hitchcock was the son of john lee hitchcock, an american revolutionary war veteran who was lost at sea in 1811. he attended the episcopal academy of cheshire, now known as cheshire academy, and was an apprentice to woodworker silas cheney. in 1818, he opened a furniture factory in riverton, connecticut, then called hitchcocksville. the factory at first made chair parts. soon hitchcock, influenced by connecticut clockmaker eli terry, began mass-producing simple, affordable chairs. instead of painting designs on the backs, he used the relatively new and easier technique of stenciling. by the late 1820s, the hitchcock chair company was producing over 15,000 chairs a year.