# Representative women of New England/Elizabeth E. Hayward

​ELIZABETH ELLEN HAYWARD, Past President of the J. G. Foster Corps, W. R. C. No. 174, of South Framingham, Mass., is a native of Keene, N.H. She was born September 8, 1841, daughter of Ho.sea and Hannah D. (Britton) Chase. Her father, Hosea Chase, was a descendant in the sixth generation of Aquila Chase, "a mariner from Cornwall, England," who settled in Hampton, N.H., in 1640, and in 1646 removed to Newbury, Mass. The line is: Aquila,' Moses,' Daniel,-' Caleb,^ Stephen,^ Hosea." Atjuila Chase married Anna Wheeler, daughter of John Wheeler, of Hampton. His son, Moses Chase, married in 1684 Ann Follansbee, and lived in Newbiu'v. Daniel Chase, son of Moses and Ann, married Sarah March, and eventually settled in Sutton, Mass. Their son Caleb married Sarah Prince. Stephen Chase, son of Caleb and father of Hosea, was born in Sutton, Mass., April 26, 1763. He died in Keene, N. H., April 6, 1830. Betsey Chase, his wife, was born August 25, 1767, and died August 12, 1850.
It is of interest to note in this connection that Caleb Chase, grandfather of Hosca, was brother to Sanuiel Chase, the great-grandfather of Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. Hosea Chase and Hannah Drusilla Britton were married in Keene at the residence of her brother-in-law, Captain William Bradford, November 4, 1833, by the Rev. Mr. Sullivan, pastor of the Unitarian .church. They at once began their home-making in the new house built by Mr. Chase on his farm in Keene, adjoining that of his brother Charles, the house standing on high land overlooking the meadows through which flows the beautiful Ashuelot River.
Hosea Chase was born in Keene, N.H., April 23, 1805, and died November 17, 1874. His wife, Hannah D., was born in Westmoreland, N.H., August 21, 1811, and died in South Framingham, Mass., February 28, 1896. Their children were: Martha S., who married Edmund J. Perham, and died in 1860; Frances A., who died in 1867; Hosea B., who died in infancy; Elizabeth E. (Mrs. Hayward); William H., who died at .seventeen; and Daniel W., who died in 1867 in his twenty-second ​ year. Edmund J. Perham in the Civil War enlisted in the Ninth New Hampshire Infantry, and died in the service at Knoxville, Md. Frances Ann Chase taught school in Keene for fourteen years.
Elizabeth Ellen Chase in her girlhood attended the public schools of Keene and, for one term, Momit Ca-sar Seminary, in iSwanzey, N.H. In early life she united with the Unitarian church in Keene. She was at one time secretary of the Gospel Temperance Union of Keene.
On the 7th of September, 1S59, she was married by the Rev. William O. White to the Rev. William Willis Haywanl. Mr. Hayward was born in Hancock, N.H., October 17, 1<S;M, son of Charles Hayward and Ann, daughter of Jacob G. and Betsey (Stanley) Lakin, the latter a scliool-teachi'r in her district. Mr. Hayward's maternal grandfather was a son of Leuuiel Lakin, a soldier in the Revo- lutionary army, son of William, the second permanent .settler of Hancock, descended from William' Lakin, an early settler in Reading, Mass.
Charles Hayward, born in LS6, son of Charles Prescott" Haywanl and his wife, Sarah Mason, was descended from George' Haywanl, one of the early settlers of Concord, Mass., through Josej)h,^ born in 1643, and his second wife, Elizabeth Treadwell ; Simeon,^ who married Re- becca Hartwell; Lieutenant Joseph,* who married Abigail Hosmer; and Joseph,^ born in 1746, who married Rebecca, tlaughter of Colonel Charles Prescott, of Concord, and was the father of Charles Prescott Hayward.
The Rev. William W. Hayward was educated in the public schools, in the academies at Hancock, Peterboro, and Francestown, and at the New England Normal Institute in Lancaster, Mass. For nine winters he taught in the country schools and for three years in private schools. At twenty-one years of age he was elected a member of the superin- tending school committee in Hancock. He afterward served for one year as superintendent of schools at Newfane, Vt., three years as a member of the school board in Keene, N.H., and one year as chairman thereof. Deciding to enter the ministry, he studied two years with the Rev. Lenmel Willis in Warner, N.H., autl was ordainetl in June, 1859, as a Universal- ist, at Enfield, N.H. He took a subsequent course of study at the Tufts Divinity School, from which he received the degree of B.D. in 1871, being the first graduate from this school. He was settled as pastor of Universal- ist churches at Newfane, Vt., P'airfield, Me., Keene, N.H., and in Wakefield, Acton, Me- thuen, Plymouth, and South Framingham, Mass.
A resident of the Pine Ti-ec State during the Civil War, he enlisted in the Thirteenth Regiment, Maine ^olunteers, conunanded by Colonel Henry Russ, Jr., and .served as chap- lain.
