Hazard, Amanda (Dunbar)

Cheshire CountyWomen’s history20th century

Jun 23

Amanda (Dunbar) Hazard (1877-1945)

Winchester, NH

In 1930, 53-year old Amanda “Mandy” Hazard lived in Ashuelot– an unincorporated village within the town of Winchester, NH. Amanda’s husband, William F. Hazard, remained in Woodstock, Vermont, the family’s hometown. Amanda, however, along with three of her adult children had moved to New Hampshire between 1925 and 1929 to build a new life for themselves.

In her 50s, Amanda was the mother of six children and, at the time, they lived throughout Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Son John N. Hazard became the head of household while in NH. As a 33-year old Black man, John worked doing general labor and rented a home in Ashuelot for $12. His 26-year old wife Florence ‘kept house’ and mothered their 9-year old daughter Lillian and 5-year old son John. Also living with the family were two of Amanda’s other adult children. Twenty-one year old Frederick worked locally as a laborer and 24-year old Rachel was a domestic servant.

Amanda Sarah Maud Dunbar was born to Henry J. and Mary J. (Smith) Dunbar in Chelsea, VT on March 13, 1877. Her father Henry was originally from Woodstock, VT, and similar to Amanda, Henry’s parents had moved back and forth across the Connecticut River between Vermont and New Hampshire during the 1840s-1850s. By the late 1870s, when Amanda was born, Henry and Mary Dunbar had settled in Chelsea, VT, where they worked a farm and raised their children.

By 1880, the Dunbar family included seven children. Amanda (3) and her two brothers George (5) and Story (1) were listed on the 1880 US Federal census as “mulatto”. Also at home were her four older step-siblings from her white mother Sarah’s first marriage: John (17), Mary (15), Lucia (18), and James (9)-- all listed as white. Amanda grew up next door to her Black grandparents John and Sarah Dunbar who were in their 70s.

Amanda Dunbar married William F. Hazard while she was in her teens, although the exact date is unclear. At the time, William was in his 60s, working as a teamster, and was on probation from a MA state prison. Their son John N. Hazard was born in 1897 in Woodstock, VT. More children soon followed: William Jr, Minnie, Elizabeth “Bessie” (b.1903), Rachel (b.1906), Frederick Henry (b.1908).

Difficulties followed the Hazard family into the 1910s and 1920s. In 1915, Amanda’s son John entered into an argument with a local man named Daniel Ledoux. After working to chop wood for Ledoux, Hazard requested payment and was denied. When the family tried to later purchase some hens on Thanksgiving from Ledoux, Amanda’s husband William F. went with their son John to try to get payment for the service provided. Hazard refused to pay for the hens until his son was paid for his labor. An argument ensued and William F. Hazard was shot in the head, escaping serious injury.

By 1919, two of the Hazard children had been sent to the Vermont Industrial School in Vergennes City, VT. The industrial school served both youth who had been in trouble with the law or delinquent but also became a temporary home to poverty-stricken children whose parents couldn’t afford to care for them. Both 13-year old Rachel and 11-year old Fred Hazard remained at the Vermont Industrial School for at least one year.

In May 1922, Amanda’s husband William became the subject of a scandal that landed him in jail and standing trial. According to prosecutors, Hazard hid in the kitchen pantry of a private residence where he had once worked. When another employee of the home, domestic servant Etta Colby, came into the kitchen, William grabbed her and threatened her with a gun. Colby claimed that Hazard’s intent was to rape her. Soon after the event took place, a posse of police chased Hazard, then 69 years old, over the course of four days. They eventually found him in Tunbridge, VT, in a cabin owned by his in-laws, the Dunbars.

William F. Hazard was arrested and stood trial in June of 1922. In his testimony, Hazard claimed that he was angry about false statements that had been made about him by Colby and decided to scare her with a toy gun. He was eventually acquitted by a Windsor County jury.

At some point following this incident, Amanda Hazard followed her sons John and Frederick and their daughter Rachel to Cheshire County’s Ashuelot, NH, to start life in a new community. Her husband, William F. Hazard remained in Woodstock and worked as a farm hand on a dairy farm. It is unclear how long Amanda remained in New Hampshire. By 1935, she was living back in Woodstock with her daughter Rachel and her relative John J. Dunbar. Amanda Hazard died of a long term illness on January 28, 1945.

At the time of her death, she left behind her husband William F. Hazard Sr. and her children: John Hazard of Ashuelot, NH; William Jr. of North Adams, MA; Mrs Minnie Hardington of Harding, MA; Mrs. David Thornton of Winchester, NH; Miss Rachel Hazard of Woodstock, VT; Frederick Hazard of Winchester, NH. She also left two brothers, George and Mark Dunbar of Chelsea, VT and three sisters: Rose Dunbar of Tunbridge, VT; Mrs. Fanny Derushia of North Adams, MA; and Mrs James Goodell of Stanford, VT.

Amanda’s husband William F. Hazard continued to live in Woodstock, VT, the remainder of his life. He died six months short of his 105th birthday and was considered the oldest person in Vermont at the time of his death.

GENEALOGICAL SUMMARY

AMANDA DUNBAR was born in Chelsea, VT, in 1877 to Henry J. and Sarah A. (Thorn) Dunbar. She married WILLIAM F. HAZARD (1851-1858) in Woodstock, VT c.1897. They had: John K (1897-), William Jr., Minnie, Bessie, Rachel, and Frederick Henry (1908-1983).