Capt. Charles C. Hays Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1017-1018 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and 
	was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				CAPTAIN CHARLES C. HAYS. 

	Captain Charles C. Hays is an honored veteran of the Civil war 
and one of the pioneer settlers of Sanborn county, where he still has 
important farming interests, although since 1886 he has maintained his 
residence in Woonsocket. He was born at Beech Creek, Pennsylvania, May 
25, 1835, and has therefore passed the eightieth milestone on the 
journey of life. His father, Samuel Hays, was a native of Pennsylvania 
and a son of Captain James Hays, who served in the Colonial wars, was 
appointed first lieutenant and in 1776 served in the Revolutionary war 
with the rank of captain. He received his lieutenant's commission when 
but seventeen years of age. Three of his brothers also served in the 
Revolutionary war in a company in Benjamin Franklin's regiment. John 
Hays, the great-grandfather of our subject, came from Donegal, Ireland, 
in 1730 and settled in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. For many years 
representatives of the family were connected with the leather business 
in Pennsylvania. Captain James Hays was given three land grants, one in 
Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, one in Clinton county, 
Pennsylvania, and one in Kentucky. He established the family homestead 
in Clinton county and there Captain Charles C. Hays was born and 
reared. The mother of the last named was in her maidenhood Susanna 
Smith, a daughter of Gideon Smith, of Scotch descent. By her marriage 
she became the mother of nine children, four sons and five daughters, 
only one daughter of whom died under seventy years of age. 

	Captain Charles C. Hays, who was the eighth in order of birth and 
is now the only survivor of the family, was educated in the public 
schools of Pennsylvania and at Lombard University in Galesburg, 
Illinois. When his textbooks were put aside he began farming and 
followed that occupation until after the outbreak of the Civil war, 
when his patriotic spirit was aroused by the attempt of the south to 
overthrow the Union and he enlisted January 1, 1862, as a member of the 
Seventh Illinois Cavalry. He served with that command until 1865, being 
mustered out on the 4th of November at Nashville, Tennessee. He served 
throughout the war in the Union army under Generals Grant, Thomas and 
Sherman, participated in the siege and battle of Corinth and in the 
engagements at Iuka, New Madrid, Franklin, Nashville and the Grierson 
raid. He entered the service as a private, was advanced to the position 
of noncommissioned orderly sergeant and on the 4th of November, 1864, 
was promoted to the captaincy as a reward for conspicuous bravery in 
action. He was captured at Somerville, Tennessee, but escaped while 
crossing the Tallahatchie river. He was wounded slightly several times 
but never totally incapacitated and he remained a faithful defender of 
the old flag until the stars and stripes were planted in the capital of 
the Confederacy. 

	Following the close of the war Captain Hays established a grocery 
store at Prairie City, Illinois, and in 1876 he was elected sheriff of 
McDonough county. which position he filled for two years. In 1879 he 
removed to Blanchard, Iowa, where he engaged in the hardware business 
for three years, and in 1882 he came to Dakota territory, taking up a 
claim in Sanborn county, where he has since resided. Through all the 
passing years he has been numbered among its representative and valued 
citizens. In 1886 he was elected treasurer of Sanborn county for a term 
of four years. He has always followed farming, although maintaining his 
residence in Woonsocket since 1886, and he is the owner of three 
hundred and twenty acres of valuable land in Sanborn county which he 
has brought to a high state of cultivation, the place being devoted to 
the raising of grain. He has also made many substantial improvements 
upon his farm and from that property derives a most gratifying annual 
income. 

	Captain Hays has been married twice. On the 21st of December, 
1865, he wedded Miss Mattie Loughry, by whom he had three children, 
namely: Thaddeus S., who was a banker in Armstrong, Iowa, and passed 
away in that city, August 25, 1904; Sidney C., who succeeded his 
brother in the banking business at Armstrong; and Frances, a graduate 
of Blairsville College of Pennsylvania, who is now teaching Latin in a 
high school at Joplin, Missouri. The wife and mother passed away on the 
13th of May, 1881, and on the 2d of November, 1887, Captain Hays was 
again married, his second union being with Mrs. Julia Gordon, who bore 
the maiden name of Julia Young and is a native of Warren county, 
Illinois. Her parents were John and Catherine (Ehrhardt) Young, the 
former born in Baden, Germany, and the latter in Alsace-Lorraine. At 
the time of the death of John Young, which occurred November 14, 1908, 
when he had attained the age of ninety-eight years, he was the oldest 
Odd Fellow in the United States. 

	Captain Hays is a republican in his political views and his 
religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church, in which he is now 
serving as a member of the board of trustees in the church at 
Woonsocket. He is a stalwart champion of the cause of temperance, is 
equally earnest in his advocacy of good roads and in fact gives earnest 
allegiance to any movement which he believes will be of general 
benefit. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and for six terms 
served as commander of McArthur Post, No. 25. While he is now well 
advanced in years, in spirit and interests he seems yet in his prime 
and keeps in touch with the progressive thought and movements of the 
day. His life has been one of activity and usefulness in which he has 
contributed to the advancement of many plans for the material, 
intellectual, social and moral progress of his community, while in all 
matters of citizenship he has been as true and loyal to his country as 
when he followed the old flag upon the battlefields of the south.