Biography

01/08/1844 - 07/12/1905

1st Lieutenant Horatio Balch “Rash” Hackett, Sr. (R8) Philadelphia, 1903-1905 

Early Life: 

1st Lieutenant Horatio Balch (“Rash”) Hackett, Sr., born January 8, 1844, Lower Penn’s Neck, Salem County, New Jersey, son of Richard and Mary Hackett originally of Salisbury, Massachusetts; attended public schools, Philadelphia; enlisted, drummer boy, age 16, Company B, 81st Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (known as “The Fighting Chippewa’s”), July 25, 1861; reenlisted, veteran, age 19, promoted, 1st Lieutenant, muster-out, Captain of Commissaries, June 29, 1865; brakeman and fireman, Philadelphia and Reading Railroad; letter carrier, Post Office; night inspector, customs house; Clerk, Register of Wills; State Appraiser; elected, Philadelphia, Police Magistrate, 1887-1898; elected, Treasurer, Republican City Campaign Committee; alternate delegate, Republican National Convention, 1888; delegate, Republican National Convention, 1892, 1896, 1904; elected, Register of Wills of Philadelphia County, 1898; elected, Republican, Philadelphia Ward Leader; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1903-1905; married, Jane P. Lukens, children, Andrew Slack Hackett, Horatio Balch Hackett, Jr., Harry Lukens Hackett; died, July 12, 1905, in office of the Senate of Pennsylvania, Pasco, Franklin County, Washington; Interment North Cedar Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.   

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Charter member, Post 51, Grand Army of the Republic, member, Military of Loyal Legion, Knights Templar. 

Early Career:

Enlisted, drummer boy, age 16, 4 feet 11 inches, 89 pounds, nicknamed “Rash Hackett, Little Drummer Boy”, Company B, 81st Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (known as “The Fighting Chippewa’s”), July 25, 1861; reenlisted, veteran, age 19, promoted, 1st Lieutenant, muster-out, Captain of Commissaries, June 29, 1865.  

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Philadelphia, Police Magistrate, 1887-1898.  

Elected, Treasurer, Republican City Campaign Committee, four years.

Alternate delegate, Republican National Convention, 5th district, Auditorium Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, June 19-25, 1888, nomination of: Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, President and Levi P. Morton, New York, Vice-President. 

Alternate delegate, Republican National Convention, Industrial Exposition Building, Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 7-10, 1892, nominated of: President Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, re-election and Whitelaw Reid, New York, vice president.

Delegate, Republican National Convention, held temporary structure south, Saint Louis City Hall, Saint Louis, Missouri, June 16-18, 1896, nominated of: William McKinley, Ohio, and Garret A. Hobart, New Jersey, nominated, vice president.

Elected, Register of Wills of Philadelphia County, 1898.

Delegate, Republican National Convention, 5th district, Chicago Coliseum, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, June 21-23, 1904, nomination of: Theodore Roosevelt of New York, for President and Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana, for Vice-President. 

Elected, Republican Philadelphia Ward Leader, 30 years. 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 8th district, Philadelphia County 1903-1905, committee assignments, City Passenger Railways, Congressional Apportionment (Chairman), Law and Order, Legislative Apportionment, Military Affairs and Pension and Gratuities; died, July 12, 1905, in office of the Senate of Pennsylvania; Vivian Gable, elected, January 9, 1906, fusion ticket, Democratic, City, and Lincoln parties.  

Legacy:

Father, distinguished scholar and businessman, located, Salem County, New Jersey, educated Newton Theological Seminary, moved, Philadelphia, 1847. Horatio’s uncle and namesake was also Horatio Balch Hackett, prominent eighteenth-century biblical scholar and professor at Amherst College, Andover, Massachusetts, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. The Senator’s grandparents were Richard Sr. and Martha (Balch) Hackett.

Often confused with his well-known son, Horatio Balch Hackett, Jr. (1880-1941) leading American architect and construction executive, a college football player and official, a decorated combat veteran of World War I, and Assistant Administrator of the Public Works Administration during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Impressive memorial delivered in the Senate, chiefly from his neighbor and replacement, Vivian Frank Gable.

Named for him: Horatio B. Hackett School 2161 E York St, Philadelphia, PA 19125. 

Cited: 

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members H". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Cox, Harold. Senate1790-1869 (wilkes.edu). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1905). Cochran, T.B., (Editor) Miller, H.P. (Assistant Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 987, 992-995, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 960.

The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Hackett

Microsoft Word - HB Hackett Facts.docx (philasd.org)

Horatio B. Hackett School – The School District of Philadelphia (philasd.org)

1LT Horatio Balch Hackett Sr. (1844-1905) - Find a Grave Memorial