Edgar W. Hayes, a prominent member of the Macoupin County
bar, a surviving hero of the Civil War, and a leading business citizen of
Bunker Hill, was born in 1837 in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and is a son
of David and Nancy (Colwell) Hayes.
The Hayes family was founded in
1728 in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, by Patrick Hayes, who came from the
North of Ireland. His son David was born there and served as an officer in
the Revolutionary War. Wilson Hayes, son of David Hayes and grandfather of
our subject, was also born in Pennsylvania where he reared his family. His
son, David, the father of Edgar W., was born in Franklin County, where he
died in 1877, aged 67 years, leaving a large estate. In his early political
life he was a Whig and later became a Republican. Both he and his wife were
members of the Presbyterian Church. His marriage to Nancy Colwell, a
daughter of John and Nancy Colwell, allied him with an old and prominent
Cumberland County family, whose ancestry and religious leanings were the
same as his own. Our subject is the eldest of his parents' family, as
follows: Edgar W.; Mrs. Martha Orr of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; John C., a
retired farmer of Litchfield, Illinois; James Hamilton, who died in 1868 in
Madison County; David D., a physician of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania; Robert
A., who died in July, 1889, at that time being principal of a school;
Elizabeth, who married Benjamin M. Need, a lawyer of Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania; and Joseph S., a farmer residing in the vicinity of Bunker
Hill.
Edgar W. Hayes was reared on his father's farm and was given
excellent educational advantages, including an academic course at
Shippensburg and a classical course at Lafayette College, at Easton, where
he was graduated in 1858. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was engaged in
teaching school. In May, 1861, he enlisted for the service of his country,
and was connected with Company A, 7th Pennsylvania Reserve, of which Colonel
Harvey of Wilkesbarre was the first colonel. It was his fortune to be
associated with that branch of the army upon which fell much of the hard
work and danger of the great struggle, and he participated in the battles of
Yorktown, the Second Battle of Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam and
Fredericksburg. His regiment was with General McClellan in the Peninsular
campaign. An attack of typhoid fever closed his army career and he was
discharged for disability, after a most arduous and faithful service of two
and a half years.
After regaining his health, Mr. Hayes entered upon
the reading of law with Caldwell & McClure, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and
in the fall of 1865 was admitted to the bar. After two years of practice in
Missouri, he removed in 1867 to Bunker Hill, Macoupin County, where he has
been identified with a number of business enterprises. He was one of the
directors in the nail factory, which at one time was one of the important
industries of the place, and was also a director of the cemetery
association, and for a number of years was president of the School Board. He
is a man of great public spirit and the town owes much to his activity in
advancing its interests. In politics he is a Republican, which party would
be glad to honor him with office, were it not in the minority.
In
1870 Mr. Hayes married Margaret F. Heck, daughter of Jacob and Margaret
(Sturgeon) Heck, and they have had six children, of whom five survive: Edgar
H., of Bunker Hill, who is being educated in the law school at Valparaiso,
Indiana; Mrs. Margaret G. Grant of Staunton, Illinois, who has three
children,— Charles, Margaret and Ralph H.; Mrs. Bertha Sanford, who has one
child, Edgar Noble; Ralph H., who is clerking in Bunker Hill; and Joseph A.,
who is still in high school. Mr. Hayes and family belong to the
Congregational Church.
Fraternally Mr. Hayes is a valued member of
the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to J. M. Hubbard Post, No. 721, of
Bunker Hill. He is a man of acknowledged ability, with mind enlarged and
broadened by travel. His vacations have been spent in various parts of the
Union, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and one interesting trip took him
to Panama, Central America. He is held in very high esteem in Bunker Hill
and is considered one of the representative men of this progressive little
city.
Extracted 2018 May 05 by Norma Hass from Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Macoupin County, Illinois, published in 1904, pages 70-72.
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