Hays Family of Gilmer County, West Virginia Papers
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 2734
Papers of the Hays family of Gilmer County, West Virginia, centering on Peregrine Hays and his son Samuel Hays. The collection includes Civil War related material; correspondence; financial, business, and legal records; and other material. The Civil War material includes a receipt for the sale of enslaved Africans, military orders, and records of financial transactions made in Confederate currency. The correspondence within the collection includes personal letters between members of the Hays family as well as correspondence with friends and acquaintances. The financial, business, and legal records within the collection include material regarding Peregrine Hay's postbellum financial difficulties. See "Historical Note" for further information.
English
No special access restriction applies.
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
Peregrine Hays (1819-1903) was born in Harrison County (West) Virginia to Samuel L. and Roana Arnold Hays. Samuel L. Hays was a member of the Virginia Legislature for several years and served one term in Congress during the 1841-1842 session. During this time he secured the appointment of Thomas J. Jackson ("Stonewall" Jackson) to West Point. He was instrumental in the establishment of Gilmer County in 1845. He also attended the convention that amended the state constitution in 1850.
Peregrine Hays lived in Harrison County until 1833, when his family moved to Lewis County. He was a schoolmate of Thomas J. Jackson. 1n 1849, he married Louisa A. A. Sexton of French Creek, (West) Virginia, who was the daughter of Augustus and Anna L. Sexton. The couple had six children: Mary or "Mollie" (b. 1850); George Warren (b. 1851); Annie Roana (b. 1854); John B. Floyd (b. 1956); Napolieon B. F. or "French" (b. 1858); and Samuel A. (b. 1861).
Peregrine served as sheriff of both Gilmer and Calhoun counties during his life and was instrumental in having a state normal school located at Glenville in Gilmer County. He fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War and served for one year, under the command of "Stonewall" Jackson.
The youngest son, Samuel Augustus Hays, attended Glenville State Normal School and West Virginia University, graduating in 1878 and 1884, respectively. He practiced law at Glenville for ten years and then entered the timber industry. He was appointed collector of internal revenue for the district of West Virginia in 1913 and served until 1921. He remained active in finance and business.
Further information concerning the Hays family, including census data, can be found in the control folder for this collection. For additional biographical information and papers, see A&M 1561, Series I, Box 1.
0.4 Linear Feet (Summary: 5 in. (1 document case, 5 in.))
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / Fax: 304-293-3981 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
One issue of the Daily Richmond Enquirer, dated 1856 February 13, has been separated to the unbound newspaper boxes.
Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository