Ozias C. Goodwin Papers

Corporate secretary, Peace Dale, R.I.

Papers, 1881-1921

Size: 1 linear foot

Catalog number: MSS 483 sg 52

Processed by: Rick Stattler, December 1997

©Rhode Island Historical Society

Manuscripts Division

Ozias C. Goodwin (1850-1921) was born in Foxcroft, Maine, the son of George W. and Sarah J.J. (Pennell) Goodwin. He was hired as secretary by Rowland Hazard II in 1880. His offices were originally in Providence, but he moved to the Hazard family fiefdom of Peace Dale in 1893, and lived on North Road. He worked for five generations of Rowland Hazards until his death: Rowland G. Hazard I (1801-1888); Rowland Hazard II (1829-1898); Rowland G. Hazard II (1855-1918); Rowland Hazard III (1881-1945) and, in a sense, Rowland G. III (1917-1944). Goodwin had primary responsibility for the American Fish Culture Company and the Providence Warehouse Company. He served as secretary of the R. Hazard Estate Inc. from 1917 to 1921. He once told the family that "my devotion to your dear father's business...has simply been my life's work, that was all." (letter to Caroline Hazard, 12/28/1917). He died on March 17, 1921, and was buried at Oakdell Cemetery in South Kingstown. Upon his death, the stockholders of the Providence Warehouse Company passed a resolution of sympathy to his family, recalling that "the affairs of the Company had been cared for by him for many years and during many trying periods. His unfailing courage and quiet wisdom were the mainstay of the company." After his death, his R. Hazard Estate Co. salary for the remainder of the year was extended to his widow Eleonora P. Goodwin (1850-1943). He was also survived by one daughter, Mrs. Austin N. Bottsford of Watertown, Conn.

This collection consists entirely of correspondence of Ozias C. Goodwin: incoming letters from 1890 and 1891, and copies of outgoing letters dated 1883 to 1921. A large proportion of the letters deal with official Hazard family business, but many are personal. Personal letters include some correspondence with family members, and also effusive letters endorsing Goodwin's favorite consumer products such as razor blades and pipe tobacco. While the records kept by other Hazard family secretaries were generally divided up neatly among the various family businesses, Goodwin kept all letter copies in one volume, stretching over his service to five generations, so these records have all been kept together under his name.

These papers were donated by the Hazard family as part of the Hazard Family Papers in 1985.

This collection is part of the Hazard Family Papers, which were processed with support from the Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities, the Beinecke Foundation, and the extended Hazard Family.

Box 1, folder 2. Letters received, 1890-1891, from children of Rowland Hazard II (Caroline, Helen Bacon, Frederick, Rowland G. II)