Joseph Peace Hazard's papers include Spiritualist booklets, newspaper clippings, letters, and personal notes on his experiences with spirits. He also saved correspondence from Luther Colby, editor of the Spiritualist journal The Banner of Light, who relayed messages from Hazard's recently deceased brother, Thomas. Selected papers were digitized and curated in an online exhibit which paints a portrait of an avid 19th century Spiritualist.
Hazard's papers are part of the Nathaniel Terry Bacon collection, held by the Special Collections department of Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
Joseph Peace Hazard (1807-1892) was born into a wealthy Rhode Island family. When he failed in the family's textile manufacturing business, Hazard's family supported him in pursuing his personal interests, which included travel, architecture, and Spiritualism.
Hazard considered himself clairvoyant and clairaudient (capable of seeing and hearing spirits) from a young age, and pursued Spiritualism throughout his life. In his later years, Hazard kept a journal in which he painstakingly recorded instances of his pocket watch "ringing", which he believed to be proof of the presence of his deceased friends and relatives. Hazard also recorded his experiences with the supernatural in personal memoranda and letters to friends. Hazard's experiences include seeing, hearing, and sensing spirits, and communicating with spirits through the movements of a table during a seance.
Joseph Peace Hazard: Rhode Island Spiritualist (Online Exhibit)
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Letter to Henry Bede, 1890-09-20
Joseph Peace Hazard
Letter in which Hazard, at 83 1/2 years of age, expresses a "wish to be on the other side, so soon as I can arrange my affairs." Includes account of the "Palatine Ship", a ghost ship apparition around Block Island.
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Letter to Luther Colby, 1890-11-11
Joseph Peace Hazard
Letter regarding the "Haunted house" in Wilmington, Delaware, which Hazard had mentioned to the Seybert Commission. Mentions Hazard's friendship with Henry Seybert. Includes account of John Ladd, a Newport carpenter-turned-"Spiritual Medium" who was summoned to Chicago to treat two "Invalids" and would be paid $2,000 for his services.
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Letter to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel G. Ward, 1890-07
Joseph Peace Hazard
Letter discussing Spiritualism within the Hazard family, including employment of healing mediums by Rowland G. Hazard. Includes account of "the Banshee" and Hazard's travels in Italy and Ireland.
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Notes, 1890-02
Joseph Peace Hazard
Notes on Henry Olcutt and other mediums, who have traveled to India and "passed into a sphere beyond."
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Notes on Spirit of George Washington, 1890-12
Joseph Peace Hazard
Description of "Spiritual Manifestation" of George Washington at the Philadelphia World Exhibition in 1876.
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Notes on Vernon spirit, no date
Joseph Peace Hazard
Describes Hazard's experience hearing and feeling the ghost of his friend's deceased father, who advised Hazard on how best to help his friend.
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Seven Months of Spirits, 1890-11
Joseph Peace Hazard
Clipping describing experiences in Phelps household, including bells ringing, spoons bending, objects flying through the air. Quotes Phelps’s description of phenomena as “visitation from God.”
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Letter to Abby Quincy, 1891-02
Joseph Peace Hazard
Incomplete letter regarding tour of Scotland, including sitting with former servant of Sir Walter Scott and encounter with the ghost of Robert Burns.
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Letter to Hamilton, Hancock Co., 1891-03-03
Joseph Peace Hazard
Incomplete letter describing an Irishman's account of the Banshee.
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Letter to James Angell, 1891-02-21
Joseph Peace Hazard
Letter describing how Hazard scored eleven points in a billiards game through spiritual intervention.
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Letter to Mrs. F.W. Masters, 1891-02-08
Joseph Peace Hazard
Letter attesting to Hazard's personal experiences and belief in Spiritualism--that Hazard "never felt any apprehension of fraud at any of the thousands of Spiritual Seances" he had attended--and notes that the presence of skeptics at authentic seances may be "detrimental". Discusses experiences at private seances. Includes account of being knocked over by the "Materialized Spirit" of a friend the night before he received notice of his friend's death.
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Letter to Sir, 1891-01
Joseph Peace Hazard
Description of spirit intervention which protected Hazard from a potentially dangerous encounter with a bull.
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Record of Watch Ringing, From its Commencement at Beyrouth in Syria on June 27th 1878, to [September 1st 1891]
Joseph P. Hazard, Patricia McIvor, and J Bruscini
This document is a transcription of a journal kept by Joseph Peace Hazard during the late 19th century. The journal details instances of watch ringing which Hazard believed to be communication with a spiritual world. It also includes personal anecdotes relating to his life and travel in the 19th century.