USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. III > Part 6
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Samuel E. Hudson married Harriet M. S. Buell, daughter of Captain Thomas A. and the late Har- riet (Scholefield) Buell, on June 20, 1894. One son, Buell W. Hudson, was born to them, who gradu- ated from the Woonsocket High School in 1920 and from Yale University in 1924, and is now actively identified with the management of "The Woon- socket Call" and of the Buell Realty Company.
CHARLES NOURSE COOK-One of the well-known residents of Woonsocket is Charles Nourse Cook, president of the Woonsocket In- stitution for Savings, who has been identified with the banking interests of that city for more than thirty years.
He was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, March 28, 1872, son of Theodore M., who was cashier of the Producers National Bank and treas- urer of the Producers Savings Bank for many years, and Mary Adelaide (Nourse) Cook. After attending the public schools of his native city Mr. Cook enrolled as a student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Boston, Massachusetts, where he completed his course and received the degree of Chemical Engineer. After his gradua- tion he followed his profession in the employ of the Silver Spring Bleaching and Dyeing Com- pany of Providence. With this concern he was associated from 1894 until it was sold to the United States Finishing Company in 1903, during this time rising from one position to another until, in 1899, he was made president. When the busi- ness was sold he accepted the position of manager of Slatersville Finishing Company. In 1913 Mr. Cook was called upon by the trustees of the Woonsocket Institution for Savings to serve as treasurer of that institution and in this responsible position he served until 1928, when he was elected president of the institution. It was largely through the interest and effort of Mr. Cook that the fine new bank building at the corner of Main Street and Cook's Hill Lane was erected, a building of which the citizens of Woonsocket are justly proud.
In addition to his able service to the Woonsocket Institution for Savings, Mr. Cook is a director of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company of Providence, and is a member of the Board of Managers of the Woonsocket branch of that bank, serving as chairman of the board. He was one of the re-organizers of the American Wringer Company and has been a member of its board of
directors since 1922. He is also a director of the Providence and Worcester Railroad Company. Mr. Cook was for fifteen years secretary of the Woon- socket Hospital. Mr. Cook's social interests are varied, being represented by membership in the City and Cumberland clubs of Woonsocket, the Hope Club of Providence, Agawam Hunt Club of Providence, and the Providence Art Club. In political preference he is a Republican. He and his wife attend the Universalist Church.
Charles Nourse Cook was married, in 1894, to Mary Crosby Alley, of Lynn, Massachusetts.
ROWLAND HAZARD-It is more than two and a half centuries since the immigrant ancestor of the Hazard family, an outline of whose geneal- ogy follows, helped to found the Colony of Rhode Island. From that time to the present his de- scendants have taken a usefully active and promi- nent part in every phase of its economic, political, professional and social life, and their names are to be found upon nearly every page of the State's recorded history. Rowland Hazard is a worthy scion of this virile race. Not content to run in the economic groove worn by forebears who, in their day, were in the vanguard of industrialists, Mr. Hazard has had vision to see the trend of the times and has kept himself and the enterprises he has guided abreast of the economic and financial developments of this century. He has, also, a keen appreciation of cultural values, is interested in music and his interest in classic art has led him to establish in the Far West a ceramic industry in which the mass production methods of this machine age find no place, but where each artisan not only has freedom to do so, but is expected to express himself in his handicraft.
In his "Recollections of Olden Times," Thomas R. Hazard quotes an English genealogist of this family as follows:
The family of Hassard, Hassart, or Hazard, is of Norman extraction, and of considerable antiq- uity. At the time of the Conquest they were living on the borders of Switzerland and distinguished by the ancient but long extinguished title of Duke de Charante. Two bearing this title visited the Holy Land as Crusaders. One of the latter was killed in a rebellion against the kings of France, and his widow fled with her youngest son to England. It is supposed that at her death the son took the name of Hazard or Hassart from the manor of that name and soon after settled in Gloucestershire.
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The family coat-of-arms is :
Arms-Azure two bars argent, on a chief or, three escallops gules.
Crest-An escallop gules.
(I) Thomas Hazard, born in 1610, appears first in America in Boston in 1635. He was ad- mitted freeman there in 1638, and two years later became a freeman of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. He was one of the founders and first town officers of Newport and was made a freeman of that town in 1639. In 1640 he was appointed a member of the General Court of Elections. His will was dated November 13, 1676, and he died in Ports- mouth in 1680. The maiden name of his first wife, Martha, is unknown. She died in 1669.
