Person:Howlett Hazen (2)

Howlett Hazen's Estate

The probate records of Norwich, Conn., show that Howlet Hazen left an estate there which was settled by Jabez Hazen after the family returned from Wilkes-Barre. On 2 Apr. 1782, Jabez Hazen was appointed administrator on the estate of Mrs. Zerviah Hazzen late of Norwich, deceased; and 2 July 1782, the will of Mr. Howlett Hazzen late of Norwich, deceased, was exhibited by Jabez Hazzen, administrator of the estate of Mrs. Zerviah Hazzen, who was executor on said will. The inventory of his estate totaled £173.15.2 and included the south half of the dwelling house and 36 acres of land. The same appraisers, Samuel Leffingwell, Jr., and Nathan Lord, valued the estate of Mrs. Zerviah Hazzen, consisting of 26 acres near the dwelling house, at £117.

The will reads as follows:

In the Name of God Amen. I Howlet Hazzen of Westmorland in the County of Westmorland being weak in body but of sound mind and memory (Blessed be God therefor) Do this fifth day of May in the year of our Lord 1777 make and Publish this my last will and Testament in the manner and form following that is to say— Imprimis I Recommend my Soul into the hands of Almighty God who gave it me and my Body to the earth from whence it came to be Decently Buried after my Decease by my Executor hereafter appointed. Item I give to my Loving Wife Zerviah Hazzen the one half of all my Moveable Estate to be at her Intire Disposal and the one third part of the Farm I am now possessed of in the District of Wilksbarre during the Term she shall Continue my widow after my Decease and no longer, and in consideration of her Bringing up my four youngest children, till my Son Jabez Hazzen arrives at the age of Twenty two years old, I give to my sd Wife Zerviah Hazzen the whole Improvement of my sd Farm in the District of Wilksbarre untill my sd Son Jabez Hazzen shall arrive to the age twenty two years.

Item I give to my Eldest Son Darius Hazzen and to my sons Jabez Hazzen and Nathan Hazzen and Asa Hazzen and Eleazer Hazzen and David Hazzen and to my Two Daughters namely Zerviah Bushnell and Lydia Hazzen their Heirs and assigns forever all the Rest of my Estate as well Real as Personal to be Divided among them in the manner following, that is to say— To Each of my s’d Sons Equally Two shares each as their full parts of my Estate,—and to my s’d Daughters one half as much to each of them as what I have heretofore order’d to my s’d Sons, Counting what I have Already given to my s'd Daughter Zerviah Bushnell to be toward her part, and if it shall so happen that either my said s'd Sons or my s'd Daughters shall not live untill my s'd Son Jabez shall arrive at the age of twenty two years that then that part allotted to them to be Divided among the Rest in the Same Proportion as the Rest of my Estate is Divided among them and I do make, Constitute, ordain, and appoint my Loving Wife Zerviah Hazzen accountable for any Bad Debts now outstanding,—and now I the s'd Howlet Hazzen have set my hand and seal to this second page of this my Last Will Containing two pages at Westmorland Day and Date above written

Howlet Hazzen

Signed sealed &c in Presence of
Richardson Avery
William Dunn Junr.
Thomas Dunn"^[1]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} 17. Jacob³ Hazen; 65. Howlet⁴ Hazen, in Hazen, Tracy Elliot, and Donald Lines Jacobus (Editor). The Hazen Family in America: A Genealogy. (Thomaston, Conn.: Robert Hazen, 1947)
   40; 72-74.

   "Howlet (Hazen), b. (Norwich) 19 Mar. 1723/4."
   "65. Howlet⁴ Hazen (Jacob³, Thomas², Edward¹), born at Norwich, Conn., 19 Mar. 1723/4, died at Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (between 5 May and 15 July), 1777; married at Norwich, 8 Sept. 1748, Zerviah Lord, born at Norwich, 4 Sept. 1731, died soon after her husband (before the massacre of 1778), daughter of Eleazar and Zerviah (Leffingwell) Lord. Howlet Hazen and his wife owned the covenant in the First Church of Norwich, 7 Jan. 1750, and baptismal records of most of their children are found there. Soon after the birth of their last child, they emigrated to the Connecticut colony in Wyoming, Pa. … The Westmoreland records give the inventory of his estate, appraised 15 July 1777 by Richardson Avery and Thaddeus Williams, amounting to £411.19.6, and including among other lands 'about 30 acres with buildings on the same, in the District of Wilkes-Barre where the Deceast last dwelt.' … The probate records of Norwich, Conn., show that Howlet Hazen left an estate there which was settled by Jabez Hazen after the family returned from Wilkes-Barre.
   
   The tradition is that two of Howlet Hazen’s sons were in the battle of Wyoming, 3 July 1778, and were among the sixty-three that escaped, but no documentary proof has been found. After the sons returned to Connecticut, Eleazar and Nathan chose as their guardian their uncle, Nathan Lord; Asa chose Samuel Leffingwell (probably his mother’s uncle); and another uncle, Eleazar Lord, was appointed guardian of David. It was stated by Mrs. Emily Hazen Pierce, that Mrs. Zerviah Bushnell took charge of the younger members of this family after the death of their parents."

2.   Norwich, New London, Connecticut, United States. Vital Records of Norwich, 1659-1848. (Hartford, Conn.: Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut, 1913)
   1:5.

   "Jacob Hazen & his Wife Abigaell, ware married y^e 27^th day of octo^r 1719 …
   Howlit Hazen was born y^e 19^th day of march 1723/4"