Per Kenneth Carpenter <kenng@freewwweb.com> Horatio Hanks,mechanical engineer, precision instrument maker, steamenginebuilder, seventh child and fourth son of Col. Benjamin andAlice(Hovey) Hanks, was born in the town of Windham, Windham,CT, in October1790, a twin of his sister, Marcia.About 1811, Horatio married Jerusha Freeman, daughter ofFrederick andAbigail (Thompson) Freeman of Mansfield,Connecticut, and sister ofOlive Freeman who married Horatio'syoungest uncle, Rodney, who was onlyeight years older thanHoratio. Due to the fact that they marriedsisters and because ofthe closeness of their ages, Horatio and hisuncle Rodney oftenhave been assumed to have been brothers, and alsobecause theywere closely associated in the early American endeavorstomanufacture silk.Their oldest brother, Horace Hanks, also was engaged in thesilkbusiness and about 1800 invented the double wheel head forspinningsilk. As Horace and Rodney remained in the Mansfieldarea after Horatioleft in 1816, they also became associated.Horace was older ( by twoyears) than his uncle Rodney.