Samuel Hazlett (1780 -
1840)
Sam was born Feb. 29, 1780 in Scotland; d. Tioga Co., PA. He married Sarah "Sally" Campbell, b. 1777 in North Ireland or Scotland.
We're not sure when Sally and Sam married, nor when they
came to the US .There's a tradition that they were married aboard the
ship and lived in NJ for a while, but no solid evidence. Some
researchers believe they married in PA. We know their eldest child,
Archibald, was born in Lancaster Co., PA in 1803. Sally's brother
John, and sisters Mary and Elizabeth, also lived in Lancaster Co.
John Campbell soon moved to the Pittsburgh area. By 1806, Sam and Sally
were living on a farm he bought near Stroudsburg, Monroe Co., PA (then
in Northampton Co.). Stroudsburg borders on NJ, so the oral tradition
of living in NJ may have been based on that. Sally's sister Mary
remained in Lancaster Co. all her life. Elizabeth Campbell relocated to
Nelson.
After moving to Monroe Co. Sam started buying land on the north bank of the Cowanesque River, just east of what became the Boro of Nelson (originally called Beecher's Island), Tioga Co., PA from a transient settler, Daniel Strait. At time it was wilderness, with no roads and only a few scattered cabins. In 1810, he completed the purchase.
Sally's father (who came to the US in 1810) and her uncle, John Campbell (who came in 1776/77), bought the island from the Beechers, who moved away. That property was on the south bank of the Cowanesque River. It was slightly west of the land on the north bank that Sam bought. See map
In Oct. of 1810, Sam, Sally, their 3 children, and Sam's brother John; were joined at his farm near Stroudsburg by Sally's parents; her siblings (Jane, Joseph and James Campbell); and her uncle, John Campbell. At some point, they all embarked with all their goods and livestock, in an amazing journey to Beecher's Island, arriving early in 1811. There was no road once they left Lawrenceville, PA and started up the Cowanesque to Nelson. There was a foot of snow on the ground. They had to leave the wagons and walk --- Sally carrying her infant daughter Jane Hazlett in her arms.
They arrived to find that the roof of the cabin Sam
purchased had fallen in, and the log walls were not chinked. Reportedly
"you could throw a cat through the gaps between the walls." And the
only a few scraps of rusty metal remained of the sawmill Sam bought.
Fortunately, the cabin the Campbells purchased, was intact.
We know Sam's parents were named
Robert and
Mary Hazlett, but we know almost nothing else about them. According
to Jane CAMPBELL Tubbs, after Sam
and his brother John settled in Tioga Co., Sam's mother, his sister
Mary, and brother
Archibald came to America --- and settled in western PA. It's
always been a mystery why they did that instead of joining Sam and John
Hazlett in Nelson.
Some researchers believe they have identified Sam's parents, but the ID
is uncertain.
Sarah and Sam had 7 children, but 3 died in infancy and
may not have been named. Those that survived
were:
Mentioned in Campbell
Cousins Correspondence Letters:
v2 p7 Jennie CRANE Bosard - "our Hazlett
Cousins"
v3p74
Jos. W. Buck - "Samuel Hazlels" [per Sally's father]
v4p89 Jane CAMPBELL Tubbs - "Sarah" &
"Samuel"
Mentioned in Other Documents:
Minutes of the 1937 Campbell
Reunion - Sam Hazlett
[wbt - 10/15/2000; rev 11/10/2017]
View his record on our family tree.