Collection Summary
Hay family
Hay Family papers
1799-1978 (bulk 1892-1945)
10031
3.12 cubic
ft. (6 boxes) + artifacts
University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.
English
The Hay family were ranchers and bankers in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Later generations were prominent in Gary, Indiana. Henry G. Hay III served in World War II. The collection includes correspondence, diaries (primarily of Henry G. Hay III) , and genealogical information.
Arrangement of the Collection
The Hay Family Papers are arranged in 9 series.
Series I. Correspondence, 1799-1960. .45 cubic ft. (1 document box). Arranged by generation.
Series II. Diaries, 1865-1978. .90 cubic ft. (2 document boxes). Arranged chronologically.
Series III. Personal papers, ca. 1870-1977. 10 files (in document box). Arranged by generation.
Series IV. Subject file: Cheyenne Club, 1881-1923. 1 file (in document box).
Series V. Newspaper clippings, 1886-1975. 6 files (in document box). Arranged by generation.
Series VI. Printed material, 1892-1965. .45 cubic ft.+ (1 document box, 1 oversize file). Arranged by subject.
Series VII. Certificates, 1874-1913. 1 oversize folder (in F24 box). Arranged chronologically.
Series VIII. Photographs, 1879-ca. 1959. 8 oversize folders (in F24 box). Arranged by generation.
Series IX. Artifacts, ca. 1800-1884. 5 items. No arrangement.
Hay Family BiographiesHenry Gurley Hay, Sr. was born October 31, 1847, in Indianapolis, Indiana, and educated at Vincennes University and Eastman Commercial College from which he graduated in 1866. He came to Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1870 when he was appointed a deputy U.S. surveyor. In 1874 he married Ella O. Bullock. Their children were Henry G. Hay, Jr. and Mildred Hay Foster Gibbs. Ella Bullock Hay died November 6, 1895, and Henry Sr. married Mary A. Seaboldt in 1903. Mary Seabolt Hay died in 1907.
In 1871 Henry Hay formed a sheep ranch, the Valley Ranch on Lone Tree Creek, Laramie County, in partnership with John B. Thomas. He formed a partnership with I.C. Whipple in 1875 to run a grocery business, and from 1881 to 1893 he was engaged in the range cattle business with I.C. Whipple. Hay, J.M. Carey, and Thomas Sturgis organized the Stock Growers National Bank in 1881, with Hay acting as cashier. Hay succeeded to the presidency of the bank on the death of Andrew Gilchrist during the financial panic of 1893. The Stock Growers Bank was one of the few Cheyenne banks to weather the panic of 1893. He was a member of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and a charter member of the Cheyenne Club.
Hay was a Republican, a member of the Wyoming State Constitutional Convention, and a commissioner from Wyoming to the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. He served as State Treasurer from 1895 to 1898 and was elected to the office again in 1903 but resigned to take the position of assistant treasurer of United States Steel Corporation in 1904. He died August 18, 1919, at Gary, Indiana.
Henry G. Hay, Jr. (1876-1959) married Bessie Robins on October 12, 1897. Their children were Henry G. Hay III and Helen Hay Pierrot. Henry Jr. moved to Gary, Indiana, in 1908 and organized the Gary State Bank, serving as its first president. He was treasurer of Gary public schools, city comptroller and superintendent of parks. He became Gary's sixth mayor, in 1929, after the resignation of Mayor Floyd E. Williams.
Henry G. Hay III (1900-1991) and his sister, Helen, were born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, but moved with their parents to Gary, Indiana, in 1906. During 1922 and 1923 Henry III made an extensive tour of Europe. In 1942 he was drafted into the army. His initial training occurred at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. From there he went to Officer's Training Camp at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, and he was then posted back to Ft. Bragg, as a lieutenant, for the duration of the war. He was married to Anne Curran on February 12, 1945, while still in the army. Near the end of the same year, he became a courier for the Classified Message Center of the Office of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combined Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C. After the war he and Anne moved to Denver, where Henry III engaged in the real estate business. They remained in the Denver area for the rest of their lives.
Scope and ContentThe Hay Family Papers, 1799-1978, include correspondence, diaries, photographs, personal papers, printed material, and artifacts, which document three generations of the Hay family, centering on Henry G. Hay (1847-1919), Henry G. Hay Jr. (1876-1959) and Henry G. Hay III (1900-1991).
The first Henry Gurley Hay was a Laramie County rancher and Cheyenne banker prominent in Wyoming business and politics. He was a member of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and a charter member of the Cheyenne Club. Most of the senior Hay's correspondence is from the years 1892 and 1893, and deals with the Johnson County War and its aftermath. Although Hay was not with the Johnson County invaders, his correspondence indicates that he was fully informed and entirely in sympathy with it.
Henry G. Hay, Jr. is the least well represented. He was primarily a Gary, Indiana, banker and politician. Most of the information on this second generation is found in the photographs and newspaper clippings.
