Attorney and legislator Benjamin Franklin Hayes of Medford Massachusetts and Berwick Maine

Benjamin Franklin Hayes (July 3, 1836 – January 31, 1901) was an American judge, state representative, and state senator from

Medford, Massachusetts Medford is a city northwest of downtown Boston on the Mystic River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus alo ...

Biography

Hayes was born in

Berwick, Maine Berwick is a town in York County, Maine, United States, situated in the southern part of the state beside the Salmon Falls River. Today's South Berwick was set off from Berwick in 1814, North Berwick in 1831. The population was 7,950 at th ...

on July 3, 1836, to Frederick and Sarah (Hurd) Hayes, active

Free Will Baptists Free Will Baptists are a group of General Baptist denominations of Christianity that teach free grace, free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the 1600s with the development of General Baptism in England. Its formal est ...

. He attended the

New Hampton School New Hampton School is an independent college preparatory high school in New Hampton, New Hampshire, United States. It has 305 students from over 30 states and 22 countries. The average class size is eleven, and the student-faculty ratio is five t ...

and then studied the law for a year with Wade & Eastman in Great Falls, New Hampshire in 1859-60 before entering the

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

. He was admitted to the

Suffolk County, Massachusetts Suffolk County is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 797,936, making it the fourth-most populous county in Massachusetts. The county comprises the cities of Boston, Chel ...

bar in 1861 while still in law school and then worked for Baker & Sullivan in Boston and lived in Medford. From 1862 to 1873 Hayes served as a Middlesex County trial justice. From 1864 to 1870 he served as assistant U.S. revenue assessor, and from 1868 to 1871 served on the Medford school board. He was elected a state representative from 1872 to 1874; and then state senator from 1878 to 1879. In 1892 he worked on the commission to create and obtain a city charter for Medford, and served as the first city solicitor until his death. Starting in 1869 he served as a trustee and board member of Medford Savings bank and later president starting in 1899. He also served in the

Lawrence Rifles The Lawrence Rifles were a volunteer Union militia company from Medford, Massachusetts that was formed during the American Civil War. It was created by Governor John A. Andrew on January 27, 1865 and was first made part of the 5th Massachusetts Mili ...

militia."Dartmouth College Necrology, 1900-1901"
Hanover, N.H. His brothers

Frederick Hayes Frederick Hayes (1842-1911) was an American military officer, Union Army engineer, and early manager of Pfizer who served in the American Civil War and was awarded a Medal of Honor. Frederick Hayes, Jr. was born in Berwick, Maine in 1842 to Sarah ...

and Dr.

John Alfred Hayes John Alfred Hayes (1839–1913) was a notable Union Army surgeon and officer during the American Civil War and later a physician in New Hampshire. John Alfred Hayes was born in Berwick, Maine, to a Sarah (Hurd) Hayes and Frederick Hayes, a large ...

, a surgeon, were notable Civil War veterans. Benjamin Franklin Hayes died at his home in Medford on January 31, 1901.

References

People from Medford, Massachusetts Harvard Law School alumni 1836 births 1901 deaths Massachusetts state senators Massachusetts state court judges New Hampton School alumni {{Massachusetts-MARepresentative-stub

Biography

See also

References