I recently came across an intriguing photograph of a woman, taken c1900, inscribed at the bottom with what the online seller interpreted as: Dr. Hogard.
To me, this looked much more like a sloppy “Dr. Hazard” and, with the photo placed in Iowa City, Johnson, Iowa, it seemed easy enough to test out my own theory of what the name actually was.
I was a bit surprised when my search results popped up:
Notice that we have Theodore L. Hazard, Physician, head of household and his wife Clara Hazard, PHYSICIAN. Even today, it’s unusual to find husband and wife doctor teams, but here is Clara, aged 39, listed with her husband as a physician in the 1900 census of Iowa!
Clara Merrill was born on 8 August 1860 in Cattaraugus County, New York, the daughter of Archibald Croswell Merrill and Emily Caroline Goodwin.
She married Theodore Lincoln Hazard on 3 June 1883, probably in New York [date found in The Hazard Family of Rhode Island].
By the time of the 1885 Iowa census, the couple had removed to Anamosa, Jones, Iowa, where her husband was listed as a physician and she was at home, no occupation noted.
By the 1890s, Clara had decided to study homeopathic medicine and graduated in 1897 from the College of Homeopathic Medicine at the State University of Iowa.
As seen in the 1900 census, Clara was a practicing physician in Iowa City, Johnson, Iowa at that time and, below, is the entry from the 1901 Iowa City city directory.
Sadly, Clara died of acute uremia, which is kidney failure, just five years later on 15 June 1905 in Iowa City, where she is buried. Apparently, her illness came on quite suddenly as mentioned in her death notice in the Ottuma Tri-Weekly Courier:
Children:
- Charles Merrill, born 21 December 1885, probably Anamosa, Jones, Iowa; died 31 January 1947, Arlington, Fayette, Iowa; married Genevieve Barrowman. Charles was a medical doctor and has descendants today.
- Archibald Merrill, born 10 November 1887, Iowa; died 18 March 1960; married Elia Chopitea from Sucre, Bolivia. He was a civil engineer and has descendants today.
- Philip Lee, born 16 December 1890, Iowa; died 10 August 1948, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; married (1) Mildred Rose Owen, 21 January 1914, Linn County, Iowa (2) Rosa May Grant, 20 October 1926, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. Philip was also a civil engineer and, although he married twice, he had no children.
Because Clara’s descendants quickly arrive in modern times, no information about her grand- and great grand-children is being included here, but her photograph has gone home to one of them.
Wow – she led quite the life. So cool her husband was fine with listing her occupation on the census – I can imagine there might have been many men not willing to admit their wives worked, especially in that capacity.
Sad she died so young.
So much from just one photo!
My husband is the great great grandchild of the Hazards. I just found a letter from Theodore written to his then granddaughter Charlotte. He told her to save the envelope of a first issue stamp for her great grandchildren. I’ve lost track of all the greats. Where did her picture end up?