A Brief History
Orrin Lathrop came from New Hampshire and opened a store on the mill road in 1862, the year the saws started. He sold to the crews on credit against their wages and did well out of Hartwell Timber Co. without ever being on its payroll. Orrin raised most of the money for the chapel, Horace sat on the town council at Town Hall, and Cordelia and other women started the Briarmont Improvement Club at the back of the store.
After the company sale there was no paymaster to settle the crews' accounts on payday, and from 1914 Cordelia, running the store, called in the credit herself. The store stayed in the family until 1971, when Lewis Lathrop closed it. Nobody in the family has sat on the council since Horace's time, and the most recent Lathrop works with his hands: Seth is a carpenter, often on buildings as old as the store.
Family Tree
- Orrin Lathrop (1833 to 1914), storekeeper, married Lydia Merrill (1838 to 1901)
- Horace Lathrop (1862 to 1930), ran the store with his father and sat on the town council
- his grandson Lewis Lathrop (1924 to 1996), closed the store in 1971
- his grandson Seth Lathrop (born 1981), carpenter and contractor
- his grandson Lewis Lathrop (1924 to 1996), closed the store in 1971
- Cordelia Lathrop (1866 to 1949), founded the Briarmont Improvement Club and ran the store
- Horace Lathrop (1862 to 1930), ran the store with his father and sat on the town council
Family Timeline
1862 - The Landing
Orrin opened his store on the mill road as the mill on the bluffs started cutting. His son Horace was born that year, in the rooms over the shop.
1866 - A Town at Last
Orrin was among the storekeepers and tradesmen who turned the camp into a town that year, and his daughter Cordelia was born in it.
1901 - The Improvement Club
Cordelia and other women founded the Briarmont Improvement Club, which held its first meetings in the back room of the store. Lydia Lathrop died the same year.
1911 - Hartwell's Will
At seventy-seven, Orrin Lathrop witnessed Elias Hartwell's will. He had been selling to Hartwell's crews since the mill's first year.
2026 - Briarmont Today
Seth Lathrop restores old buildings in town, among them several of the mill buildings that now hold cafés.
The Lathrop legacy across Briarmont
The chapel Orrin raised most of the money for is one of Briarmont's key landmarks. The Improvement Club's minutes open with its first meeting, held in 1901 in the back room of the store.
Out of character. A player may play a descendant or in-law of the Lathrop family with the owner's OK; ask staff first. Orrin, Lydia, Horace, Cordelia, Lewis and Seth Lathrop are NPCs.
This is a family hub page. It brings the Lathrop story together even though its people, places and institutions are filed under the shelves where readers would naturally look for them.