Newspaper clipping re Moses Hezelwood

The Late Mr. Moses Hezelwood:

In consequence of an incorrect notice of our late venerable townsman having appeared in a contemporary, we are requested to insert in our columns the following brief but well authenticated account.

"Recently, we had to record the death of our long esteemed fellow townsman, Mr. Moses Hezelwood, at the very advanced age of 90 years. Mr. Hezelwood was amongst the first of our tradesmen at the opening of the present century, when he carried on the business of cabinet maker on the premises at the foot of Golden Lion Bank. He was a man of unflinching temperament, whether in trade, patriotism, or amusement, and as active and athletic as any of his contemporaries. Taking a great interest at all times in movements of a political character, he caused himself to be enrolled a volunteer, when the movement in 1803 first originated the body. HIs aptitude for drill and manly bearing soon won for him a Sergeantcy. His interest and exertions in governmental elections, even up to the very last, was most noticeable. In 1812 he became a master mason, as his certificate now before us shows, and at the time of his death was the oldest in the town, and the oldest of the Lodge to which he belonged, excepting perhaps, one member, now a non-resident. As a walker and follower of the piscatory art, too, he was unrivalled int the district, having accomplished, in respect to the first, 70 miles in a single day. As a fisherman, rising before the dawn, he was to be met by the beckside, or wading up to his middle in the Esk, and seldom failed to secure both b y his diligence and expertness in casting the fly, a basket of fish. Some years ago he retired from business, and spent the remainder of his days in a house in Bagdale. As an illustration of his longevity, and to show how long such lives seem to us by comparison, we may say that he was 38 years of age when Waterloo was fought; that he enjoyed a married life of 32 years, and has been 32 years a widower. In conclusion, we may just say, that he was carried to his last resting place in Sneaton Church-yard, on Thursday the 20th ult., his remains attended by two surviving daughters and many townsmen and brother masons who recognized his worth. Finally, we may remark in contrast to Longfellow's idea, `Lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives sublime,' that lives of such men also show us, how, without the qualification of greatness, we may spend our days honourably, actively, and usefully."