Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
Lawrence County Pennsylvania 1897
[p. 455] is a well-to-do, real estate dealer and farmer of Hazel Dell, Wayne township, Lawrence Co., who was born in North Sewickley, Beaver Co., Pa., Feb. 13, 1835. He was a son of John and Elizabeth (Caldwell) Hazen, and a grandson of Joseph and Martha (Burdick) Hazen.
His grandfather, Joseph, followed farming as a means of securing a livelihood, and served in the War of 1812 at Fort Erie. The grandparents, who lived to a good old age, surrounded themselves with this family: Benjamin; Daniel; Louis; Peter; John; Polly; Eunice; and Sarah.
The fifth son of the foregoing family, John by name, was born in North Sewickley, Beaver Co., Pa., and inherited the homestead, as it had devolved upon him as the youngest son to care for his parents and remain at home; to the original tract of land, he gradually added plot after plot as circumstances would permit until he owned 300 acres. He raised stock to a great extent, and in all his farming used advanced, progressive methods. At the age of fifty-five he was attacked with quick consumption, and he yielded his life in the struggle. His wife, when fifty-eight, succumbed to the same dread disease. Of their children Martha died in infancy and Joseph's demise occurred at the age of seventeen; James B. settled in Iowa; Andrew lives on the homestead; John B. is the personage of chief interest in this sketch; Mary Ann married T. Gillespie; and Samuel and Theodore died in childhood. Mr. Hazen was a strong Democrat and held several of the township offices.
John B. Hazen took charge of the farm at seventeen, and was very successful in its management. After attaining his majority he served a number of years as constable. On April 22, 1857, Mr. Hazen was joined in hymeneal bonds to Sarah M. Beatty, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Mahard) Beatty of Beaver County. Mr. Beatty was a carpenter and boat-builder, and after his wife's early death he moved to Clayton, Iowa, where he engaged in farming and made that State his home until his death at sixty years. Of his children, William and Mary dying in infancy, Mrs. Hazen alone grew to adult years. After the marriage of our subject and wife, Mr. Hazen occupied the homestead, and still owns the farm; he was twice burned out, but each time he rebuilt. In 1862, Mr Hazen enlisted for three years' service in Co. B, 14th Reg. Pa. Vol. Cav., and received a thigh wound at the Battle of Chambersburg, and that is the reason for the pension he receives. Indeed, he had many narrow escapes in his service as a cavalryman, his horse was shot dead under him at Rocky Gap, Va., and he escaped from the enemy in the shadows of a friendly thicket that grew near by. Such a record is not in the possession of every citizen, and those whose lives were endangered are receiving day by day, a little tardy it may be, the recognition due to them for their hard service. Mr. Hazen came to Ellwood City in 1881, and bought the McGregor farm of seventy-five acres, and in 1890 was the first to see the wisdom of selling land to the Pittsburg Company for the founding of a city. He exhibited sterling good sense by selling at a reasonably fair price, and urged others to pursue the same course. Having played a prominent part in the city's affairs since the idea was suggested to him, Mr. Hazen has seen the plan for a city unfold from a paper origin and blossom out in reality, itself. On the land he once owned are located manufactories, a bank, a church, and numerous dwelling houses. Having disposed of his property on the site of Ellwood City, Mr. Hazen looked around for another farm, and found a tract of l00 acres in Hazel Dell quite to his taste, and to that he added ten acres of the J. C. Johnson farm; in 1891, he built his present home. A piece of land, twenty-five acres in extent, was purchased of Samuel Parker, and a coal mine opened, which is now leased to other parties who work it. A limestone quarry was another interest that he developed and then leased. From his farm he has laid out 130 lots. Another farm Of 135 acres in Butler County is his property, and Mrs. Hazen owns tenements in East Vale, Pa.
The following children came to the home: Alice J., deceased at the age of thirty-three, married John Dempsey, and bore him Arvilla and a son that died in infancy; Francis J. died at the age of thirty-nine; Elmer wedded Orpha Boyer, and they have Lafayette, Ella M., Maggie and Olive; Mary became the wife of Allison Newton, and they have two sons, John H., and Homer H.; James B. married Sadie Boyer; Judith B. became the helpmeet of L. L. Wilson and had Laura B., Gene C., Nellie L. and John B.; Nora O. lives at home; Nathan and Homer are the youngest of the family now living; and Jessie A., the baby of the household, who died in childhood. Mr. Hazen is a good Democrat, and is a member of the G. A. R. Post No. 164 of Beaver Falls, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Hazen command the highest respect and esteem of their friends not only in the Baptist Church, but wherever they choose to go they are cordially assured a place of honor, and many warm greetings.
Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens Lawrence County Pennsylvania
Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897
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Updated: 7 Jul 2001