Roland Hazard was born in October 1881.¹

     Rowland Hazard was born on 16 August 1829 at Newport, Rhode Island.¹

     

A history of Rowland as follows: His parents moved to Peacedale, Rhode Island, in 1833, and it was in Peacedale that he grew to manhood. In 1845, he went to the Friends' College, at Haverford, and afterward entered Brown University. He graduated in 1849, ranking in the first third of the class. In the department of mathematics he gained the first prize for three years, and a second prize the fourth year. He also took the philosophical prize for the best essay in that department. He has always been active in village and town affairs. In 1854 he organized a Sunday school in the schoolhouse. February 13, 1857, in response to his invitation, thirteen people met at his house, and the Second Congregational Church of South Kingstown was organized. In 1872 he built the present stone church, drawing the plans himself. The large worsted mill was built after his plans in 1872. The weaving shed at a later date, and the picturesque stone bridges about Peacedale are all of his building. One bridge of a single stone arch, with a span of forty feet, is said to be the largest single arch in the State. He was largely instrumental in establishing the Narragansett Library in 1855, and in the organization of the High School — giving the land for the building, and assisting in its maintenance. In the improvement of the village and town he has had an active part. After much study of the distribution of profits and the question of the relation of capital and labor, and after personal inspection of the co-operative establishment of Rochdale, England, and elsewhere, he introduced the system of profit sharing into the Peacedale mills. Mr. Hazard has always been interested in agriculture and the improvement of breeds of cattle, and is the president of the Washington County Agricultural Society, to which office he was elected at the organization of the society in 1876. Mr. Hazard served the town of South Kingstown as moderator for several years, and the State Legislature as representative in 1863, and as senator in 1867 and 1868. He was the independent candidate for governor in 1875, receiving the plurality of votes, but failed of an election in the Legislature. Mr. Hazard has been interested in the production of lead, and took charge of Mine La Motte, Missouri, in 1875. His active mind has naturally been awake to all new forms of industry. In 1881 he took steps to introduce the manufacture of soda-ash into this country. Previously nearly the whole supply had been imported. He was instrumental in organizing the Solvay Process Company, of Syracuse, New York, and became its president. The first soda-ash made by the ammonia process in America was produced by this company, January, 1884: Mr. Hazard's large experience and practical wisdom have greatly aided the industry. He married, March 29, 1854, Margaret Ann Rood, of Philadelphia, daughter of Reverend Anson Rood; she died August, 1895.³

     Rowland, at age 24, married Margaret Ann Rood at age 19, daughter of Rev. Anson Rood and Alida Gouverneur Ogden, on 29 March 1854.⁴

     Rowland died on 16 August 1898 at Watkins Glen, Schuyler, New York, at age 69,⁵ and was buried at Oak Dell Cemetery, South Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island.⁵

     Rowland Gibson Hazard was born on 22 January 1855 at Pennsylvania.^2,1

     Rowland, at age 25, married Mary Pierpont Bushnell at age 21 on 16 November 1880.¹

     Rowland Gibson Hazard was born on 9 October 1801 at at his grandfather's house Tower Hil, South Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island.¹

     Rowland in early childhood

he was taken to Bristol, Pennsylvania, to the home of his maternal grandfather, Isaac Peace. He attended school in Burlington, New Jersey (across the Delaware), and in Bristol, and in 18 13 was sent to West Town school. Here he remained five years, and developed a strong taste for mathematics, discovering some new modes of demonstration in conic sections. This school gave him a thorough training in the branches it taught, and though he lamented his want of a classical education, yet by reading he early acquired a knowledge of classical history. In 1819 Mr. Hazard returned to Rhode Island, and, with his brother, Isaac Peace Hazard, took charge of the manufacturing business at Peacedale, in which their father was engaged. Under the management of the brothers the business largely increased. From 1833 to 1843 Mr. Hazard made yearly visits to the South, and had an opportunity to see the workings of slavery, an institution he abhorred. In New Orleans, through his efforts, many free negroes unjustly detained in the chain-gang were released. His speech on the Fugitive Slave Law, in the Rhode Island Legislature, in 1850, while generous and appreciative of the slave-owners position, is a powerful denunciation of the institution. For several years he represented his town in the General Assembly, always taking a prominent position. During the adjourned session of the General Assembly, in the autumn of 1854, he delivered an address condemning the discriminative rates for freight and passengers charged by the Stonington Railroad Company, —an address that the officials of that corporation regarded as highly offensive. Some time afterwards, in order to test the rights of the Company ingranting stop-over privileges on through tickets, he was ejected from one of the Company's trains. This measure excited much indignation, and a set of resolutions was adopted by the Town Council of his native town, in which is to be found the germ of the Interstate Commerce Law of 1886 But it is as a writer that Mr. Hazard is best known. In his books he will live long after the houses he builded and the fortune he accumulated have become matters of tradition.²