The largest part of the collection deals with Henry G. Hay III. This information is in the form of letters to his parents and sister during his travels in Europe, and letters to his parents and wife while he was in the Army. During his 1922 to 1923 tour of Europe the parents of a travelling companion, Rowland Zimmerman, exchanged letters with Hay's parents. Copies of Zimmerman's letters are also in the collection. Hay also kept a diary during this tour, and he began keeping a diary again in 1942, which he continued until 1978.
Access Restrictions
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes,
and the collection is open to the public.
Copyright Information
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright,
property, and libel laws as they apply.
Related Materials
There are no known other archival collections created by Hay family at the date of processing.
Acquisition Information
This material was received from Mr. and Mrs. Henry G. Hay III and by Helen Hay Pierrot in June and July of 1982.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by D.C. Thompson in May of 1996.
Preferred Citation
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection
Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Access Terms
Hay, William, d. 1812
United States Steel Corporation.
Cattle trade--Wyoming.
Sheep industry--Wyoming.
Banks and banking--Wyoming--Cheyenne.
Johnson County War, 1892.
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.
Public officers--Wyoming.
Real estate business--Colorado.
Migrations, Internal--Indiana.
Migrations, Internal--Pennsylvania.
Wyoming--Politics and government.
Indiana--History.
Pennsylvania--History.
Fort David A. Russell (Wyo.)
Wyoming--History--1890-1918.
Diaries.
Scrapbooks.
Journals.
Correspondence.
Land Surveys.
<?xm-replace_text {Title as Subject}?>
Hay, Henry G., 1876-1959.
Hay, Henry G., 1900-
Hay, Henry Gurley, 1847-1919.
Hay, Henry Duffield, 1775-1844.
Business, Industry, Labor, and Commerce
Economics and Banking
Social Life and Customs
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Ranching
Wyoming
Container List
Series I. Correspondence
1799-1960
1
1
Letters of J.D. Hay to his father Col. William Hay of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania (photocopies of four letters taped into bound volume)
1799-1814
1
2
Letter of Ella O. Hay, Cheyenne, to Mr. Vance
Aug. 14, 1876
1
3
Correspondence of Henry G. Hay, Sr., regarding Johnson County War (photocopies are available for use in box; originals in safe)
1892-1893
1
4
Correspondence of Henry G. Hay, Sr.
1895-1916
1
5
Correspondence to Henry G. Hay, Jr.
1900-1919
1
6
Henry G. Hay Jr. to Louise Smith, Cheyenne, giving summary of life of Henry G. Hay, Sr.
June 9, 1940
1
7
Correspondence from Henry G. Hay III
1911, 1915
1
8
Correspondence from Henry G. Hay III, tour of Europe; includes copies of letters from Rowland Zimmerman
Sept. - Dec. 1922
1
9
Correspondence from Henry G. Hay III, tour of Europe; includes copies of letters from Rowland Zimmerman
Jan. - May 1923
1
10
Correspondence from Helen Hay Pierrot and husband, George Pierrot
1937-1940, 1942
1
11
Bulletins of George Pierrot, "Things I can't put in my letters," comments on Europe and the rise of the Nazis in Germany
1937-1938
1
12
J.F. Vordermark to Henry G. Hay III
1938
1
13
Correspondence from Henry G. Hay III, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Sill, Oklahoma
Aug. - Dec. 1942
1
14
Correspondence from Henry G. Hay III, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
1943
1
15
Correspondence from Henry G. Hay III, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Camp Forrest, Tennessee
1944
1
16
Correspondence from Henry G. Hay III, also includes undated enclosures (poems, etc.)
1944
1
17
Helen to Henry G. Hay III
Oct. 28, 1960
Series II. Diaries
1865-1978
2
1
Diary of Henry G. Hay, Sr., Economy, Pennsylvania
July - Aug., 1865
2
2
Diary of Henry G. Hay III, European trip
1922
2
3
Diary of Henry G. Hay III, European trip
1923
2
4
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Fort Bragg-Fort Sill-Fort Bragg
1942-1943
2
5
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Fort Bragg-Washington, D.C.
