William Allen Hayes (1783-1851) Noted Maine judge b. North Yarmouth

Description: [MAINE] William Allen Hayes (1783-1851) Noted Maine judge and lawyer, born in North Yarmouth, Hayes had attended Dartmouth, where he was said to have ridden on horseback from Maine with all his possessions in his saddlebags. He graduated with honors in 1805. He then studied with Dudley Hubbard as well as with lawyers Ezekiel Whitman and Artemas Ward of Charlestown, Massachusetts, and was admitted to the Middlesex, Massachusetts, Bar in 1809. Hayes opened an office in South Berwick village above the Parks Store with local attorney Charles Northend Cogswell. At the time, the center of South Berwick was in transition, shifting in location from near the Salmon Falls River to its present site along Main and Portland Streets, the route that was part of a developing stagecoach turnpike between Boston and Portland. Of the Hayes and Cogswell law firm, the History of York County said, “It proved a most successful partnership, both being of high intellectual endowments and large business capacity. It is said that for many years more business was done in their office than in any other in the county.” Cogswell died in 1846. Hayes was judge of probate from 1828 to 1847, and served as president of the South Berwick Bank and of the York County Bar for more than 25 years. In 1841 he became an investor in South Berwick's first railroad line, the Great Falls and South Berwick Branch Railroad Company, and he owned shares in the woolen mill at Great Works. He was also a leader of the First Parish Church. Judge Hayes is believed to have acquired considerable property in the interior of the town. He “had the instincts of an English country squire,” later wrote Sarah Orne Jewett, “and lived like one on his great estate, bringing up his handsome sons and daughters to be ladies and gentlemen, to walk and to speak as ladies and gentlemen should, and to be self-respecting and respectful of others.” In the 20th century, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts acquired mahogany chairs from Hayes House that were perhaps made by Langley Boardman of Portsmouth or by a South Berwick craftsman. The museum's research found the Hayes family furnished their south sitting room with “a Franklin stove, a piano, two card tables, a variety of seating furniture, plants, and portraits of Mrs. Hayes and the Judge.” Portraits of Judge Hayes and his wife are thought perhaps to have been painted by the New England artist Joseph Greenleaf Cole (1806 - 1858). In 1811 Hayes married Susan Lord (c. 1790-1870), the only daughter of merchant and ship-owner Gen. John Lord. The couple and their children were among those greeting General Lafayette on his 1825 visit to the Frost Tavern on Main Street. “The citizens were introduced to the General in the parlor of the Hotel,” recalled Sophia Hayes Goodwin years later. “My father acted as master of ceremonies and I remember my pride in his easy address. I remember my father wore a claret colored frock coat – which displayed his remarkably handsome person to great advantage. But I was half ashamed when he brought up my sister Hetta and myself and introduced us as his children, though I was partially assured when the General complimented him upon having so interesting a family.” In 1960 Berwick Academy became a private boarding school, and in 1966 it bought the Hayes House. The Judson Dunaway Foundation provided a $50,000 grant to convert it to a dormitory known as Dunaway. In 1974 the academy became a country day school and the house a headmaster's residence. Today the Hayes House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Offered here is a Folded Stampless Letter, South Berwick [Maine], 1847, 1p. Address leaf on verso. To the clerk of the court at Alfred, Maine, concerns a legal matter. Picture of Hayes showing is not offered here. VG.

Price: 35 USD

Location: Wells, Maine

End Time: 2025-01-11T23:04:57.000Z

Shipping Cost: 3 USD