Hazard, William W.

William W. Hazard (1855-1911)

Nelson, NH

William W. Hazard lived most of his life in Massachusetts aside from a short stay in New Hampshire as a child. Born the third child of Tower and Julia A. (Hardy) in 1855, William lived in Littleton, MA during the 1850s.   Around the age of 5 years old, his family relocated to the rural town of Nelson, NH, located in the southwest corner of the state.  His father Tower found work as a stonecutter while his mother Julia worked as a housekeeper to private families. 

As a child in the 1860s, William attended school in Nelson, NH.  Yet by his teenage years, the Hazards had made the decision to return to Massachusetts, settling down in Ayer, MA.  At the age of 22, William H. Hazard, Black laborer, married 19-year old Harriet Ella Munroe of Harvard, MA in 1878.  [William’s elder sister Josephine Hazard would grow up to marry Harriet Munroe’s brother Peter F. Munroe in 1871]

The couple continued to live in Ayer, MA, and their family grew to 14 children including: William N. (b.1879), Herbert L. (b.1880), Arthur G. (1881-1904), Harry D. (b.1886), Grace M. (b.1888), Winfred (b.1890), Ellie M. (b.1894), Anise L. (b.1895), and Margaret M. (b.1899).

William’s wife Harriet (Munroe) Hazard died around the year 1900.  He remarried in 1905 at the age of 50.  At the time of his marriage, William had been working as a chair maker in Westminster, MA.  His new bride, Lillian (Greene) Oxford was a 42-year old Black housekeeper according to the marriage record. 

William’s second marriage did not last more than five years before Lillian passed away.  By 1910, he was back living in his mother’s house as a 54-year old widower.  William continued to do odd jobs as a laborer until his death on March 11, 1911 in Ayer, MA.  He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Ayer.

GENEALOGICAL SUMMARY

WILLIAM W. HAZARD was born in Ayer, MA in 1855 to TOWER HAZARD (1828-1892) and JULIA HARDY (1832-). He married 1st in Harvard, MA, in 1878 to HARRIET ELLA MUNROE (1858-c.1900). They had: William N. (b.1879), Herbert L. (b.1880), Arthur G. (1881-1904), Harry D. (b.1886), Grace M. (b.1888), Winfred (b.1890), Ellie M. (b.1894), Anise L. (b.1895), and Margaret M. (b.1899). He married 2nd LILLIAN (GREEN) OXFORD (1863-c.1909). William Hazard died in Ayer, MA, in 1911.

SOURCE MATERIALS

Find-a-Grave.com

Massachusetts Vital Records, Births- 1855, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1886, 1888, 1890, 1894, 1895, 1899- Ancestry.com

Massachusetts Vital Records, Deaths- 1911- Ancestry.com

Massachusetts Vital Records, Marriages- 1878, 1905- Ancestry.com

Massachusetts Census, 1855- Ancestry.com

Massachusetts Wills and Probate, 1890- Ancestry.com

U.S. Federal Census, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910- Ancestry.com