More on Rowland Hazard III

I am writing this letter because Hattie Beresford’s piece on Rowland Hazard III, while very interesting, was missing some vital information that was not included in her article. Of interest is Rowland Hazard III’s role in the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, and the connection of AA with the Hazard property down to this day.

Rowland III was sent to Switzerland to consult with Dr. Carl Jung for a possible solution to his severe alcoholism, and he returned there after a relapse. On his return Dr. Jung expressed that psychological methods did not work in a case like his, that only a spiritual solution would be the answer, so Rowland eventually ended up working with The Oxford Group in New York, from which Alcoholics Anonymous evolved.

Rowland III was instrumental in assuming responsibility for the release of a man named Ebby Thatcher from custody for alcoholism from the court system of New York, because of the Hazard family’s connections. Ebby Thatcher is the person that carried the message of recovery to his old drinking partner Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1934.

Dr. Jung’s circuitous, fascinating connection with the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, Rowland Hazard III, Ebby Thatcher, and Bill Wilson is detailed in letters between the Doctor and Wilson decades later in 1960. 

Fast forward to the late 1980s when a local drunk, and future member of Alcoholics Anonymous, was released from prison and taken in as a resident by the Mother Superior of the Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity, the owners of the Hazard Mansion in Mission Canyon, which was called St. Mary’s Retreat House at the time. The ex-convict started a meeting of AA on Monday nights which was held in the living room of St. Mary’s for many years where many alcoholics found the message of recovery. No profanity was allowed as the Sisters were often in earshot. 

When the Tea Fire happened The Monks of the Order of the Holy Cross took over the mansion, and the remaining Sisters moved back to their home base in Wisconsin.

Full circle, there is still an AA meeting to the present day in the small cottage on the Southwest corner of the Hazard Property that meets weekly for drunks seeking a solution to a seemingly hopeless condition.  

John Price Bolton, Santa Ynez