BIOGRAPHIES:  Washington Ezekiel HAYES, Durand, Pepin Co., WI

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Submitted by Nance Sampson, Pepin Co. Archives File Manager on 19 November 2004
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**Posted for informational purposes only - submitter is not related to the
subject of this biography and has no further information.

Washington Ezekiel Hayes, machinist, Durand, was born at Sommersworth,
now Great Falls, N. H., December 28, 1824, a son of Ezekiel and Lydia
(Foss) Hayes.  Two brothers named Hayes, of English and Irish blood,
came to America at a very early date.  One of them settled in
Pennsylvania and the other, whose name is supposed to have been
Hezekiah, settled in Vermont.  One of his descendants, Ezekial Hayes,
Sr., grandfather of our subject, was married at Rochester, N. H.  His
wife, Sarah, who was probably born in that state, died there at the age
of ninety-three.  Their children were:  Lydia (Mrs. Holbrook), Daniel,
Sarah (Mrs. H. Hayes), Watson, Dudley, Abigail (Mrs. Bickford),
Mehitable (Mrs. Curry), Richard, Ezekiel Jr., Hannah (a maiden lady),
and two others, who died in childhood.  Ezekiel Jr. was born at
Rochester, April 10, 1800, and died at Dover, N. H., in June 1880.  He
was a machinist and mill-wright by trade, and superintended the
building of the first cotton mill at Great Falls.  Mrs. Lydia Hayes was
born at Dover and died at Tuscola, Mich., about 1869.  Her mother, Mrs.
Lydia Foss, was an English woman.  Ezekiel Hayes Jr. had five children:
Washington E. (the subject of this sketch), Charles, Elizabeth (Mrs. J.
Crockett), John and Lydia (Mrs. A. Dickson).

Our subject attended the common school and Concord academy.  At the
age of eight years he began to spend his leisure time in his father's
shop, and by the time he was full grown had become an expert machinist.
At the age of nineteen he left home and worked in machine shops at
Portsmouth and Lowell, whence he went to Boston, where he followed his
vocation and was married June 8, 1846, to Miss Abigail, daughter of
Richard W. and Lois (Johnson) Read, natives of Vermont.  Mrs. Hayes'
grandfather, Silas Read, married a daughter of Col. Wallace, a
Revolutionary soldier, who swam across Lake Champlain with important
dispatches, at the peril of his life.  Mrs. Lydia Wallace was famous as
a doctor and nurse during and after the war.  Mr. and Mrs. Hayes have
been blessed with seven children, the youngest of whom is now deceased:
Charles, Helen (Mrs. D. Thompson), Frank E., Hattie T. (Mrs. G. Barry),
Bertha (Mrs. M. K. Van Hoesen), Carrie (Mrs. Dr. H. M. Read) and Richard.

Mr. and Mrs. Hayes first lived at Portsmouth and later at Dover, N. H.
In 1849 Mr. Hayes went to California via Cape Horn.  He was engaged in
mining and prospecting for about two years, and, meeting with good
success, he resolved to bring his family thither.  Returning via
Nicaragua, the vessel on which he sailed stopped for a few days at
Mobile, Ala.  Yellow fever was then raging in that city, and after
resuming the voyage, all on board were stricken with the scourge.  Mr.
Hayes succeeded in reaching home, barely alive, in November, 1852, and
upon his recovery abandoned the idea of removing to California and went
to Northampton, Mass., where he was employed in railroad shops.  In
1856 he went to Minneapolis with the machinery for a saw-mill, which he
started there.  IN 1857 he came on a like errand to Durand and set up
the first mill here.  Being pleased with the country, he brought his
family the following year and engaged in lumbering.  He also built
several steamboats, and operated one for awhile.  In October, 1864, he
enlisted in Company A, First Minnesota heavy artillery.  He was
stationed at Chattanooga, where his skill was used in building and
repairing locomotives.  After the war he built a machine shop at
Durand, which he carried on until 1878, when it burned down.  The
following year he removed to Woodville, Mich., and became supervisor
and master mechanic for the West Michigan Lumber Company.  In 1889 he
returned to his farm in Durand township, which he has since been
engaged in improving.  Mr. Hayes has been a member of the republican
party since 1864; he also belongs to the order of A. F. and A. M., and
enjoys the respect and friendship of all who know him.  Mrs. Hayes is a
member of the Congregational church.

-Transcribed from the "Historical & Biographical Album of the Chippewa
Valley Wisconsin, 1891-2," pages 494-495.


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