paper called him "Frederick W. Hiatt of Boston."
In April 1894 the couple moved from Boston "into one of Henry Harper's new houses on Birch Hill avenue for the summer." Henry Harper was Elizabeth's father.
By 1895 they had settled in Wakefield, on Stark Avenue, in a house that had belonged to Elizabeth's father, Henry Harper. The Boston directories show that Fred kept working in the city. They had four children:
- Ruth Frances, born August 15, 1894, Wakefield
- Edith Kingdon, born September 24, 1895, Wakefield
- Albert Ernest, born June 28, 1897, Wakefield
- Frank Cyril, born November 1, 1901, Medford
Wakefield taxed Fred W. Hyatt of Stark Avenue only for his poll in 1895, so he owned no land in his own name. The town's poll-tax lists for 1896, 1897 and 1898 give his age as 32, 33 and 34, which fits a birth in late 1863. In 1896 the list calls him a book-keeper.
These were hard years for the family. In June 1898 the Wakefield Citizen and Banner reported that "Mrs. Frederick W. Hiatt is seriously ill at her home No. 4 Stark avenue." In the fall of 1898 Elizabeth was admitted to the state hospital at Taunton, and she stayed about a year. Fred was left with three children under five. You can read more on Elizabeth's page.
Elizabeth's father died in 1896. By June 1900 Fred, Elizabeth and the children were living in his house at 44 Nahant Street in Wakefield. The census that year says Fred owned the house, with a mortgage. In 1903, when the town laid a new water pipe on Stark Avenue, Fred Hiatt's house there was one of the three new water services.
Somerville and Medford
Soon after the 1900 census the family left Wakefield, though Fred still owned the house on Stark Avenue in 1903. For the next several years the city directories follow them through Somerville, where Fred was born, and Medford:
- 1901: 185 School Street, Somerville
- 1902: 97 Summer Street, Medford. Their son Frank had been born in Medford in November 1901.
- 1904 to 1907: 35 Partridge Avenue, Somerville
- 1909: 29 High Street, Malden
The family lived on Partridge Avenue for at least four years. In December 1906 Edith wrote her prize-winning letter to Santa from that address. In the 1900 and 1910 censuses other families were renting the house.
29 High Street, Malden
Fred built the house at 29 High Street in Malden in 1907. The 1907 Somerville directory still lists the family at 35 Partridge Avenue, so they probably moved into the new house late in 1907 or in 1908. The Malden directory for 1909 lists Fred at 29 High Street, and the 1910 census found the family there. There was a mortgage on it in 1910, and by 1920 it was paid off. It was a big three-story house with a winding front stairway, steep back stairs, a parlor that could be divided by tall doors, and a library. Fred lived there for the rest of his life. In 1940 he and Elizabeth were still there.
The Wakefield Daily Item later wrote that "he was a mathematician and had been an office manager for a Boston concern, retiring about ten years ago," which would be about 1931. His death certificate calls him a retired wool manager in the wool business. Earlier records had listed him as a bookkeeper in the warehouse industry.
His granddaughter Joan remembered him in the kitchen at High Street, sitting in his rocker by the window, smoking his pipe and reading the papers while Elizabeth cooked.
His Death
Frederick died at home at 29 High Street on Monday, July 7, 1941, at 8:30 in the evening. He was 77. His death certificate gives the cause as acute myocarditis, a form of heart failure, which began on July 3. It was due to arteriosclerosis, hardening of the arteries, which he had had since 1932. He also had cancer of the gall bladder and liver, which had begun in 1941.
Joan was in the library of the house with a cousin while he was dying. Nobody told the children, but they could hear his breathing, and they knew he was gone when it stopped. It was the only time Joan ever heard her grandmother cry.
He was buried in Wyoming Cemetery in Melrose on July 10, 1941. Two newspapers carried the news.
HIATT—In Malden, July 7, Frederick Wm. Hiatt of 29 High st. Services from the funeral home of A. N. Ward & Son, 37 Maple st., on Thurs. at 2:30 p. m. Relatives and friends invited.
H. S. Teacher's Father Dies In Malden
Frederick William Hiatt, formerly of Wakefield, and father of Miss Ruth F. Hiatt, a teacher in the commercial department at Wakefield High School, died at his home, 29 High st. Malden, Monday evening, following a brief illness. He was born in Somerville, a son of William and Margaret (Taylor) Hiatt.
He was a mathematician and had been an office manager for a Boston concern, retiring about ten years ago.
Mr. Hiatt is survived by his widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Harper Hiatt, a native of Wakefield. She is a sister of Ira Harper of 44 Nahant st, Wakefield. There is another daughter, Mrs. Philip D. Stevens of Edgewood, R. I., and two sons, Albert E. Hiatt of Medford and Frank C. Hiatt of New Jersey.
Funeral services will be held tomorrow afternoon at the Ward Funeral Home, Malden, and burial will be in Wyoming Cemetery, Melrose.