John Wright Hazelton

John Wright Hazelton (December 10, 1814 – December 20, 1878) was an American Republican Party politician and farmer who represented New Jersey’s 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for two terms from 1871 to 1875. His four years in Congress coincided with a significant period in American history during the Reconstruction era, in which he participated in the national legislative process and represented the interests of his South Jersey constituents.

Hazelton was born in Mullica Hill, Gloucester County, New Jersey, on December 10, 1814. He was raised in a rural community and attended the common schools, receiving a basic formal education typical of early nineteenth-century agrarian New Jersey. From an early age he engaged in agriculture, and farming remained both his principal occupation and the foundation of his livelihood throughout his life.

Before entering Congress, Hazelton was active in the emerging Republican Party. He served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1856, when the party first nominated a presidential candidate, and again in 1868, when it nominated Ulysses S. Grant. His participation in these conventions reflected his growing prominence within state Republican ranks and his alignment with the party’s positions in the years before and after the Civil War.

Hazelton was elected as a Republican to the Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses, representing New Jersey’s 1st congressional district. He served from March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1875. As a member of the Republican Party representing New Jersey, he contributed to the legislative process during his two terms in office, participating in debates and votes on issues central to Reconstruction and postwar economic development. During his second term, he was elected by a majority of over six thousand votes, which at the time was reported as the largest majority ever achieved in the district, underscoring his political strength and popularity among voters in southern New Jersey.

Despite this earlier success, Hazelton was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1874 to the Forty-fourth Congress. The election occurred during a period of shifting national political sentiment, as Democrats made significant gains in the midterm contests of 1874, and his defeat ended his formal congressional career after four years of service.

After leaving Congress, Hazelton returned to his agricultural pursuits. He resumed farming near his native Mullica Hill, continuing the vocation that had defined much of his life before and after his time in national office. Remaining in Gloucester County, he lived quietly in the community where he had been born and had long been known as both a farmer and public figure.

Hazelton died near Mullica Hill on December 20, 1878. He was interred in Friends Cemetery in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. His life and career reflected the trajectory of a nineteenth-century rural Republican leader who rose from local agricultural roots to serve in the United States Congress during a transformative era in American political and social history.