Hazard, Jonathan J., 1731-1812

Jonathan J. Hazard (1731 – July 29, 1812) was an American statesman and anti-Federalist who served as a delegate for Rhode Island in the Continental Congress.

Born in Newport, Rhode Island, Hazard completed preparatory studies. He was first elected to the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1776. In 1777 and early 1778, Hazard served as paymaster of the Rhode Island regiment of the Continental Army. In 1778, he re-entered the Assembly, serving there until 1786. In 1786 and 1787, Rhode Island’s assembly appointed him as delegate to the Continental Congress. After that, he returned to the Assembly, where he became a leader of the state's anti-Federalist Country Party, serving until 1805. Hazard was a delegate to the state's ratifying convention that considered the U.S. Constitution in 1789. His active opposition was one of the reasons that the convention adjourned without a vote. By the following spring, Hazard at least chose to remain silent as the Assembly voted in favor of ratification on May 29, 1790. Ratification marked the start of a steady decline in his political influence.

In 1805, Hazard moved west to a new settlement that was being established by the Society of Friends (Quakers) in Oneida County, New York. He died there and was buried in City Hill Cemetery in Penn Yan, New York.