Hazel Alberta Atkins
The Legacy of the Founders: Hazel Alberta Hansen of Seneca, Missouri
Hazel Alberta Atkins was born on January 22, 1902, in Pendleton, Oregon, at the dawn of the 20th century. Her father, Herbert "Bert" Atkins, was 28, and her mother, Harriett “Hattie” Box, was 24. Hazel’s family roots reached deep into Missouri history—her great-grandfather Edward Sherer was one of the original five settlers of Seneca, Missouri, in 1833. By 1910, the Atkins family was living in Seneca, where Hazel spent her formative years. She grew up during a time of immense change in America: automobiles were replacing horse-drawn wagons, rural electrification was slowly reaching small towns, and aviation was beginning to capture the public imagination.
When Hazel was 14, she joined a local project in which teenagers sent sewing kits to U.S. troops serving on the Mexican border. Against the rules, she slipped her address into one of the kits. The young soldier who received it—Carl Theodor Hansen—wrote back with a thank-you note. Their correspondence blossomed into a friendship, then a courtship, and finally marriage. On December 3, 1919, Hazel, age 17, married Carl in Neosho, Missouri. Carl was 36 at the time, nearly twice her age. Their wedding came just over a year after the end of World War I, as the nation entered the prosperous but turbulent “Roaring Twenties.”
The couple built a family together during that decade. Their children were Carl T. (1921), Donald Max (1923), Mary Paul (1927), and Robert (1928). During these years, Carl Sr. worked as a traveling nurseryman for Stark Brother’s Nursery, while Hazel managed the household. They lived for a time in Neosho, just twelve miles from Seneca. Later, Carl took a position with the cement company in Chanute, Kansas, where the family lived for several years—Mary Paul and Robert were both born there. Life in the Midwest during the 1920s and 1930s was shaped by agricultural struggles, drought, and economic pressures that would eventually culminate in the Great Depression.
On February 16, 1938, tragedy struck when Carl died at the age of 53. Hazel was only 36 and left to raise four children during the height of the Great Depression, a time when jobs were scarce and many families barely survived. Despite the hardship, she showed remarkable resilience. She remained in Chanute until the children finished the school year, then returned to Seneca, where she rented a stone house from her cousin Frank Buzzard, a descendant of another founding family.
Hazel supported her family by working for Dr. John Roberts, the only physician in Seneca, serving as his nurse for more than 30 years. She became well known in the community for her skill, compassion, and tireless care for those in need. Her role reflected a wider pattern of women stepping into new responsibilities during the Depression and wartime years, filling roles that had once been occupied by men.
When she was in her 60's, Hazel endured another extraordinary trial. While blackberry picking with her young granddaughter Lori, she was bitten by a timber rattlesnake. She somehow managed to drive herself back to town but arrived gravely ill and temporarily blinded. The local undertaker’s hearse, which doubled as the town ambulance, carried her to the hospital. Doctors determined it was a large rattler, and though they packed her blackened leg in ice and attempted multiple skin grafts in the years that followed, the wound never fully healed. For the rest of her life she lived with an open wound on her ankle, yet she carried on, undeterred, for three more decades. Family and faith were Hazel’s anchors. She was a devoted member of the Baptist church and even served as the keeper of the town cemetery map. She also played a leading role in preserving Seneca’s history, helping establish the Seneca Historical Committee and co-authoring Seneca, Missouri—Little Town on the Border (Vol. I). She loved telling her children and grandchildren stories about her own childhood—traveling by wagon from Oregon to Missouri, visiting relatives in Fairland, and meeting Native Americans in town with names like Turkey Foot and Shaknasty. Hazel was also an avid gardener. She especially loved ferns and flowers, and her yard was always full of them. She passed that love to her children and grandchildren—teaching them to can vegetables, tend tomatoes, and pick green beans. Sundays after church, the extended family would gather at her house for dinner, followed by naps on the floor with full stomachs. Her granddaughter later recalled the extraordinary blessing of growing up with Hazel next door, describing Hazel as her mentor, teacher, and best friend, a steady presence who shaped her values and faith. Incredibly, at the age of 96, while gardening, Hazel was bitten by a snake for a second time! Her new snakebite wound along with poor circulation caused an "ischemic necrosis of the right lower extremity" or gangrene. Doctors advised that an amputation was the only way to save her life. Hazel reasoned that she would never be able to tend her gardens with one leg. She said that she came into this life with two legs and that was the way she would leave. On March 7, 1998, Hazel Alberta Hansen passed away peacefully in Seneca at the age of 96. She had outlived her husband by sixty years, her mother Harriett (d. 1949), her father Bert (d. 1960), and her brother Donald (d. 1984). She left behind a large family, a well-loved community, and a legacy of faith, resilience, and love. Hazel lived nearly a full century, bridging the wagon-train era of her childhood with the modern world of space travel and computers. More importantly, she left an indelible mark on her family and community. She is remembered for her faith, her fortitude, her character, and her deep love of family—a solid and cherished presence whose influence is still felt by all who knew her.
When she was in her 60's, Hazel endured another extraordinary trial. While blackberry picking with her young granddaughter Lori, she was bitten by a timber rattlesnake. She somehow managed to drive herself back to town but arrived gravely ill and temporarily blinded. The local undertaker’s hearse, which doubled as the town ambulance, carried her to the hospital. Doctors determined it was a large rattler, and though they packed her blackened leg in ice and attempted multiple skin grafts in the years that followed, the wound never fully healed. For the rest of her life she lived with an open wound on her ankle, yet she carried on, undeterred, for three more decades. Family and faith were Hazel’s anchors. She was a devoted member of the Baptist church and even served as the keeper of the town cemetery map. She also played a leading role in preserving Seneca’s history, helping establish the Seneca Historical Committee and co-authoring Seneca, Missouri—Little Town on the Border (Vol. I). She loved telling her children and grandchildren stories about her own childhood—traveling by wagon from Oregon to Missouri, visiting relatives in Fairland, and meeting Native Americans in town with names like Turkey Foot and Shaknasty. Hazel was also an avid gardener. She especially loved ferns and flowers, and her yard was always full of them. She passed that love to her children and grandchildren—teaching them to can vegetables, tend tomatoes, and pick green beans. Sundays after church, the extended family would gather at her house for dinner, followed by naps on the floor with full stomachs. Her granddaughter later recalled the extraordinary blessing of growing up with Hazel next door, describing Hazel as her mentor, teacher, and best friend, a steady presence who shaped her values and faith. Incredibly, at the age of 96, while gardening, Hazel was bitten by a snake for a second time! Her new snakebite wound along with poor circulation caused an "ischemic necrosis of the right lower extremity" or gangrene. Doctors advised that an amputation was the only way to save her life. Hazel reasoned that she would never be able to tend her gardens with one leg. She said that she came into this life with two legs and that was the way she would leave. On March 7, 1998, Hazel Alberta Hansen passed away peacefully in Seneca at the age of 96. She had outlived her husband by sixty years, her mother Harriett (d. 1949), her father Bert (d. 1960), and her brother Donald (d. 1984). She left behind a large family, a well-loved community, and a legacy of faith, resilience, and love. Hazel lived nearly a full century, bridging the wagon-train era of her childhood with the modern world of space travel and computers. More importantly, she left an indelible mark on her family and community. She is remembered for her faith, her fortitude, her character, and her deep love of family—a solid and cherished presence whose influence is still felt by all who knew her.
Harriett "Hattie" Box and Bert Atkins
Hazel
Hazel's four children
Hazel, Candace and Ernie 1975
Click HERE to view letters that Carl sent Hazel