Anna Hazard

Rowland Hazard (1763-1835) was the son of Thomas "College Tom" Hazard (1720-1798) and Elizabeth Robinson of South Kingstown, R.I. He entered a mercantile partnership in 1789 with his first cousin John Robinson Jr. (1767-1831) of Charleston, South Carolina. Peter Ayrault was admitted to the partnership in 1794, which then became known as Hazard, Robinson & Co. By 1796, business was being transacted under the name of Hazard & Ayrault. This partnership was dissolved around 1803. Hazard continued financing merchant voyages for most of his life, often trading with his older brother Thomas "Bedford Tom" Hazard Jr. (1758-1828). His trade was largely along the Atlantic coast and the Caribbean, with Charleston, New York and Rhode Island serving as hubs, and his cargo included everything from salt to spermaceti oil to cheese. Hazard seems to have been a substantial merchant, although not one of the largest of his day. He suffered serious financial setbacks around 1807, when several of his ships were captured by French privateers acting under the Decrees of Berlin and Milan.

           In 1802, Hazard began to invest in the textile industry, acquiring a half interest in a South Kingstown fulling mill, and in 1804 a carding machine in the same location. This was the beginning of the Narragansett Cotton Manufacturing Company. After 1810, Hazard's son Isaac P. Hazard came to play an important role in this business. In 1819, Isaac and another son, Rowland G. Hazard, took full control of this company and developed it into the Peace Dale Manufacturing Company, which became one of the dominant businesses in southern Rhode Island.

In 1819, Hazard settled in Pleasant Valley, N.Y. as his primary residence, where he resided until his death. He continued to travel frequently to South Kingstown and Charleston for both family and business reasons. He sold his financial interest in the business to his son Isaac in 1821.
Rowland Hazard married Mary Peace (1775-1852) in 1793. The village of Peace Dale was named in her honor. She was the daughter of merchant Isaac Peace and Elizabeth Gibson, who were both originally from Barbados, but settled in Charleston, S.C. Mary was raised in Charleston, and spent a year studying in London as a girl. Her family eventually relocated to Bristol, Pennsylvania, and the Hazards spent a great deal of time there. Mary was in Bristol almost exclusively from 1807 to 1820, helping to care for her aging father until his death. The nine children were also raised in Pennsylvania to a large extent. Mary and Rowland's children were as follows:
Isaac Peace Hazard (1794-1879), bachelor, active in mills.

Thomas Robinson "Shepherd Tom" Hazard (1797-1886), historian, spiritualist. Six children.

Elizabeth Gibson Hazard (1799-1882), spinster.

Rowland Gibson Hazard (1801-1888), two children, active in mills.

William Robinson Hazard (1803-), married, eight children

Joseph Peace Hazard (1807-1892), bachelor, spiritualist.

Isabella Wakefield Hazard (1809-1838), spinster

Mary Peace Hazard (1814-1874), spinster

Anna Hazard (1820-1905), spinster

1. Historical note

2. Scope and content

3. Provenance

4. Processing note

5. Inventory

6. Subjects

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 Anna Hazard Land Company Records

Land management company, South Kingstown, R.I.
Records, 1910-1947
Size: 2 linear feet
Catalog number: MSS 483 sg 19
Processed by: Rick Stattler and Steve Dalpe, March 1999
©Rhode Island Historical Society

Manuscripts Division

Historical note:

           The Anna Hazard Land Company was founded in 1911, to dispose the large land holdings left to the heirs of Anna Hazard (1820-1905), an unmarried sister of Rowland G. Hazard (1801-1888). Much of the land had been inherited by Anna Hazard from her sister Elizabeth Hazard (1799-1882). The lands had been managed by Anna's executor and nephew, Barclay Hazard, but unsound investments led other family members to incorporate as the Anna Hazard Land Company to dispose of the property. The office was established at the family headquarters in Peace Dale. Stock was issued in 1916, and reissued in 1923. John G. Hazard (b.1877) was the first president, and Rowland G. Hazard was treasurer-secretary. Isaac Peace Hazard (b.1883) was elected president in 1919, and served through 1946; Thomas P. Hazard served as secretary-treasurer for most of that time. John R. Carpenter (1874-1950) served as agent for the company's entire existence for a small salary, until its dissolution in 1946. The dissolution was complicated by questionable title to some of the land, and quitclaim deeds needed to be secured. The remaining assets were then placed in trust for the family at the Wakefield Trust Company. 

The land owned by the company was located in the towns of South Kingstown and Narragansett in southern Rhode Island. It included the Dale Carlia Farm and the Champlin Farm; a large lot on Point Judith Pond known as Foddering Place; Ram Island; and seven other lots. Although the purpose of the company was to dispose of the land rather than provide ongoing income, many of the holdings were leased for several years before they could be sold. Ram Island was leased by the Young Men's Christian Association and the State Police youth camps. Because much of the land was leased, the company was involved in regular maintenance. Eventually, one of the larger farms was divided into smaller lots for residential building.
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Scope and content:

           This collection includes complete stockholder minutes, extensive correspondence and financial records, and many deeds and plat maps for property held by the company.

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Provenance:

           These papers were donated by the Hazard family as part of the Hazard Family Papers in 1985. They had mostly been deposited in 1975, with a few items arriving in 1983.

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Processing note:

           This collection is part of the Hazard Family Papers, which were processed with support from the Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities, the Beinecke Foundation, and the extended Hazard Family. 

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Inventory:

Series 1: Minutes

Box 1, folder 1. 1911-1915, by-laws and annual meetings. Bound.

Box 1, folder 2. 1916-1944, by-laws and stockholder meeting minutes. Bound.

Box 1, folder 3. 1945-1946, minute book. Removed from binder.

Series 2: Correspondence.

