The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-10-22
Sketch of Lifeand Work
of the Late J. M. Hays

The late James NJ. Hays. the VET
ern clerk of the postal service Oh
get Sound.-who died on the steamer
Rosalie last week, was born in Mar
shall. Mo Dec. 2, 1887. He was prooa-
bly the oldest man in the service. III
poiut of tenure, if not in ege. on tne
Pacific coast. A Port Townsend des-
patch to the PostIntelligencer says
his attachment to the postal service
covered practically the entire exls-
tence of the railway mail service worh
In this section of the country. lie
was among the first clerks assigned Lo
car for handling mail when com
municatiou b.tween Portland aud Ia
coma was established bv the Northern
Pacific railway in the carry eighties.
He subsequently, was transferred TO
work in the Seattle postoftice but re
turned to the postal ronte worh on
steamers plying between Sound ports.
Sixteen years ago he went Oh the
steamer Evangel. was later transferred
to the steamer Lydia Thompson, and
on that vessel and the steamer Rosa
lie, on the run between Seattle and
Bellingham, through the island towns
of San Jan County, had since been
steadily employed.
ance among travellers by steamer out
of Seattle. aud was extremely popu-
lar. Postal authorities give him
specially fiue rating for efficient work,
and point to bis long career rs one OF
the brightest among the thousands
now engaged where but ten were em
ployed in the same territory when he
entered the service
Thos. W. Prosch. of Seattle. one
of the states oldest. and best known
pioneers, who had been acquainted
with Mr. Hays for more than forty
years. gives the following interesting
sketch of him in the Post IuteIlieen..
Ger;
''Mr. Hays had dwelt in the state
and territory of Washington fifty -sev
en- years, having come from Missouri
when a boy of l 4 or l5 years, across
the plains to Puget Sound His faith
er WAS Gilmore Hays, one of the no.
ted men of the time. who led his i'm
migrant company, among whom were
his own brothers. Isaac and John P,
Hillorv Butter, after whom the Butler
hotel WAS named; George F. Frye, a
prominent citizen of Seattle to this
day; Thomas Prather. of OLYMPIA;
DR.. Ostrander and others. The i'm
migrants of 1852 bad hi rd time of
it. Capt Hays losing his wife and
two childrensby death in what is now
Idaho.
"The father settled near Olympia,
his daughter not long after becoming
the wife of Capt. John 6 Parker ho
died last year. Mrs. Parker has since
lived in Seattle. In 1854 Gilmore
Hays ran for Congress. with Doctor
Hayden. Col. Wallace and Columbia
Lancaster, the latter being elected
Washington's first congress N n.
When war with the Indians broke
out Gilmore Hays raised the first
company of men to defend the settle
ments. called the Puget Sound Mount
ed Volunteers, or Company b. He
stayed In the service until the end.
first as captain and afterwards as ma
jor. His brothers also enlisted. Is.
aac being captain of another com
pany.
"My own acquaintance with j. M.
Hays began in 1867. while lie was
keeping hotel in Olympia. on the
corner Of Main and Second streets,
in partnership with David T. Dreury.
The house bad long been known as
the Washington. but when lays &
Dreury acquired it they changed the
name to Tacoma. Theirs was the first
OOuuuOl Cldl vi OuSIu0SS eUC0rOTlS0 TO
use that name, which they adopted
shortly after its use by the Good
Templar Lodge of the same town,
which led all others, here or else
where. in using that name Mr.. Hays
WAS always good citizen, clean in
all respects and dealings. capable,
trustworthy and gentlemanly. His
character is evidenced By his long
occupancy OF a place in the postal SER
vice. where for an ordinary lifetime,
he continued faithful and reliable un-
til called by death at his place OF
duty among the newspapers. letters
and mail bags on the steamer to which
he was officially assigned
The Islander is informed that 8
good deal of liquor is being sold to In.
dams now engaged in fishing on the
west coast Of San Juan, the men en-
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