Gay Hayden (April 9, 1819 – May 14, 1902) of

Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

was a prominent Oregon pioneer who owned a significant portion of what is now the city of Vancouver including properties previously owned by

Esther Short Esther Clark Short (December 24, 1806June 28, 1862) was an early American settler of what would become the State of Washington. She was a founder of the City of Vancouver, Washington. Part of her land bequeath became Esther Short Park, which is ...

.''The Pacific reporter'', Volume 94, West Publishing Co., St. Paul, pp. 909–911 Additionally, Hayden owned all of or part of what is now

Hayden Island Hayden Island is an island in the Columbia River between Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The wide main channel of the Columbia (and the Washington–Oregon state line) passes north of the island. To the south, sheltered by the islan ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, which is named in his memory.McArthur, Lewis A.
''Oregon Geographic Names'', Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 3
(September., 1926), Oregon Historical Society, pp. 295–363. Hayden arrived in the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Ori ...

in 1850 with his wife

Mary Jane Hayden Mary J. Hayden (born ''Mary Jane Bean''; 1830 in Athens, Maine) spent her early childhood with her grandparents in the town of Cornville, Maine. In 1845, Hayden emigrated with her parents to the wilds of Wisconsin, where in 1847, she met and marr ...

, whom he met in the wilds of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and married in 1847. In 1851, after settling on what would become known today as Hayden Island, he built a grand home and lived on the island for five years with his wife

.Hayden, Gay
Access Genealogy. 2010-06-13.
Accessed: 2010-06-13.
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On March 10, 1886, Gay Hayden and Mary Jane Hayden separated and divided their property in court, from that point on each handling their own real estate and financial affairs. Hayden died

intestate Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having in force a valid will or other binding declaration. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estat ...

in May 1902.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayden, Gay Oregon pioneers People from Vancouver, Washington 1902 deaths People from Wisconsin People from Clark County, Washington People from Multnomah County, Oregon 1819 births American pioneers