Abraham Hatfield (May 27, 1867 – January 26, 1957) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and

philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is pos ...

who signed the

Roll of Distinguished Philatelists The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP) is a philatelic award of international scale, created by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in 1921. The Roll consists of five pieces of parchment to which the signatories add their names. Sel ...

in 1925. He was "an early

plater Plater is a surname, and may refer to: ;People * Felix Plater (1536–1614), Swiss physician * George Plater (1735–1792), American lawyer and politician * Thomas Plater (1769–1830), American lawyer and politician * Emilia Plater (1806–1831), P ...

of the 5¢ New York."

Biography

Hatfield was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

merchant Abraham Hatfield and Cornelia Colgate Leggett, who were married October 10, 1864; he had three younger siblings, Sarah Lee, Nelly, and Harry Wakeman. He was married on October 5, 1905 to Mabel Whitman in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

; they had two children, George Whitman and Helen. Described as "quiet" and "austere," Hatfield worked as a sugar merchant and was also a "well-to-do textile manufacturer." He served as trustee, chairman, and librarian to the executive committee of the

New York Genealogical and Biographical Society The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society (NYG&B or NYGBS) is a non-profit institution located at 36 West 44th Street in New York City. Founded in 1869, it is the second-oldest genealogical society in the United States, and the only state ...

. He was a member of the

Society of Colonial Wars The Society of Colonial Wars is a hereditary society composed of men who trace their descents from forebears who, in military, naval, or civil positions of high trust and responsibility, by acts or counsel, assisted in the establishment, defense ...

and of the

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America's oldest society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and AIA has established re ...

. He was also named a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Royal Philatelic Society The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) is the oldest philatelic society in the world. It was founded on 10 April 1869 as ''The Philatelic Society, London''. The society runs a postal museum, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History, at its he ...

of London, England. He was also a volunteer for the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desig ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, where he served as inspector with the rank of captain in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

between 1918-1919. Hatfield hired architect

Carl Schmitt Carl Schmitt (; 11 July 1888 – 7 April 1985) was a German jurist, political theorist, and prominent member of the Nazi Party. Schmitt wrote extensively about the effective wielding of political power. A conservative theorist, he is noted as ...

to design his castle of a home, Stepping Stones, in

New Canaan, Connecticut New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census. About an hour from Manhattan by train, the town is considered part of Connecticut's Gold Coast. The town is bounde ...

in 1926. The

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

-style

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

had 40 rooms, and the four-

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

property also was home to a private

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common typ ...

used by the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

order of the

Fathers of the Holy Ghost , image = Holy Ghost Fathers seal.png , size = 175px , caption = The seal of the Congregation depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Trinity. , abbreviation ...

. The mansion was known for its beauty, and featured elements like a forty-by-twenty-foot dining room with 20-foot ceilings, a

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...

, floor-to-ceiling paintings, and a three-story Italian

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorpho ...

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

spiral staircase. The estate was ultimately sold and converted to

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

s. Hatfield was passionate about

philately Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is pos ...

, the study of stamps. He is best known in this field for his

plating Plating is a surface covering in which a metal is deposited on a conductive surface. Plating has been done for hundreds of years; it is also critical for modern technology. Plating is used to decorate objects, for corrosion inhibition, to improv ...

research regarding the

New York Postmaster's Provisional The New York Postmaster's Provisional is, as its designation implies, a postage stamp provided by the New York Post Office to facilitate the prepayment of mail at a time when the United States had not yet issued postage stamps for national use. P ...

, the nation's first

provisional stamp Linn's World Stamp Almanac defines a provisional stamp as "a postage stamp issued for temporary use to meet postal demands until new or regular stocks of stamps can be obtained." The issuance of provisional stamps might be occasioned by a change ...

to be issued by a local

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

in response to the congressional postal reform act in 1845. He took a particular interest in the "5c New Yorks", and was the first person in the field to ascertain that the stamps were printed using a plate of forty positions; by borrowing dealers' stocks of the stamp and the collections of Henry Needham, Congressman

Ernest Ackerman Ernest Robinson Ackerman (17 June 1863 – 18 October 1931) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who represented New Jersey's New Jersey's 5th congressional district, 5th congressional district in the Unit ...

, and

Alfred H. Caspary Alfred H. Caspary (1877–1955), of New York City, was a philatelist responsible for assembling one of the finest collections of United States postage stamps Postal service in the United States began with the delivery of stampless letters w ...

, and enlarging photographs of all the horizontal and vertical pairs, he was ultimately able to find enough overlapping pairs to prove that there had been 40 stamps to a sheet. Prior to his work on the subject, collectors first thought the plate had 100 subjects, and then experts had decided there must have been 50 stamps to a sheet; Hatfield's efforts proved that the sheets had actually consisted of eight horizontal rows of five. Hatfield wrote ''The New York Postmaster's Stamp'', which was published in 1921 by the Scott Stamp and Coin Company. The book discusses the

of the stamp, and also the types of paper that may have been used to produce it:

References

External links

Hatfield Heritage
a collection of family photographs
Association of British Philatelic Societies
the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists {{DEFAULTSORT:Hatfield, Abraham American philatelists Signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists 1867 births 1957 deaths Businesspeople from Chicago