Mary Peace Hazard

Mary Peace Hazard (1814-1874) was a daughter of Rowland Hazard I and Mary (Peace) Hazard. She never married, and lived for most of her adult life in Newport with her sisters Anna and Eliza, and her brothers Isaac and Joseph. She was buried in the Hazard family lot in Portsmouth.

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

   List of finding aids

   R.I.H.S. Library page

   R.I.H.S. home page

 Mary Peace Hazard Papers

Student, of Newport and South Kingstown, R.I.

Papers, 1826-1830

Size: 0.5 linear feet

Catalog number: MSS 483 sg 15

Processed by: Rick Stattler, March 1999

©Rhode Island Historical Society

Manuscripts Division

Historical note:

           Mary Peace Hazard (1814-1874) was a daughter of Rowland Hazard I and Mary (Peace) Hazard. She never married, and lived for most of her adult life in Newport with her sisters Anna and Eliza, and her brothers Isaac and Joseph. She was buried in the Hazard family lot in Portsmouth. 

Return to top

Scope and content:

           This subgroup consists entirely of school books circa 1826 to 1830, mostly lessons copied directly from another source. Some are dated in Newport, and some in South Kingstown. The only personal items are two autograph books bearing inscriptions from school friends; one book includes an inscription from famed educator Prudence Crandall, as follows:

"Beauty, as a flowery blossom soon fades, but the divine excellencies of the mind, like the medicinal virtues of the plant, remain in it when all those charms are withered." Prudence Crandall, Canterbury.

           The remainder of the collection has no direct informational value, but may be of interest to a student of education. About half of the volumes are signed by Mary Hazard, and half are unsigned. One volume bears the signature of Mary's sister Anna Hazard (1820-1905). It is certainly possible that other volumes were written by Anna or other sisters, but these school books have all been kept together as they were found. 

           A small quantity of her financial and estate records can be found at Harvard University’s Baker Library. Please note that a small quantity of papers of Mary Peace Hazard's mother, Mary (Peace) Hazard, can be found in series 4 of the papers of Rowland Hazard I (sg4).

Return to top

Provenance:

These papers were donated by the Hazard family as part of the Hazard Family Papers in 1985.

Return to top

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. 

Return to top

Inventory:

Box 1, folder 1. Autograph books:

Inscriptions from N.E. Yearly Meeting Boarding School friends. First entry reads 1819, but other entries are from students who attended the school circa 1826-1827.

                                   Inscriptions from nine school friends, circa 1826.

Box 1, folder 2. Botany lessons, undated.

Box 1, folder 3. Commonplace books (poetry), undated. Three volumes.

Box 1, folder 4. German lessons, undated. Two volumes. One signed by Anna Hazard.

Box 1, folder 5. Historical lessons, undated. Thirteen volumes.

Box 1, folder 6. Latin lessons, undated.

Box 1, folder 7. Mathematics and book-keeping lessons, 1830 and undated, five volumes.

Box 1, folder 8. Penmanship books, 1826 and undated. Five volumes.

Return to top

Subjects:

Crandall, Prudence (1803-1890)

Cyphering books

Hazard, Anna (1820-1905)

Moses Brown School (Providence, R.I.)