     Rowland, at age 26, married Caroline Newbold at age 20 on 25 September 1828.³

     Rowland died on 24 June 1888, at age 86,¹ and was buried at Oak Dell Cemetery, South Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island.⁴

     

A biography, written by a Find A Grave member, as follows: Rowland Gibson Hazard was born to a Quaker family in South Kingston, Rhode Island, in 1801. He was educated in Quaker schools in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Following the precedent set by his memorable ancestor, "College Tom" Hazard (who left college in order to eschew its vanity), Rowland Hazard did not receive a college degree, though his prior schooling had indicated his significant academic gifts. Instead, after completing secondary school, he returned to Rhode Island, and in 1819, he and his older brother, Isaac, took over the family business of textile manufacturing. The textile manufacturing business was, of course, supported by cotton plantations dependent on slave labor, and Hazard became aware of the cruelties of the slave system. Though he was not a politician, but rather a businessman, he nevertheless responded to the urgings of his conscience and became a voice for abolition, speaking and writing in opposition to the peculiar institution. As a Quaker, Hazard felt a moral obligation to take stands on controversial issues such as slavery, despite the possible dangers that might befall an outspoken public figure. His attempts during the volatile 1830s to aid an African American Rhode Islander who was being held on a New Orleans chain-gang led his opponents to threaten him with what was euphemistically called "lynch law"; however, in response to this harassment, he expanded his sights and mounted lawsuits intended to destroy the legality of all chain-gang labor. He was also interested in other issues of social justice: such a wealthy man would certainly be assumed to be on the side of big businesses, but Hazard introduced a bill to the Rhode Island Assembly in 1851 that proposed, since railroad companies had an uncomfortable habit of annexing private property, they should therefore be responsible for providing an equal benefit to the public. In the midst of this activism, Hazard continued to build the family's textile empire in Peace Dale, Rhode Island, which was known, perhaps apocryphally, as the only mill town in American that was not affected by labor unrest. (It is certainly true, and impressive, that Hazard's son instituted both property ownerships and a profit sharing plan among employees, which compared to conditions at other mills, made the laborers' situation Elysian.) In addition to his commitment to social causes, Hazard made forays into philosophy, and published several respected texts on the problem of the human will. His work garnered the appreciation of such respected intellectuals as William Ellery Channing and John Stuart Mill. Though he did not attend college himself, he became a supporter of the good that intellectual pursuit could bring, and endowed the Hazard Professorship of Physics at Brown University. His eldest son attended Brown, as did his grandson. A Boston artist, Jean Paul Selinger (1850-1909) painted this portrait at Peace Dale in 1880. This portrait is listed as a gift by Mrs. James H. Coggeshall, through the alumni association of 1881. However, it is likely that the painting was actually given by Hazard himself. Correspondence regarding the provenance of the painting suggests that Hazard (always good Quaker) wished to oblige Brown by giving the school a portrait, but also wanted to avoid the appearance of vanity associated with having had the portrait painted and donating it himself. Hazard was reputed to be very proud of his fine hands, which are displayed to great advantage in this portrait; perhaps the indulgence of this vanity caused that conscientious man to be more vigilant about compounding the appearance of conceit.

Bio by: Linda Mac FindAGrave member # 47062703.⁴

     Thomas P. Hazard was born in October 1892 at Rhode Island.¹