Daniel W. Hayden (1840-1920)

Mill owner, active politician, state senator, known as "The old Soldier" Daniel Hayden served in the Civil War in Company H of the Seventh N.H. Volunteer Regiment under Captain Nathan Ames. He was badly wounded in the head in battle in 1864, and never fought again. He married Annie Talbott in 1866, and they had two children - a son Willard, born in 1872, who died in his teen years, and a daughter Bertha, born in 1878.

The cannon that used to be on our town common was obtained for the G.A.R. Post by Daniel Hayden from the Navy Yard at Charleston Massachusetts. Mr. Hayden was on the building committee for the Hollis Social Library, built in 1910, and held the position of Adjutant in the John H. Worcester Post of the Grand Army of the Republic that was organized on April 1, 1875.

In 1865 David and Daniel Hayden decided to improve the sawmill located near the headwaters of Witches Brook. The Hayden brothers owned a second mill at the corner of Ames and Witches Spring Road. Their sawmill was the last mill to use water power as its only source of energy. Many of these old sawmills gave almost constant service during their lifetime, turning forests into lumber that found a ready market in Hollis and surrounding towns.

As the Republican candidate for senator ion the fifteenth district, chosen at the recent primaries, I respectfully ask for your support at the election November 8. I have always been a Republican. I heartily endorse the platform adopted at the state convention September 6. In 1861 I enlisted in the United States service for three years and served nearly my full time, being discharged on account of serious wounds received in battle.

In all the years of my experience as a soldier, voter, town official and citizen, I have upheld the high ideals of temperance, good citizenship, and loyal patriotism. It is not generally realized that nearly thirty horses have been stolen in the last two years within a radius of twenty-five miles of Hollis, and all but two of these in New Hampshire. Add to this the thefts of poultry, the breaking and entering of dwellings and public places and we have an amount of crime that requires detective services and a connected police force. There is no adequate method in our State of dealing with the imposed conditions. Altho' efficient within their jurisdiction. all officers are local or county officials, having no authority outside their limited districts. Oftentimes the culprit escapes because of the delay in securing the proper officer to make the arrest. In some cases it is impossible for the owner to bear the expense of persistent effort to trace the property and apprehend the thief. I believe we need a state constabulary or detective bureau paid by the state, similar to that already established in Massachusetts, that our rural people may have more adequate protection

hall work for the enactment of just and impartial laws that shall be of benefit to our state and nation.

Respectfully yours,               

DANIEL W. HAYDEN

Hollis, N.H., October 8, 1910

 

Home  Newsletter