Jonathan Hazard

Background

Jonathan J. Hazard was born about 1744 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. He was the son of Jonathan and Abigail (MacCoon) Hazard and a descendant of Thomas Hazard, one of the founders of Newport.

Career

Hazard's native ability, ready oratory, and political skill put him in the forefront of Rhode Island affairs. For a long time, says Wilkins Updike, he was "the idol of the country interest, manager of the State, leader of the Legislature, in fact, the political dictator in Rhode Island. "

He took an early stand for liberty and in 1776, as a delegate to the Rhode Island House of Representatives from Charlestown, was a member of the General Assembly which, on May 4, enacted the law containing Rhode Island's Declaration of Independence. In the same year he had the difficult and dangerous task of apprehending disaffected persons on Block Island.

In 1777 he was paymaster of the Continental Battalion and in 1778 he became a member of the Council of War. In the latter year he was also again elected to the lower house of the General Assembly and, repeatedly chosen, served with intermissions during most of the period of the Revolution and after. In 1787 he was elected a delegate from Rhode Island to the Congress of the Confederation but did not take his seat until the next year, when he was again selected.

In May 1789 he was once more elected a delegate although Rhode Island was not in the Union. Beau Jonathan stood at the height of his power perhaps in 1786. At the May session of the Assembly in that year he was the victorious champion of the agricultural element of the state in its struggle with the mercantile element. Using all the qualities of his leadership, he aided in forcing through the Paper Money Act which was set at naught, however, by the decision of the court in the famous case of Trevett vs. Weeden.

The year 1790 saw him again on the losing side and saw too the end of his active power in state affairs. He had fought in the General Assembly against the adoption of the Federal Constitution; he continued the fight as a delegate to the state convention held at South Kingstown in March 1790, and at the adjourned convention held in Newport in May. On May 29, ratification was agreed to by a vote of 34 to 32. Beau Jonathan said in a letter written in an after year that he was sold out by his friends.

In his later life he removed to Verona in Oneida County, New York. There, too, he continued his interest in public affairs.

Achievements

• Jonathan J. Hazard was a prominent statesman and anti-federalist who is best remembered as a delegate for Rhode Island in the Continental Congress. A politician of great tact and ability, he was the leader of the paper money party which beat down the hard money or mercantile party in Rhode Island.

Religion

Hazard was a member of the Society of Friends.

Politics

Hazard was a member of the Anti-Federalist Country Party.

Personality

Hazard was called "Beau Jonathan" because of his scrupulous regard for dress and courtliness of manner.

Connections

Hazard was married three times. His first wife was his second cousin Patience, the daughter of "Stout Jeffrey" Hazard, "who had the strength of six common men"; his second wife was Hannah Brown; his third wife was Marian, the daughter of Moses Gage.

Father:

Jonathan Hazard

Mother:

Abigail (MacCoon) Hazard

Spouse:

Marian (Gage) Hazard

Spouse:

Patience Hazard

Spouse:

Hannah Brown

Daughter:

Abigail (Hazard) Shearman

Daughter:

Susannah (Hazard) Champlin

Son:

Griffin Barney Hazard

References

• Economic And Social History Of New England V2: 1620-1789
• Rhode Island and the Formation of the Union, Issue 10
• The Hazard Family Of Rhode Island, 1635-1894: Being A Genealogy And History Of The Descendants Of Thomas Hazard ...