While he was in the ainiy, Mrs. Haywartl spent several weeks with him, literally on the picket line, at Martinsburg, W. V., at that time the base of General Phil Sheridan's supplies and the object of repeated and untiring attacks on the i)art of the confederates of Mosby, the noted guerrilla. When Mrs. Hay- ward went to Martinsburg, firing upon the night trains on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was a frequent occurrence. On reaching the Martinsburg station at about five o'clock of a November morning, she was informed by the officer in charge that the Thirteenth Maine had left the town. A private, however, cor- rected the mistake, and to him was entrusted the task of conducting her through the town, past .several barricades in the streets, to the headquarters of the regiment. Mrs. Hayward was an excellent honsewoman, and soon be- came deservedly popular with the soldiers. She assisted the captains in making out the pay-rolls, and has the enviable record of never having maile a mistake. She rendered good service in the convalescent camps and in the hospital, writing letters for the sick and wounded and taking care of their money, which in times of danger she concealed about her person.
In the various parishes over which her husband presided, Mrs. Hayward was active in church and Sunday-school work, for several years being superintendent of a Sunday-school. An active member for some j'ears of the Woman's Centenary Association of the Universalist ​ Church, she raised one hundred dollars for the centenary fund.
Mr. and Mrs. Hayward were graduated from the Chautauqua Lit(>rary and Scientific Circle of South Franiinffliani in ISSS. She was president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and a leader in the campaign against the Tujuor saloons in Framingliam, meeting with great success. Having i)een selected by a special conuuittee to write a history of the town of Hancock, N.H., Mr. Hayward for seven years devotetl all the time he could spare from parish and other public duties to this work. The book was published in 18S9, and contains over a thou.sand printed i)ages of valuable material. It is recognized by histoi'ical and genealogical societies and by the officials of public libraries as one of the best town histories ever issued.
In its jireparation Mrs. Hayward rendered valuable assistance. Diligently searching four volumes of town and one of church records, she compiled the list of marriages, nearly a thousand in number.
In June, 1SS9, Mr. Hayward accepted a call to the First Congregational (Unitarian) Church in Medfield, Mass. He won the love and respect of the citizens of the town, as in former places where he had been settletl as pastor. Popular with the young and ever thoughtful of their interests, he was active in the guild movement (since his death named the Hayward Guild) and in temperance and charitable work. The Norfolk Unitarian Club was organized by him ; and the various branches of work, in all of which he was assisted by his wife, prospered under his charge. His ad- dress on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of the church, October S, ISSO, was published in pamphlet form. Mr. Hay- ward was a friend of the Woman's Relief Corps, and in 1891 he accompanied Mrs. Hayward, who was a delegate, to the National Conven- tion held in Detroit, Mich.
As an officer of the National Army Chaplains' Association, which he helped to form in De- troit in 1891, as a Memorial Day orator and a leading spirit in many philanthropic move- ments, he was widely known; and his death, which occurred in Medfield, July 26, 1892, caused soriow in many sections of the country. The conmiittee of the church in Medfield paid the following tribute to his memory: "We look back upon the years of his pastorate as years of pros]jerity in the history of this church and parish and as years marked by dee|) in- tei'cst in all that pertains to the building up of true, noble Christian character and stinui- lating its people to useful Christian lives. We respected him for his true manliness, dignity, and unselfishness." The Young People's Re- ligious Guild remembered with gratitude the interest manifested liy him in their organiza- tion.
Resolutions of respect, recognizing and re- cording his elevated character, his fidelity to duty, the exalted princi|)les which governed his life, his forbearing sympathy and good will, were pas.sed by the Medfield Historical Society, the General J. G. Foster Post, G. A. P., of South Framingham, and by the Relief Corps auxiliary to the Grand Army post in Milford, N.H., where Mr. Hayward gave his last Me- morial Day address.
The Norfolk I'nitarian Conference, in a letter to Mrs. Hayward, testified that "they all regarded Mr. Hayward with honor and re- spect for his sterling faithfulness, his blame- less record, and his earnest devotedness to his profe.';sion. His uniform courtesy, dignity, and friendliness won the affection of all, and made him always a welcome companion."
A former pastor of the church in Keene wrote to her : " You have the comfort of reflecting that you have been a true helpmeet to your husband these many years. By your energy, your sympathy, your judgment, your ready ])lanning for the social interests of a ])arish, as well as for the advancement of the church and Sunday-school, you have shown a spirit of co-operation that must have been invaluable to him."
Mr. Hayward, who had been identified with the Masons, the Temple of Honor, and United Order of the Golden Cross, was an officer of Beaver Brook Lodge of Odd Fellows at Keene, N.H. He had four brothers, two of whom are living in New Hampshire.
Mrs. Hayward is a member of the Daughters of New Hampshire and a charter member of ​the Historical Society of Hancock, N.H. For four years she was chaplain of the Relief Corps connected with General J. G. Foster Post. Before this corps joined the National Woman's Relief Corps (it being an independent local society previous to 1897), she was chaplain for two years of the corps auxiliary to the post in Walpole, at the same time retaining her membership in the "Independent Corps" of South Framingham. Since the latter has become a part of the Department of Massachusetts, W. R. C, Mrs. Hayward has been active in the State and national work. She is one of the official visitors and directors of the Ladies' Aid Association of the Solders' Home in Chelsea, Mass. She has attended the National Conventions in Western cities as a delegate from the Department of Massachusetts. In 1902 she was president of the corps in South Framingham, where she has resided since the death of her husband, and at the close of her official year was presented with a gold badge as a testimonial of regard. A woman of dignity and culture, she is an excellent presiding officer. She is a National Aide in the Woman's Relief Corps and is now serving the W. R. C. as one of the National Executive Committee, being also on the Finance and Floral Committees of the National Convention to be held in Boston in August, 1904, in connection with the National Encampment of the G. A. R.