1944-1945
2
6
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Washington, D.C.-Virginia-Gary, Indiana
1946-1947
2
7
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Denver, Colorado
1948-1949
2
8
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Denver, Colorado
1950-1951
2
9
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Denver, Colorado
1952-1953
2
10
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Denver, Colorado
1954-1955
2
11
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Denver, Colorado
1956-1957
3
1
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Denver, Colorado
1958-1960
3
2
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Denver, Colorado
1961-1963
3
3
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Denver, Colorado
1964-1966
3
4
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Denver, Colorado
1967-1969
3
5
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Denver, Colorado
1970-1972
3
6
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Denver, Colorado
1973-1975
3
7
Diaries of Henry G. Hay III, Denver, Colorado
1976-1978
Series III. Personal Papers
circa 1870-1977
4
1
Genealogical Information, Hay and Axtell Families
1886, undated
4
2
Henry G. Hay, Sr., Field notes of survey of the boundary lines of the city of Cheyenne; Union Pacific ticket; bank note,
First National Bank of Guernsy (signed by Hay); Korein Temple membership card; resume
circa 1870, circa 1889, circa 1900, 1902, undated
4
3
Will of Ella O. Hay
1893
4
4
Henry G. Hay, Jr., thesis, "Property rights in water in the arid region"
1896
4
5
Henry G. Hay, Jr., Rotary club roster book
1896
4
6
Mildred Hay marriage announcement, marriage to Charles W. Foster
1903
4
7-8
Henry G. Hay III school paper, "A study of credit indices in the boot and shoe industry," (2 copies)
1922
4
9
Henry G. Hay III resume
circa 1947
4
10
History of the Hay clock, photocopies of letter from N.A.H. Maddox to Henry G. Hay, Jr.; reminiscences of the Hay clock by Henry G. Hay III
circa 1900, 1977
Series IV. Subject File: Cheyenne Club
1881-1923
4
11
Cheyenne Club, Copy of by-laws and list of members; extract from My Life on the Range, by John Clay; "History of the chamber of commerce building," by C.M. Potter.
1881, 1923, undated
Series V. Newspaper Clippings
1886-1975
4
12
Scrapbook
1886-1921
4
13
Financial Panic of 1893
1888-1893
4
14
Henry G. Hay, Sr., etc.
circa 1895-1922
4
15
Henry G. Hay, Jr., etc.
1892-1975
4
16
Henry G. Hay III, etc.
1929-1975
4
17
Clippings unrelated to Hay family
circa 1890- circa 1970
Series VI. Printed Material
1892-1965
5
1
Robert Morris Associates, Statement analysis; monthly bulletins; statement studies
1922, 1940s
5
2
Sixty years: A brief review of Wyoming cattle days, booklet by Dan W. Greenburg
1932
5
3
The life and letters of John Hay (2 volumes) by William Roscoe Thayer
1915
5
4
My Life on the Range, by John Clay, privately printed, Chicago
1924
5
5
Manual for the Holy Eucharist, Property of Henry Hay III
1911
5
6
The Server's Manual by Robert F. Lau, property of Henry Hay III
1916
6
1
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, containing article on the Johnson County War
June 2, 1892
6
2
Gary Tribune
Jan. 31, 1908
6
3
Gary Tribune
Sept. 23, 1910
6
4
Gary Post-Tribune
Dec. 3, 1929
6
5
Cheyenne Daily Sun, July 24, 1890, facsimile souvenir edition issued by Wyoming State Historical Society, 75th anniversary of statehood
1965
Series VII. Certificates
1874-1913
6
6
Marriages of Henry G. Hay, Sr.; Membership in Sons of the Revolution; Burial plot of Henry G. Hay, Sr.; Confirmation of Henry G. Hay III
1874-1913
Series VIII. Photographs
1879-circa 1959
6
7
Henry G. Hay, Sr.
circa 1900-circa 1919
6
8
Henry G. Hay, Jr.; Bessie Bay; Mildred Hay Foster Gibbs
1879-circa 1959
6
9
Henry G. Hay III; Helen Hay Perriot; and their contemporaries
circa 1900-1926
6
11
Hay family multi-generational portraits
circa 1900-circa 1919
6
12
Hay family homes: Cheyenne and Shoshoni, Wyoming; Gary, Indiana
circa 1900-1932
6
13
Unidentified: woman, Linssie? circa 1880s; woman, CA. 1899; child, Charlie, Mt. Shasta, Jan. 2, 1942
circa 1880s-1942
6
14
Negatives, Includes negatives of Hay burial plot, Vincennes, Indiana (prints are located in genealogical file)
circa 1959, undated
Series IX. Artifacts
circa 1800-1884
Items located in Artifact Storage.
Pocket Watch, Sterling silver, missing crystal and hands, engraved, given to Henry G. Hay Jr. when he was eight years old.
1882
Quilt, Crazy quilt, velvet and satin, hand stitched and embroidered with many appliques, maroon velvet border with cord binding, 64" x 64", made by Bessie Gourley Hay.
1884
Vase, Crystal with sterling silver rim, 5 3/4" tall, engraved A H and H G H, three handles.
no date
Clock (transferred to Wyoming State Museum, August, 2006) Grandfather clock which was bought in Philadelphia and given
to John Duffield Hay and Sarah Harvey Hay after they lost all possessions, and three children, in a fire, sometime between 1804 and 1834.
circa 1800
Table, Pedestal table, 36" across, made by grandfather or great-grandfather of Ella O. (Bullock) Hay, from a tree felled in the Straeter, Illinois, area.
circa 1800