(II) Robert Hazard, their son, was born in 1635. He was admitted a freeman of Portsmouth in 1665, and from that time until 1698 his name appears often in the Colonial records as chosen to fill some important position. In 1671 he bought five hundred acres in Kings Town; in 1687 he was taxed there, and it was not long after that that he built his house there. He gave the larger part of the Kings Town purchase to his son George in 1695. In 1710, shortly before his death, Robert Hazard sold the remainder of his farm with "my manor house where I now live" to his son Robert. Robert Hazard, Sr., married Mary Brownell, born in 1639, daughter of Thomas and Anne Brownell.
Thomas Brownell was born in 1619. He came from Derbyshire, England. His name first ap- pears on record in this country when his mar- riage was recorded, 1638. He and his wife died in 1665. The Brownell family has ever been prominent in this State. Thomas Brownell was commissioner in 1655-61-62-63, and was deputy in 1664.
(III) Thomas Hazard, son of Robert and Mary (Brownell) Hazard, was born in 1660. The land records show his name more often than that of any other of the old planters as purchaser of large tracts of land from the original purchasers, and at good prices. Previous to 1746, a shipyard, "Great Pier," and warehouses were on the farm that he gave in 1739 to his son, Jonathan Hazard. This farm, situated on Boston Neck, is now known as the Governor Brown and John J. Watson farms. Thomas Hazard was admitted a freeman of Portsmouth in 1684. His name ap- pears in Colonial records but twice after this date: in 1696 as freeman from Kings Town and in 1717 as appellant in a lawsuit. He made his
first purchase of land in Narragansett previous to 1696-nine hundred acres from Samuel Sewell and other land. A part of this purchase is now the Hazard homestead in Peace Dale. He became a large landowner, one of his subsequent pur- chases being what is called "Little Neck Farm." At one time his total holdings amounted to nearly 4,000 acres. It is generally supposed that his wife's maiden name was Susannah Nichols. He died a widower in 1746.
(IV) Robert Hazard, the next in this line of descent, was born May 3 (or 23), 1689, the fourth in a family of ten children. He too became a large landholder. Part of his acreage he received from his father before his death; but the most of it he acquired by purchase. Robert Hazard mar- ried Sarah Borden, born July 31, 1694, daughter of Richard and Innocent Borden.
Richard Borden was born in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, October 25, 1671. He married, in 1692, Innocent Wardwell. His father, John Bor- den, was born in September, 1640, and died June 4, 1716. He became one of the largest land- owners of his day and one of the most famous historical characters of his time. He married, December 25, 1670, Mary Earl, daughter of William Earl of Portsmouth. His father, John Borden, arrived in Boston in the fall of 1635. He was then twenty-eight years old. He came orig- inally from Wales. The early generations of this family were members of the Society of Friends.
(V) Thomas Hazard, son of Robert and In- nocent (Borden) Hazard, and known as "College Tom," was born September 15, 1720. He freed his own slaves about 1745 and was instrumental in abolishing slavery in Rhode Island. He was an incorporator and Fellow of Brown University, and was a member of the committee of the So- ciety of Friends to relieve suffering during the Revolutionary War. He married, March 27, 1742, Elizabeth Robinson, born June 16, 1724, daugh- ter of Deputy Governor William Robinson. Eliza- beth Robinson was descended from Rowland Robinson, born in Cumberland County, England, in 1654 and died in 1716. He came to America in 1675. He married Mary Allen, born February 4, 1653, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Bacon) Allen, who came from Barnstable, England. Rowland Robinson was deputy from Kings Town in 1705. In 1709 he bought 3,000 acres known as Wood River Lands. William Robinson, son of Rowland and Mary (Allen) Robinson, was born January 26, 1693. He was a resident of South
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Kings Town and served as deputy from 1724-28, 1734-36, and in 1741-42. He was at one time Speaker of the House of Deputies.
