Henry T. Hazard

Henry T. Hazard
Portrait of Henry Hazard
20th Mayor of Los Angeles
In office February 25, 1889 – December 5, 1892
Preceded by	John Bryson
Succeeded by	William H. Bonsall (acting)
Personal details
Born	July 31, 1844 Evanston, Illinois
Died	August 7, 1921 (1921-08-08) (aged 77) Los Angeles, California

Henry T. Hazard (July 31, 1844 – August 7, 1921) was a California pioneer who became a land developer, a patent attorney and mayor of the city of Los Angeles. He gives his name to Hazard Park in Los Angeles.

Hazard was born on July 31, 1844, in Evanston, Illinois, the son of Ariel M. Hazard. He had seven siblings. In 1853 he was brought by his parents in an oxen-drawn covered wagon at the age of about 8 on a two-year trek across the plains via Salt Lake City to a Mormon settlement in San Bernardino, California.

He was about 10 when the family attempted to settle on government land a few miles west of Los Angeles; they soon left for Tulare County, where the younger children, including Henry, went to school.

As well as working for his living, Hazard as a young man began studying law in the office of Volney E. Howard. He attended San Jose State College in 1863-64, then traveled by horseback across the plains again to the University of Michigan, where he earned his law degree.

Hazard was married to Carrie Geller, daughter of physician William Geller of Marysville, California, on October 3, 1873. The wedding party left Los Angeles early on a Friday morning, with the groom and his friends "in an elegant barouche, drawn by four horses." The group of carriages arrived at the Church of Our Saviour in San Gabriel, California, about 8 a.m. and the ceremony was performed by the Rev. H.H. Messenger of that city. A reception lasted until late in the evening, and the wedding party returned to Los Angeles by 2 a.m. Saturday, where the couple stayed at the Pico House.