Growing up in Woodstock: Thomas Hazard

The Mero-Hazard House, where Tom Hazard grew up, on South Street.

By Jennie Shurtleff

Thomas Hazard was highly-respected, long-time resident of Woodstock.

Born in 1914, Tom spent his childhood years growing up on South Street, across from Vail Field. In an oral history conducted by Ava Emerson in 1979, Tom recalled his life in Woodstock, including chores, play, Sunday School, and much more. Below are a few excerpts from this oral history.

Thomas Hazard as a young child (image taken from a class photos) © Woodstock History Center

 WORK AND PLAY

“My brother and I being the oldest, used to take turns doing the dishes. One week, one would wash; and next week, the other one would wash; and . . . take turns in wiping. And at first, we had to stand up on a box to reach over into the dishpan, I can remember. We—later when my sisters got older—then we could go outside, and then we had to have chores. We raked the yard; we helped feed the chickens; we'd bring in wood for the stove—try to have some of the things done, so Dad wouldn't have to do them when he came home. But . . . then we'd change our school clothes, and then we could . . . after our chores were done, could go and play. And there always was either baseball, or going fishing, or taking a hike; playing cowboy, Indian. We used to make bows and arrows, slingshots, and all kind of games we could play. And usually there were several neighborhood boys—eight or nine—we used to have about ten or a dozen that would get together every week, and after school for games.”

SUNDAY SCHOOL & CHOIR PRACTICE

“Sunday School was held in the church proper, after the 10:30 [a.m.] service, while the parents went down to pick their newspapers up. The church school met in different sections of the church. We didn't have a parish house then, and the young grades were up front; the older Bible students were in the rear. And I personally thoroughly enjoyed the church school; and especially with the other children. And our teachers, and our pastor, Father Amore, had a warmth and a friendliness; somehow, it made you feel good to belong. And I have never forgotten the fine, wonderful times we had as children. . . . I enjoyed myself so much in the activities of the church; and my brothers and sisters also, in later years. I've always had a very warm feeling towards this church, St. James. . .

Thomas Hazard in his choir robes.

When we got a little older, we began to practice for the choir. And usually we spent about a year in practice before we were old enough for the choir. I joined when I was ten. . . They had some excellent tenors, basses, sopranos, altos. And then the younger boys and girls sat in front of the organ; the older ones across from the organ. Our choir rehearsals then were held over at the rectory. Mrs. Gilson, who was Mrs. Emory's mother, . . . was our choir director. And Mrs. Amore always brought some refreshments of English cookies and punch, or cold drinks after our rehearsal. We always looked forward to that. . . . The English cookies . . . came in a box; we could count on those. They had . . . kind of white, with raisins pressed in them—I can still remember just how they tasted.”

DISCIPLINE

Discipline was an important part of life, according to Tom Hazard. In his oral history, he said that his father always told him:

“‘You may not be rich; you may not . . . have a big house or something . . . ’ But he said, ‘You can be honest.’ Those things sort of took hold, and we remembered them. And mother was so patient with us, and the times we were punished, we more than deserved it—we knew it. We more than deserved it. . . . One time we chased the chickens. We chased them in relays; one would chase a while, and then when that one got tired, another one would pick up the chase. And by and by the chickens were panting and could hardly move. One time we looked up, and Dad was coming, and . . . Dad said—he saw us—we burst around the corner of the house where we could stop, and he said he wondered what was ailing those chickens, they acted like they had the heaves, and they weren't laying properly. And that time, we got a well-deserved punishing that we needed. . . . We had to go out—there was a willow tree near the house—and cut one of those willow switches, and bring it in to him, which was the hardest thing to do. Then we got switched in good. . . . Dad did the disciplining; . . . We knew we had it coming, and there was no feeling of injustice or anything—we knew we well deserved it (laughs), whatever happened. But usually mother waited till Dad came home, and sometimes we'd have to stand up and tell what we'd done ourselves. And, I think . . . it did learn us to kind of face up to things, but it was . . . it seemed kind of tough then, to have to stand up and tell something that you'd done . . . That  seemed punishment enough, without getting a good lickin'. But it didn't really hurt us, as I think back on it now.”

FAVORITE FOODS AS A CHILD

 Tom recalled that one of his favorite foods was “apple pan dowdy, which we all enjoyed, and we ate with cream and sugar on it. But the smell of the cinnamon, and the apples, and the biscuit crust was . . . I can remember that now. And then, we all loved potatoes; . . . she [Tom’s mom] used to make cornbread, or johnny-cake. We had plenty of vegetables from the garden, and sometimes Dad would kill a chicken, or we'd have fish that he bought from the store. And . . . meat of different kinds. We had maple syrup and griddle cakes often; we loved that. And for a cold morning, going to school, we always had a hot cup of cocoa.”

 SKATING

 “We used to skate a great deal in the fall. We seldom had very much snow, though, just before Christmas; but the cold weather produced good ice. Sometimes there was a local rink in the park, or in Vail Field, or frozen puddles . . . on the golf links. And then, of course, later the spring . . . and many a Sunday afternoon, a hundred or a hundred and twenty-five people—many, all from the village—would be gathered, just skating, or playing hockey, or . . . whatever; sometimes a bonfire. We'd go to the village farm quite often, and play hockey. . .”

 BOY SCOUTS

Thomas Hazard was an active member of the Boy Scouts for most of his life, first as a Scout and later as a Scout Master. Regarding his Scouting, he stated:

“I joined when I was twelve. I remember some of my friends, Eddie Prokton (?) and those that joined a little earlier. And Rob Wells was our Scout Master; . . . we used to have rallies and field days when our Local Troop 20 would compete with other troops from nearby towns. And we would do wall-scaling, water boiling, fire-building; perhaps a baseball throw, running races; all kind of events. They were high points in the Scouting life.”

WOODSTOCK

“I’ve been very happy here in Woodstock—I love to hunt and fish in these surrounding hills and streams; I enjoyed the sports I played as a boy and young adult, the local town teams of various times. It has been a real satisfactory place to live. I feel that Woodstock basically has always been a fine, friendly place. The people have changed—that is, as the older ones died out, new people have come in—but it hasn’t changed the atmosphere of a small community, a village. People are ever ready, even now, to help another one in trouble. We have a number of organizations of families concerned about the people who are needy.

We managed to find plenty of things to do here in Woodstock. Some say there wasn’t anything to do, but we used to find plenty of things to do . . . going to movies, fairs, playing baseball together . . . hockey, ice hockey, sliding and skiing . . . all working on a little part-time job (we all caddied together). It seemed to be enough to keep us happy and busy . . . And most of it was right nearby, or in the surrounding towns—we didn’t go on long trips, but we enjoyed the surrounding area, and found plenty to do.”