(VI) Rowland Hazard, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Robinson) Hazard, was born April 4, 1763. He lived in South Kingstown. He set up the first carding machines in the town of Peace Dale, which village was named for his wife, thus establishing, as early as 1800, the in- dustry which has since developed into the Peace Dale Manufacturing Company. He also had ship- ping interests, first at Charleston, South Carolina, and afterwards at Narragansett, this State. After the destruction of the pier there, in 1815, Mrs. Hazard wrote him that she hoped he would not rebuild it, as it had always been a troublesome property. She quoted his grandfather, Governor Robinson as having desired that none of his chil- dren would try to maintain it. Late in life Mr. Hazard removed to Pleasant Valley, New York, where he died. He married, in 1793, at Charles- ton, South Carolina, Mary Peace, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Gibson) Peace.
(VII) Rowland Gibson Hazard, LL. 'D., son of Rowland and Mary (Peace) Hazard, was born October 9, 1801, in the house of his grandfather Hazard on Tower Hill, South Kingstown, Rhode Island, and died in Peace Dale, this State, June 24, 1888. In early life he went to live in the home of his maternal grandfather, Isaac Peace, who then resided in Bristol, Pennsylvania. Young Hazard attended school in Burlington, New Jersey, across the Delaware. In 1813 he was sent to West Town School. He remained there five years and during that time developed a strong taste for mathematics, in which he acquired such proficiency that he discovered new modes of dem- onstration in conic sections. Within the limits of its curriculum this school gave a thorough train- ing; yet Mr. Hazard always lamented his lack of a systematic classical education. He had a vora- cious appetite for knowledge, however, and by wide and attentive reading he more than made up for what he lost by not going to college. In 1819, he returned to Rhode Island and with his brother, Isaac Peace Hazard, teok charge of the manu- facturing business in Peace Dale in which their father was also engaged. Under the able man- agement of the brothers the business was largely increased.
Mr. Hazard was always keenly interested in public affairs, and he had the ability to express himself clearly and forcefully in writing; not only that, he had much on many subjects that was
well worth saying. He wrote many articles deal- ing with phases of the litigation over the Union Pacific Railroad. During the Civil War he did much to sustain Northern credit both at home and abroad. His newspaper articles on the public finances were collected and published in pamphlet form, mainly by bankers in New York City for foreign readers. Collections of them were pub- lished in London, and epitomes were translated and published in Amsterdam and at Frankfort- on-the-Main. These articles had wide influence. Through them and by his personal interviews, Mr. Hazard induced European bankers, who were becoming distrustful, to hold and increase their investments in United States bonds. This action was taken after conference with President Lin- coln and the Secretary of the Treasury, in which an official position was offered Mr. Hazard; but he preferred to act in the capacity of a private citizen. He also opposed a suggestion made dur- ing that war to increase the circulation of paper money. His arguments on this subject were pub- lished in the New York "Evening Post" and other newspapers and were subsequently printed in a pamphlet with other articles under the title, "Our Resources."
From 1833 to 1843 Mr. Hazard visited the South annually. The workings of slavery that came to his attention deepened his abhorrence of an institution he had long detested. In New Or- leans, through his efforts, many free negroes un- justly 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. There was never any self-seeking in any of Mr. Haz- ard's public or political activities. He was moti- vated by philanthropic and high moral ideals and a fine appreciation of social values. He was early identified with the Free Soil and Anti-Slavery party, and was one of the founders of the Re- publican party. With Edward Harris of Woon- socket, he attended its first convention, which met in Pittsburgh. He was made a member of its Committee on Platform and Resolutions. He was also a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention of 1856, and many of the resolutions and addresses published in Rhode Island during that campaign were from his pen. He was a member of the Chi- cago Convention in 1860 which nominated Abra- ham Lincoln, and he assisted in drafting the plat- form adopted by that convention. He was in Europe in 1864; but in 1868 he was again a dele-
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gate to the national convention at Chicago, which nominated General Grant. Again he was a mem- ber of the Committee on Platform and was the author of the financial section. He served as a member of the Rhode Island House of Representa- tives in 1851-52, 1854-55, and in 1880-81. In 1866-67 he was a member of the State Senate.
Mr. Hazard was always most liberal in his support of the schools and churches of his town and in the erection of their town house. But his private benefactions were distributed according to the precept not to let the left hand know what the right hand doeth. His interest in education was further demonstrated by his giving $40,000 to found and endow a professorship of physics at Brown University. He numbered among his friends many men of great learning, among the number being John Stuart Mill, with whom he be- came acquainted on one of his trips abroad.
