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Charles Henry Hazzard

From Historic Saranac Lake Wiki
Charles Henry Hazzard tombstone, Brookside Cemetery

Born: between 1823 and 1829, Jackson, Washington County, New York1

Died: September 27, 1899, St. Armand, Essex County, New York

Married: Julia Smith

Children: George W. Hazzard

Charles Henry Hazzard was an African American pioneer, farmer, and Civil War veteran from St. Armand, Essex County, New York.  From 1863 to 1865 he served in the Civil War as a member of the 26th US Colored Troops, taking part in heavy fighting in the south.  He returned home to the Adirondacks after the war where he purchased and cultivated land in St. Armand. He lived there until his death in 1899.

Charles Hazzard was born in 1828 or 1829 in Jackson, Washington County, NY, to parents Avery and Margaret Hazzard.  His mother was born Margaret A. Edwards before marrying Avery.  The Hazzard children also included Alexander, Lucinda, George, Gordon, Jane Ann, and Adeline.

In 1850 the Hazzard family moved to the Adirondacks, accepting a property as part of Gerrit Smith’s land-distribution project in the town of St. Armand, Essex County, New York.  This project was partially intended to support Black voting rights, as laws at the time required the ownership of property for people to vote.  Avery Hazzard had been offered a property in 1846, but it was too remote, so the family never settled there.  The property they occupied in 1850, listed as lot 87, was on the main road about halfway between Saranac Lake and Bloomingdale.  It had already been converted to a working farm with outbuildings and a house when the Hazzard family moved in.

For the next ten years Charles Hazzard lived here, working the family farm.  He is listed along with his family, occupation as farmer, on lot 87 in the 1855 and 1860 St. Armand census documents.

On December 28, 1863, Charles enlisted in the army in Plattsburgh as part of the count for St. Armand.  He was originally assigned to the 118th New York Regiment, and he mustered in on December 29th.  It was known as the “Adirondack Regiment,” due to the filling of its ranks with soldiers from this region.  However, as with many other Black soldiers Charles was soon transferred to the 26th US Colored Troops.  He left for Rikers Island in New York City almost immediately for regimental training, but he did not officially muster in with his new unit until February 27th.  The 26th US Colored Troops from New York State and other USCT regiments followed in the footsteps of groundbreaking units such as the Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry, famous for its role in the assault on Fort Wagner.

Shortly after completing basic training the 26th US Colored Troops shipped out to Beaufort, South Carolina.  They did not remain at this post continuously, instead moving from there to other stations on occasion before returning.

Charles became ill in May and June of 1864 but soon returned to service.  In early July, Charles and his regiment saw action on Johns Island and James Island as part of the Union movements upon Charleston.

In November of 1864 Union forces prepared for an assault on the Charleston and Savannah Railroad as part of Sherman’s march to the sea.  The 26th USCT was organized as part of the Second Brigade under colonel A. S. Hartwell, along with the 54th and 55th Massachusetts colored infantry and the 102nd USCT.  They shipped out of Port Royal early on November 29th, but several vessels became lost in thick fog.

In his account titled “A Brave Black Regiment,” Luis Emilio made no mention of the 26th USCT at the engagement on Honey Hill as they had not yet arrived when the assault began.  However, Emilio recalled that the 102nd USCT (also absent when the assault commenced) did arrive sometime in the early afternoon and suffered severe losses from musketry fire while maneuvering artillery pieces.  It is possible that the 26th USCT was on the same transport, and if so, that it also took part in the action in the later stages of the battle.  Accounts of the 26th USCT only record that it was present at Honey Hill, no further details are provided.

The 26th USCT again saw heavy combat at Devaux's Neck in December of 1864. There they suffered heavy losses, and their commander was mortally wounded.

After this engagement Charles Hazzard was again stationed in Beaufort.  It is likely that he served in the quartermaster’s department due to medical complications from both the harsh conditions the soldiers had to endure and battle wounds.  While in Beaufort he met Julia Smith, a formerly enslaved mother with two young daughters (Clara and Genevia), sometime in the spring of 1865 and married her there on May 6th.  On August 28th Charles mustered out and returned to civilian life.

Charles, Julia, and the girls were in the Adirondacks by December of 1865.  Another Adirondacker who served in the 26th USCT, Josiah Hasbrook, had been a friend of Charles Hazzard since before the war and traveled back north with Charles and Julia.

Charles had suffered multiple injuries and illnesses during the war, and his wounds plagued him for the rest of his days.  Military and pension documentation notes that Charles had malaria and rheumatism.  He also suffered from pain in his side and kidney problems.  After his discharge in 1865, Charles received a pension of $4/month.  Had he been a white solider, his health complications would have entitled him to between $8 and $12 per month.  It was not until 1892 that he finally received a disability pension of $12 per month.

In 1866 and 1867 Charles and Julia lived on the Hazzard family farm, where Charles had grown up. Around that time, Julia’s elder daughter Clara moved to Burlington, Vermont, where she began a family of her own with a barber named Abial Anthony.  In 1868 Charles and Julia purchased lot 66 in St. Armand and started their own farm despite the ailments Charles suffered from.  Julia supplemented their income by weaving and selling cloths, and occasionally working for neighbors.  In 1877 St. Armand appointed Charles to the position of village constable. That same year, Julia’s younger daughter, Genevia, married a hosteler named Jate Johnson. They shared the household with Julia and Charles and had three children of their own (Charles, Mabel, and Laura).

According to the 1880 St. Armand census, the 110-acre Hazzard property produced corn, wheat, potatoes, and other crops as well as cows, pigs, and poultry. Charles was listed as “disabled” and Julia as “farmer,” indicating that as his health declined, she took over the operation of the farm, presumably with assistance from Genevia and Jate.

In 1885 Charles Hazzard was wrongly jailed for debt. He was released early but received no compensation for the time lost during planting season, or the trauma inflicted on him and Julia. Despite this incident Charles and Julia Hazzard remained respected and valued members of the community.  Both in the wake of his false arrest, and over the course of the nearly three decades that elapsed between the close of the war and his disability pension being paid out, neighbors, community members and leaders, and the sheriff wrote letters of support for Charles Hazzard.

Genevia died in 1887 and was buried in Bloomingdale’s Brookside Cemetery. Jate moved to New York City around that time, but their children remained in the area. Sometime in December of 1892 Charles and Julia had their first and only biological child together, but George W. Hazzard died at the age of seven months.

In 1898 Charles again served as village constable for the town of St. Armand.

On September 27, 1899, Charles Hazzard died at home (aged 70 or 71 years).  His grave in Brookside cemetery is accompanied by a “Grand Army of the Republic” marker.

Julia continued to run the farm for a time after Charles’ passing. In 1903 and 1904 she deeded the land to her grandchildren before she passed away on November 14th, 1904.  She was buried in Brookside cemetery.  Several of her descendants through Genevia and Jate still live in the Tri-Lakes region.  Clara and Abial died in Burlington in 1916 and 1938, respectively. One of their 3 children, Grace, returned to the Adirondacks later in life and lived in Saranac Lake until her death in 1964.

--By Eliot Soderholm

Footnote:

1.  The 1855 State Census gives his birth year as 1818; the 1915 State Census record gives his birth year as 1823.  His tombstone suggests a birth year of 1826

References:

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