Includes both incoming letters and copies of outgoing letters, as well as occasional enclosures. They are interfiled, as found in the original arrangement. Some correspondence from other record series has been kept foldered separately. The early outgoing letter copies are on fragile oversized tracing paper, and were apparently disbound from a letter book as they were generated; these have been removed from the general correspondence files, and are stored separately in the oversized box.

Box 1, folder 4. 1910-1912.

Box 1, folder 5. 1912-1913, land transactions.

Box 1, folder 6. 1913-1915

Box 1, folder 7. 1916-1917

Box 1, folder 8. 1918-1919

Box 1, folder 9. 1918-1919

Box 1, folder 10. 1920-1922

Box 1, folder 11. 1920-1922

Box 1, folder 12. 1922-1926, land transactions.

Box 1, folder 13. 1923

Box 1, folder 14. 1924-1925

Box 1, folder 15. 1926-1928

Box 1, folder 16. 1929-1934

Box 1, folder 17. 1935-1938

Box 1, folder 18. 1939-1941

Box 1, folder 19. 1940-1945, stock redemption.

Box 1, folder 20. 1942-1943

Box 1, folder 21. 1942, land transactions.

Box 1, folder 22. 1944-1946

Box 1, folder 23. 1944-1945, land transactions.

Box 1, folder 24. 1944-1945, land transactions: "The Rocks", Narragansett.

Box 1, folder 25. 1945-1946. Stock liquidation.

Box 1, folder 26. 1946. Dissolution of company.

Oversized box 3, folder 13. Outgoing correspondence, 1914-1929

Series 3: Financial

Series 3, subseries 1: Bank accounts.

Box 1, folder 27. 1919-1939

Box 1, folder 28. 1940-1946

Series 3, subseries 2: Financial reports. Miscellaneous reports and running accounts.

Box 1, folder 29. 1918-1925

Box 1, folder 30. 1935-1937

Box 1, folder 31. 1938-1940

Box 1, folder 32. 1942-1944

Series 3, subseries 3: Paid bills. Receipts for bills paid, mostly for property maintenance.

Box 1, folder 33. 1912-1917

Box 1, folder 34. 1919

Box 1, folder 35. 1920-1923

Box 1, folder 36. 1924-1926

Box 1, folder 37. 1926-1934

Box 1, folder 38. 1935-1941

Box 1, folder 39. 1942-1946

Series 3, subseries 4: Stock records.

Box 1, folder 40. Stock ledger, 1923-1946

Box 1, folder 41. Certificates, 1918-1919. Complete, #1-14.

Box 1, folder 42. Certificates, issued 1923-1946. #1-55, missing several.

Box 2, folder 1. Stock certificate receipt book, 1923-1946

Box 2, folder 2. Stockholder meeting notes and mailings, 1912-46

Box 2, folder 3. Stockholder lists, 1911-1946

Box 2, folder 4. Liquidation. Stockholder lists, notices, 1946

Box 2, folder 5. Liquidation. Stock deeds and proxies, 1946.

Box 2, folder 6. Dissolution. Petition and notice, 1946.

Series 3, subseries 5: Cash journal.

Box 2, folder 7. 7/1911 - 12/1945.

Series 3, subseries 6: Ledger.

Box 2, folder 8. 1911-1944.

Box 2, folder 9. 1916-1930. Ledger account cards for some properties.

Series 3, subseries 7: Tax records.

Oversized box 3, folder 14. Federal tax returns, 1937-1946

Box 2, folder 10. Rhode Island tax returns, 1922-1945

Box 2, folder 11. Capital stock tax returns, 1933-1945

Box 2, folder 12. Annual reports to R.I., 1941-1946

Box 3, folder 1. Employer's returns, 1937-1946. John R. Carpenter, sole employee.

Box 3, folder 2. Agriculture return, 1930

                         Unemployment returns, 1936, 1939

Box 3, folder 3. Balance sheets, 1922-1946

Box 3, folder 4. Rhode Island tax receipts, 1916-1939

Box 3, folder 5. Town tax bills and receipts, 1911-1946

Series 4: Land records.

Box 3, folder 6. Deeds, general. 1911-1946.

Box 3, folder 7. Deeds, Narragansett

Box 3, folder 8. Deeds, Narragansett

Box 3, folder 9. Deeds, Narragansett

Box 3, folder 10. Deeds, Narragansett

Box 3, folder 11. Deeds, South Kingstown

Box 3, folder 12. Deeds, South Kingstown

Box 3, folder 13. Deeds, South Kingstown

Box 3, folder 14. Deeds, South Kingstown

Box 3, folder 15. Land evidence abstracts by Earl G.W. Howard, 1945, of deeds 1845-1922.

Oversized box 3, folder 15. Maps

Series 5: Miscellaneous.

Box 3, folder 16. Copies of wills:

                                   Lydia Morgan, 1908

Frederick Rowland Hazard, 1927
Grace Tierney, 1927
Charles M. Hazard, 1941
Edith Hazard Forbes, 1942
Box 3, folder 17. Trustee's statement to heirs of Anna Hazard, 3/1/1914. By Rowland G. Hazard and F.P. Ufford. Describes circumstances of company's founding.

Box 3, folder 18. Point Judith Country Club minutes, 9/16/1939. The Anna Hazard Land Company was a lessor.

Box 3, folder 19. Dissolution agreement, 1946

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Subjects:

Carpenter, John R. (1874-1950)

Hazard, Anna (1820-1905)

Hazard, Elizabeth (1799-1882)

Hazard, Isaac P. "Peace" (1883- )

Hazard, Thomas P. (1892-1968)

Narragansett, R.I. - Buildings, structures, etc.

South Kingstown, R.I. - Buildings, structures, etc.

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