Mr. Hazard's chief works bear the following titles : "Essay on Language" (1834). Referring to that book, Dr. Channing, the famous Unitarian divine said: "I have known a man of vigorous in- tellect, whose mind was almost engrossed by the details of an extensive business, but who com- posed a book of much original thought, in steam- boats and on horseback, while visiting distant customers." Other titles are: "The Adaption of the Universe to the Cultivation of the Mind" (1840); "Causes of Decline of Political Morality" (1841), a treatise that had a great influence in abolishing lotteries from Rhode Island; "Fourth of July Oration on Temperance" (1843) ; "The Philosophical Character of Channing" (1844); "The Character and Works of the Late Chief Justice Durfee, LL. D., of Rhode Island" (1845) ; "The Relations of Railroad Corporations to the Public" (1849); "The Duty of Individuals to Support Science and Literature" (1855); "The Resources of the United States" (1864); "The Freedom of the Mind in Willing" (1866); this was followed in 1869 by "Causation and Freedom in Willing." In 1845, Brown University con- ferred upon Mr. Hazard the degree of Doctor of Laws.
Rowland Gibson Hazard married, September 28, 1828, Caroline Newbold, daughter of John Newbold of Bloomsdale, Pennsylvania.
(VIII) Rowland Hazard, their son, was born August 16, 1829, in Newport, this State. In 1833 his parents removed to Peace Dale, and there he resided during the remainder of his life. He was prepared for college by Rev. Thomas Vernon and also attended for a time Haverford School (now
Haverford College). He entered Brown Uni- versity in the sophomore class, for which he was prepared in everything but Greek. In mathe- matics he was far in advance of his class, and this gave him time to make up his language defi- ciency. In both sophomore and junior years he won the first university premium in mathematics, and as a junior he also won the second univer- sity premium in mathematical philosophy. In that year he also took the first university premium in astronomy. In course the university conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts.
His career as a manufacturer of woolens in Peace Dale began in 1851 under the guidance of his father. In 1875 he became the owner of 24,000 acres of land in southeastern Missouri on which was located the Mine La Motte lead mine, which had been worked in a primitive manner since 1717. Mr. Hazard introduced the most mod- ern methods of mining, dressing and smelting the ore. The product, marketed as the "Anchor Brand" (which device was suggested by the shield of Rhode Island), soon acquired an envi- able reputation. He was one of the organizers of the Solvay Process Company in 1881 and be- came its president. Thus was introduced into this country the Belgian process of producing soda-ash, laying the foundation of the vast con- cern which his sons developed. He was also president of a number of other industrial com- panies and ranked among the industrial leaders of his day in this country. Besides his lands in Missouri he owned much real estate in South Kingstown and in the State of New York. One of his especial hobbies was a large dairy farm.
In 1875 he became a trustee of Brown Univer- sity, succeeding his father who had sustained that relation from 1869. Rowland Hazard also suc- ceeded his father as a Fellow of that institution in 1889, his father having been a Fellow from 1875 to 1888. Rowland Hazard was also a cor- porate member of the American Board of Com- missioners for Foreign Missions; trustee of But- ler Hospital; president of Washington County Agricultural Society from 1875 until his death; president of the What Cheer Insurance Company. He was president of the Peace Dale Manufac- turing Company from 1864 until his death. For several years he served the town of South Kings- town as moderator. He was a member of the State Legislature in 1863-64, and from 1867-69 he was a member of the State Senate. In 1875 he was the Independent candidate for Governor
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of the State and received a plurality of votes, but failed of election by the Assembly.
From what has already been said it is appar- ent that Mr. Hazard was a man of exceptional mentality and ability, and that he was socially- minded. He made a first-hand study of the co- operative undertaking in Rochdale, England, and as a result introduced a profit-sharing system into the Peace Dale mills. He was thus a pioneer in this country of a method of dealing with em- ployees that is now widely practiced. He also greatly improved the conditions of the workers in his Mine LaMotte, and in organizing the Sol- vay Process works in Syracuse he saw to it that the comfort and welfare of the workmen received due consideration. In all these activities he was far in advance of his time, and it is little wonder that labor troubles were unknown in the indus- tries that he controlled. Quite in line with the attitude thus displayed toward his fellowmen was his interest in village and town affairs. The Sec- ond Congregational Church of South Kingstown was organized in his house in 1857, and he was a deacon of that church from that date. In 1872 he built for the church a stone edifice at a cost of about $25,000, and in 1895 added to it the Mar- garet Chapel in memory of his beloved wife, who died that year. He was largely instrumental in establishing the Narragansett Library in 1855 and in the organization of the high school, giving land for the building and assisting in its maintenance. With his father he established the Hazard Pro- fessorship of Physics at Brown University, and he bequeathed $100,000 to that institution.
