During the siege of Quebec, Hazen had…

1770 CE

During the siege of Quebec, Hazen had met Gabriel Christie, then a deputy quartermaster.

Christie owns some land in the Richelieu River valley south of Montreal, and wanted to expand his holdings. (Christie will later become one of the largest landowners in Quebec.)

After the war, Christie and Hazen had jointly purchased the seigneuries of Sabrevois and Bleury, located on the east bank of the Richelieu near Fort Saint-Jean.

They also lease land on the west side of river from the Baron of Longueuil.

These holdings give them almost exclusive control over the land holdings around Saint-Jean, which is the northernmost navigable point reachable from Lake Champlain.

Christie, who was the still in military service, was frequently away from the land, so Hazen has developed the land while Christie provides the funding.

Hazen has constructed a manor house at Iberville, and two mills, and set about selling timber and other business endeavors.

In 1765, Hazen was also appointed a deputy land surveyor, and a justice of the peace.

As part of his business dealings, he had offered General Thomas Gage, then in command of British forces in New York City, facilities and lumber for military use.

Gage had been uninterested at the time, letting Hazen know that he would keep the offer in mind, if the need for military movements became necessary in the area.

Hazen has expanded the business of the seigneuries, but his aggressive development has also incurred debts, which has caused friction with Christie.

In 1770, Christie, unhappy with the debts, eventually demands an accounting.

This ultimately leads to a division of the holdings, with Hazen receiving the southern portion of the Bleury seigneurage, styled Bleury-Sud.

Hazen and Christie will be and out of court for years afterward over control of these lands; Christie will eventually win complete control over those lands after the American Revolution.

In 1762 Hazen's brother John had settled Haverhill, New Hampshire, in the far north of that province on the east side of the Connecticut River, and in 1764 Jacob Bayley had settled Newbury, in what is now Vermont, across the river from Haverhill.

Hazen has shares in both of these settlements; he has also acquired land west of the Connecticut River in what is now Bradford, Vermont.

It was at this time that the idea of constructing a road from there to Saint-Jean was first raised; this idea will surfaced again during the American Revolutionary War, when George Washington authorizes construction of what became known as the Bayley Hazen Military Road.

His land developments continued to grow in 1764 when he joined the Saint John River Society, and organization created by a group of military officers for the purpose of developing land along the Saint John River, at this time in Nova Scotia (now New Brunswick).

His coinvestors include Thomas Gage, Frederick Haldimand, William Johnson, and Thomas Hutchinson.

In the fall of 1770 Hazen marries Charlotte de la Saussaye, a woman from a good family in Montreal.

They settle near Saint-Jean, where they build a house and begin farming.