By the 1890s, James Hatcher had become one of the richest men in Pikeville, Kentucky. His career as a businessman began at the age of eighteen when he opened a warehouse on the river. After building a steamer called the “Mountain Girl,” he branched out into the contracting and the timber businesses. He also dabbled in politics, becoming the Clerk of the Pike County Court and Railroad Commission for the district. In 1891, Hatcher married Ocatavia Smith, the daughter of one of the founde...
