>From the book "History of Washington and Kent Counties, Rhode Island" by J.R. Cole, published 1889, New York, W.W. Preston & Company. Beginning on page 498. [xxx] respresents either notes or the page number. ROWLAND GIBSON HAZARD, the third son of Rowland Hazard and Mary Peace, his wife, was born in his grandfather's house on Tower Hill, South Kingstown, October 9th, 1801. His family for several generations had been extensive farmers in the neighborhood. Tradition asserts that the son of the first immigrant, who settled in Newport, came to Narragansett in 1671. By a deed in the possession of the family, dated 1698, portions of the Pettaquamscutt purchase, amounting to nearly a thousand acres, were conveyed by Judge Samuel Sewall to Thomas Hazard, the grandson of the first settler. These lands include the present [499] site of Peace Dale; the whole of Little Point Judith Neck, and the lands upon which Narragansett Pier now stands. To this original purchase more land was added, until the Hazards were among the largest landholders in New England. It was from such a vigorous race that Rowland Gibson Hazard sprung. In early childhood he was taken to Bristol, Pa., to the home of his maternal grandfather, Isaac Peace. He attended school in Burlington, N.J., across the Delaware, and in Bristol, and in 1813 was sent to Westtown school, an excellent school under the charge of the Society of Friends, of which society his parents were members. Here he remained five years and developed a strong taste for mathematics, discovering some new modes of demonstration in conic sections. This school gave him a thorough training in the branches it taught, and though he lamented his want of a classical education, yet by his own reading he early acquired a knowledge of classical history. In 1819 Mr. Hazard returned to Rhode Island, and with his brother, Isaac Peace Hazard, took charge of the manufacturing business at Peace Dale, in which their father was engaged Linsey–woolsey and goods chiefly sold at the South were ten made. Under the management of the brothers, the business largely increased. From 1833 to 1843 Mr. Hazard made yearly visits to the South, and had the opportunity to see the workings of slavery, an institution which he abhorred. In New Orleans, through his efforts, many free negroes unjustly detained in the chain-gang were released. His speech on the fugitive slave law in the Rhode Island legislature, in 1850, while generous and appreciative of the slave owners' position, is a powerful denunciation of the institution. In 1835 Mr. Hazard published his first Essay on Language, though the title page bears the imprint 1836. This was published anonymously, and attracted the attention of Dr. William Ellery Channing, who discovered the author and came to Peace Dale to see him. This acquaintance ripened into friendship, and acting on the advice of Dr. Channing, Mr. Hazard began to reflect upon the problems of free will and necessity, which finally led to the publication of the book on The Will in 1864. Of this book Dr. E.G. Robinson remarks: "For subtle analysis, or originality of argument, for lucidity of statement, for ingenuity and freshness of illustration, and for conclusiveness of reasoning [500] from its premises, no book yet written on the Will is entitled to take precedence." A visit to Europe in 1864 enabled Mr. Hazard to make the acquaintance of John Stuart Mill, and conversation and correspondence with him gave rise to the book on Causation and Freedom in Willing, published in 1869. This is regarded by competent critics as his ablest book, and as the best refutation of the Hume and Mill doctrine of causality that has yet appeared. This metaphysical work was carried on in the midst of pressing business. Mr. Hazard perceived the necessity for regulating the powers of railroad corporations, and in speeches in the legislature, in 1851 and 1854, enunciated principles which have since passed into the inter-state commerce law. The adjustment of the tariff and national finance occupied his mind. During the war he rendered important service in inspiring confidence in the national credit. After the war the construction of new railroads occupied him. In town affairs he took an active interest, delivering addresses on public questions, such as bribery and temperance and public schools, before the local societies. He represented the town in both house and senate on several occasions from 1850 to 1880. He gave the present town house to the town in 1877, and took an active interest in the building of the Narragansett Pier railroad. He married, September 25th, 1828, Caroline, daughter of John Newbold, of Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He died June 24th, 1888, beloved and respected by his neighbors. The following list of published writings shows the extent of his work in various directions: Complete Works of Rowland Gibson Hazard. Edited by his Granddaughter, Caroline Hazard. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1889. Vol. I. – Language, 1835; The Adaptation of the Universe to the Cultivation of the Mind, 1841; Intemperance, 1843; The Philosophical character of Channing, 1845; Public Schools, 1845; character and Writings of Chief Justice Durfee, 1848; The Duty of Individuals to Support Science and Literature, 1855; To Write Well, Write about What You Know Little or Nothing about, 1864. Vol. II. – Freedom of Mind in Willing; or, Every Being that Wills a Creative First Cause. First published in 1864. [501] Contents: Of the Existence of Spirit; Of the Existence of Matter; Of Mind; Liberty or Freedom; Of Cause; Of the Will; Of Want; Of Matter as Cause; Of Spirit as Cause; Freedom of Intelligence; Instinct and Habit; Illustration from Chess; Of Want and Effort in Various Orders of Intelligence; Of Effort for Internal Change; Conclusion. Review of Edwards on the Will. – Edwards' Definition of Will; Liberty as Defined by Edwards; Natural and Moral Necessity; Self-Determination; No Event without a Cause; Of the Will's Determining in Things Indifferent; Relation of Indifference to Freedom in Willing; Contingence; Connection of the Will with the Understanding; Motive; Cause and Effect; God's Foreknowledge; Conclusion. Vol. III – Two Letters on Causation and Freedom in Willing, addressed to John Stuart Mill. With other Papers. Contents: Letter on Causation; Letter on Freedom in Willing; The Existence of Matter; Our Notions of Infinite Space, 1869; Animals not Automata, 1874; Letter on Causation to Francis Wharton, LL.D., 1878; and Man a Creative First Cause, 1883. Vol. IV. – Economics and Politics. A Series of Papers upon Public Questions, written on various occasions from 1840 to 1885. Contents: The Decline of Political Morality, 1840; Letter on Specie Payment, 1843; Speech on the Fugitive Slave Law, 1850; Railroad Corporations and the Public, 1849; Speech on a Bill to Equalize the Charges for Carrying Freight, 1851; Speech on the Railroad Bill, 1854; Bribery, 1854; The Narragansett Speech, 1856; Address to Republican Electors, 1860; Duties on Wool, 1864; Additional Arguments before Committee of Ways and Means, 1864; Woolen Manufactures as Affected by the Tariff, 1866; Our Resources, 1864; Letter to President Lincoln, 1864; Hours of Labor, 1866; How to Resume Specie Payments, 1866; Reconstruction, 1866; Union Pacific Railroad Circular, 1867; Payment of the Five-twenty Bonds, 1867; Inflated Currency, 1868; Our Finances, 1868; letter on Woman's Suffrage, 1868; Grant and Colfax Speech, 1868; Argument on Constitutional Rights, 1873; The Tariff, 1865.