Hazen
Family of Norfolk
Editor's Note:
The information contained in the following article concerning the
pioneer Hazen family, was compiled by Rev. Dr. George N. Hazen, a
cousin of Eugene Hazen mentioned therein.
Dr. Hazen is at present
minister of a London United Church, and
of course is widely known in
his native country.
The founder of
the Hazen family in Canada was Edward Hazen, who emigrated to the then
British Colony of Massachusetts in 1648, from Northamptonshire,
England. About one hundred years later one of his descendants moved to
New Jersey, and from this branch of the family the Canadian Hazens
have come.
They were loyal
to the British Crown and fought for it during the Revolution of 1776.
Two of these
United Empire Loyalists, William and Daniel, having lost their cause,
came to Canada and settled at St. John in New Brunswick. William
remained there and was one of the founders of that city. The present
Sir Douglas Hazen, chief justice of New Brunswick is a distinguished
descendant.
In 1793 Daniel
Hazen removed to Upper Canada and settled at Chippawa. He had a fair
education for that time and was by profession a surveyor. In 1796 the
Hon. Peter Russell sent him and a Mr. Hamlin to survey the townships
of Charlotteville and Walsingham and in the course of his surveys he
came upon a rippling stream in the interior of Walsingham which he
greatly admired, the waters reminding him of the old home in New
Jersey, and he exclaimed "Here will I live and here will I be
buried."*
The following
year he was given a land grant from the government at the place he had
thus selected. He at once erected a log house at the junction of this
stream and Big Creek, and moved his family there. Other settlers
followed and a little community grew up, which ever since has been
known as the "Hazen Settlement," situated on the fifth
concession of the Township of Walsingham.
This Loyalist
pioneer was a man of unassuming manner, more than ordinary
intelligence and most exemplary Christian character.
He and his wife
were members of the first Methodist society organized in Norfolk
County, now known as the Woodhouse United church, a few miles south of
the town of Simcoe. He was one of the early trustees, and often
officiated as a local preacher in the absence of the regular minister.
Mr. Hazen was a
regular attendant and walked the distance of 17 miles, as the crow
flies, through the woods, and Mrs. Hazen accompanied him when the
quarterly meetings were held, about four times a year. They took a
lunch with them, and before the sun had risen these devoted Methodists
were on their way to the House of God.
In 1812 when the
war broke out with the United States, he promptly took up arms for his
country, notwithstanding his advanced age, and served for three years.
In 1824 he was
nominated by his Walsingham friends for representation in the
Provincial Parliament. His fellow nominees were Francis L. Walsh,
Duncan McCall, George Ryerson, John Killmaster and Walter Nichol.
These were the days of open voting and the polling in this case
extended over three days.
Mr. Walsh and Mr.
McCall were elected, but Mr. Hazen received practically all the votes
cast in Walsingham. This was the only time he entered a contest for
either parliament or municipal honors.
His family
consisted of five sons and three daughters, Lydia, William, Daniel,
John, Rachel, Charlotte, Elijah and Jacob, each of whom received a
grant of 200 acres from the crown.
This pioneer and
his wife are buried in the old Hazen's cemetery, a short distance from
the homestead. Upon his death his farm of 200 acres was divided
between his two youngest sons, Elijah and Jacob.
Elijah married
Mary Neal, the daughter of Major George Neal, a United Empire
Loyalist, and the man who preached the first Methodist sermon in Upper
Canada, at Queenston in 1786 and in whose memory the Neal Memorial
Church in Port Rowan was erected.
Their family
consisted of ten sons and one daughter. Elijah Hazen for several years
carried His Majesty's mail on horseback from Port Rowan to Vittoria once
a week. It was a hard day's work as his home was about seven miles
north-west of Port Rowan, and at certain times of the year, the roads
were almost impassable. For this he received the extravagant sum of 75
cents a week.
Jacob Hazen, his
brother, had a family of seven sons and two daughters.
Thus at that
time, there was growing up side by side, these two families of Hazens,
with a total of 17 sons and three daughters. It was truly a Hazen
settlement.
Eugene Hazen, a
grandson of Elijah and great grandson of the original pioneer, Daniel
Hazen, with his son, Winston, still reside on the old homestead, and
Winston is the fifth generation of Hazens to reside on this farm.
Daniel Hazen had
a brother, Caleb, who came to the Long Point settlement from New
Jersey at the close of the war of 1812 and settled in Woodhouse near
Port Ryerse. He had four sons, Wesley, William, Daniel and Freeman and
three daughters, Mary Ann, Eliza and Jane. Many of this branch of the
family are buried in the old cemetery adjoining the Woodhouse United
church already referred to.
There are still
many descendants of both of these branches of the Hazen family
residing in Norfolk county and various parts of Ontario.