Mr. Hazard's taste for the fine arts was well developed. He was especially interested in archi- tecture and literature. He drew the plans for the Congregational Church just mentioned, also the plans for the worsted mill built in Peace Dale in 1872 and the weaving shed built at a later date. The picturesque stone bridges in Peace Dale were all designed by him; one of them is a single stone arch spanning forty feet. It is said to be the largest single stone arch in the State. He was chairman of the building committee in charge of the erection of the John Carter Brown Library of Brown University. He also wrote a great deal and delivered many addresses. His annual ad- dress as president of the Washington County Agricultural Society not only evoked great inter- est but was considered a valuable contribution to agricultural literature. His address at the laying of the corner-stone of the State Capitol has a
permanent place in the historic annals of this State. He was the author of a paper on the "Credit Mobilier of America," which was pub- lished in 1881, and many other articles on eco- nomic, scientific and philosophic themes came from his pen. He wrote graceful verse, metrical translations from German lyrics and exquisite sonnets for his own pleasure; but his great mod- esty would not permit their publication.
Another writer has said: "Mr. Hazard was a man of simple religious faith, of a faith which was wrought by love for the betterment of his fellowmen. His strength of character, his firm re- solve, made him a power in the world. This power he used wisely, kindly, beneficently. He was generous with his wealth and freely gave his valuable services to good causes. He was revered by all who knew him, tenderly loved by those who were brought into personal relations with him. His death was deeply lamented. Men recognized in him one whose noble life had reflected honor on America."
Rowland Hazard married, March 29, 1854, Margaret Anna Rood of Philadelphia, daughter of Rev. Anson and Alide Gouverneur (Ogden) Rood. Mrs. Hazard died August 7, 1895, and was survived by her husband until August 16, 1898.
(IX) Hon. Rowland Gibson Hazard, their son, was born in Philadelphia, January 22, 1855, and died in Santa Barbara, California, January 22, 1918. He was prepared for college at the fa- mous Mowry and Goff's English and Classical School and then matriculated in Brown Univer- sity from which he was graduated in 1876 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Three years later his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. After another three years he became secretary to his paternal grand- father, and spent a year in this capacity. He was then sent West as manager of the Hazard Min- ing Interests in Missouri. Later he returned to Rhode Island and entered the office of the Peace Dale Manufacturing Company, with which he re- tained his connection until his death. In 1898 he became president of the company, and also suc- ceeded his father at that time in the care of the widespread and varied Hazard interests and in many important directorships. For many years before his death the ramifications of his interests extended not only well over the United States but into Great Britain and on the Continent of Europe.
R. I .- 3
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Mr. Hazard was chairman of the boards of di- rectors of the Solvay Process Company of Syra- cuse, New York, and the By-Products Coke Corporation of Chicago. It has already been noted that his father was one of the organizers of the former corporation, and Rowland G. was long associated with its operations. For a long time he was vice-president of the company and then chairman of the board of directors, an office he held until his death. With this controlling corporation are allied the Semet Solvay Com- pany, By-Products Coke Corporation and the Solvay Collieries Company. The Semet Solvay Company, of which Mr. Hazard was president and later chairman of the board of directors until his death, has plants in many sections of this country engaged in the manufacture of iron, steel and coke and it also constructs by-product coke-ovens. Before he became chairman of the board of directors of the By-Products Coke Corporation, Mr. Hazard served as its president. This has be- come the Interlake Iron Company, a $100,000,000 corporation which manufactures coke and by- products and pig-iron-has many coke-ovens, docks, furnaces, and the most modern equipment located in South Chicago, Illinois, as well as Toledo, Erie, and Duluth. Another of Mr. Haz- ard's interests outside Rhode Island was the New York Life Insurance Company. He was a mem- ber of its executive committee in 1908 and its auditor from that year until 1918.
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