Biography - E. W. HAYES

A successful member of the Macoupin county bar is E. W. Hayes, who for the past forty-four years has been a resident of Bunker Hill. He was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, on the 30th of January, 1837, and is of Irish extraction, being a direct descendant of David Hayes, who with his brothers emigrated to America prior to the Revolution. He first settled in the vicinity of Dauphin, Pennsylvania, and some years afterward with his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Wilson, removed to Franklin county, that state. That section, which was then considered far removed from the centers of civilization, was just beginning to be settled by the whites. They located on a farm in South Hampton township, where they spent the remainder of their lives and that property remained in the family for two generations thereafter. It was the birthplace of Wilson Hayes, to whom it descended upon the death of his father. He continued to engage in the cultivation of the land, on which he spent practically his entire life, until his death at the age of seventy-two years. For his wife Wilson Hayes chose Miss Mary Culbertson, who was also of Irish extraction and like himself a faithful and earnest member of the Presbyterian church. Six children were born of this union, the old homestead becoming the property of the eldest, David, after the father passed away. He operated the land for many years and then, disposing of it, removed to Shippensbury, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, where he was living at the time of his demise at the age of sixty-seven years. He married Nancy Cowell, a native of Cumberland county, and they became the parents of six sons and two daughters, all of whom lived to attain maturity. The mother also passed away in Cumberland county.

The boyhood and youth of E. W. Hayes were as uneventful and unvaried in their routine as those of the majority of lads who are reared on a farm. He acquired his early education in the common schools of his native state, after the completion of which he entered Lafayette College at Easton, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated. He then taught two years in an academy at Dickinson, Pennsylvania. When the call came for troops he was one of the first to respond, going to the front as a private in Company A, Seventh Pennsylvania Reserves, which formed a part of the Army of the Potomac. He saw much active service, participating in both battles of Bull Run, that of Antietam and Fredericksburg, as well as many of lesser importance. Although he was in the thick of many closely contested skirmishes and battles he was never wounded, but he did contract typhoid fever, finally being discharged on account of disability. He returned home much broken in health and after he had recovered sufficiently resumed his law studies, entering the office of R. P. McClure, and was admitted to the bar in 1865. Two years later he took up his residence in Illinois, locating at Bunker Hill, where he has since made his home. He has ever been a credit to his profession, both as a student and in his methods of practice, and is held in high regard by his fellow members of the bar, wherever he is known.

In Franklin county, Pennsylvania, April 13, 1870, Mr. Hayes married Miss Margaret F. Heck, who was born in Shippensbury, Cumberland county, on the 18th of July, 1848. Mrs. Hayes is a daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Sturgeon) Heck, the father of Dutch extraction and the mother of Scotch-Irish. To Mr. and Mrs. Hayes were born six children: Margaret G., Bertha, Edgar H., Ralph H. and Joseph A., all living; and Alma, deceased.

The family were reared in the Congregational faith, of which church both Mr. and Mrs. Hayes are members. He is a stanch republican and was twice nominated for county judge but was defeated because of the overwhelming democratic majority at the time. He is an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic and always takes a helpful interest in all organizations which will in any way improve local conditions or elevate the standard of the community, having nearly always been officially connected with such. He has ever been loyal and public-spirited, his high ideals of citizenship making his influence felt throughout the community.

Extracted 15 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Macoupin County, Illinois: Biographical and Pictorial, by Charles A. Walker, published in 1911, Volume 2, pages 358-361.