Harrison County, West Virginia Biography of Samuel A. HAYS This file was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 203 SAMUEL A. HAYS, a lawyer and business man of Parkers- burg, is a grandson of one of the earliest Congressmen from Western Virginia, and the family has been one of merited distinction in West Virginia for a century or more. His grandfather, Samuel L. Hays, was born in Harrison County, West Virginia, of Scotch ancestry, the original seat of the family having been in East Lammermoor, Scotland. This branch of the family settled in old Virginia before the Revolution. Samuel L. Hays spent his early life on Elks Creek, just above Clarksburg, and later moved to the mouth of Freeman's Creek, in what is now Lewis County. Though most of his active energies were expended on farming, he had the gift of eloquence and an unusual degree of prac- tical sense that made him a leader among his fellowmen and brought him some of the highest offices in their gift. He served as a member of the Virginia Legislature, and led a successful campaign against the gifted John Carlisle for Congress. This was before the Civil war and the creation of West Virginia. While in Congress he appointed the famous Stonewall Jackson to a cadetship in the West Point Military Academy. He then went to Minnesota, where he died. Samuel L. Hays was twice married. His second wife was an Arnold, of a prominent family of Lewis County. One of the children of the second marriage was Peregrine Hays, who was born in 1832. He was also a farmer, had an extensive business as a land dealer, and was elected and served in the State Legislature of Virginia and later as a member of the House of Delegates of West Virginia. While in the House of Delegates he was the prime mover in the creation of Gilmer and Calhoun counties, and served as sheriff of both these counties. He was also instrumental in having a state normal school located at Glenville in Gil- mer County. In stature he somewhat resembled his father, both being over six feet tall, though the elder Hays was spare in build while Peregrine had a most commanding presence. As a boy he was a school and playmate of Stone- wall Jackson, and served under that great leader in the Confederate Army. Peregrine Hays died in 1903. He mar- ried Louisa A. A. Sexton, and of their five children four are now living. One of these is Samuel Augustus Hays, who was named after his two grandfathers, and was born in Calhoun County, West Virginia, March 31, 1861. He attended the State Normal School at Glenville, graduating in 1878, and in 1884 graduated from the University of West Virginia. Mr. Hays practiced law at Glenville for ten years, and still main- tains a law office there. From the law his energies became absorbed in the timber business and in 1913 he was ap- pointed collector of internal revenue for the district of West Virginia, and moved to Parkersburg for his official term. He held that office until 1921. He is now a member of the firm of Hays & Gilkeson, stocks, bonds and commercial paper, and he is also president of the Wiant & Barr, Whole- sale Hardware Company and president of the Kanawha Union Bank at Glenville, West Virginia. Mr. Hays is a thirty-second degree Scottish Bite and Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, is a democrat and a member of the Presbyterian Church. He married Susan Adelaide Ewing, who died in 1891, leaving two children. The son, Matthew Ewing, died in 1918, at the age of twenty-nine. The daughter, Genevieve Maud, is the wife of Fred M. King, of Parkersburg.