Copyright 1999. Esther Katz. All rights reserved.
Lawyer and judge. Married Elizabeth G. Drake (1902), five children. Born and raised in Buffalo, Hazel was appointed U.S. District Judge for the Western District of New York by President William McKinley in 1900. In 1901 he administered the presidential oath to Theodore Roosevelt in Buffalo after the assassination of President William McKinley. In August 1914 Margaret Sanger was arraigned before Judge Hazel for her publication of The Woman Rebel. When Sanger asked for six weeks to prepare her case, Judge Hazel released her on her own recognizance. Sanger failed to appear at any of her scheduled court appearances and in November fled the country. Hazel retired from the bench in 1931, and joined the Buffalo law firm of Bean, Brooks, Buckley and Bean.