There is particular interest attaching to the career of Everis Anson Hayes, for he is a representative of a type of American manhood of whom the country has every reason to be proud. He occupies a notable position among the business men of Santa Clara County, and to this rank he has risen through the utilization of possibilities that lie before all. His native talent has led him out of comparatively humble surroundings to large worldly success through the opportunity that is the pride of our American life, and he stands today as the leading factor in the ownership and control of many large enterprises of the west that have contributed to the general commercial activity and prosperity as well as to his individual success.
Mr. Hayes was born in Waterloo, Wisconsin, on the 10th of March, 1855, and is of Scotch descent. The family was founded in America in 1683 by George Hayes, who on leaving the land of hills and heather settled in Connecticut. The loyalty of the family was demonstrated in active field service in the early colonial wars and in the war of the Revolution. Anson E. Hayes, father of E. A. Hayes, engaged in railroad contracting for a number of years, was also an active factor in mercantile circles in Ohio, and later followed farming. He wedded Miss Mary Folsom, whose ancestors came from England to America in 1643, settling in New Hampshire. That family also furnished several patriots to the war for independence. The father of Mrs. Hayes was a minister of the Baptist church.
Everis A. Hayes was a pupil in the public schools of Waterloo, Wisconsin, in his early boyhood days, and in 1873 was enrolled as a student in the Wisconsin State University, being graduated from the law department of that institution with the class of 1879. He also completed the classical course, winning the degrees of Bachelor of Letters, and Bachelor of Laws.
Following his graduation Mr. Hayes opened an office for the practice of law in Madison, Wisconsin, September 1, 1879, and there remained in active connection with the profession until June, 1883, when he entered into partnership with his brother, J. O. Hayes, and with Colonel John H. Knight, under the firm style of Knight & Hayes, for the practice of law in Ashland, Wisconsin. There they were connected with litigated interests until 1885. In the meantime, the brothers had invested in mining interests, which now claimed their entire time and attention, and they withdrew from the law firm in order to give their undivided attention to the operation and control of the Ashland and Germania Iron Mines, near Ashland, E. A. Hayes acting as president and manager of the company until 1891, when he resigned the latter position. It was their successful mining investments that created for the Hayes brothers the nucleus of their present fortune and made possible their extensive realty and business holdings.
In 1887 E. A. Hayes came with his family to Santa Clara County, California, and jointly with his brother purchased a fine country property which they have since made their home. Their business interests have called them back and forth from Wisconsin to California, for they still have their investments in the mining regions of the former state. In company with his brother Mr. Hayes purchased the San Jose Herald in 1900—the leading evening paper of the county, and in 1901 they bought the San Jose Mercury, the leading morning paper of the county. They are also interested in mining in California, operating and owning several gold mines, both having been actively engaged in the development of mining resources of the Mississippi Valley and of the west for the past seventeen years. The property on which they made their home is six miles from San Jose, at Eden Vale, and comprises over six hundred acres, of which one hundred and eighty acres is comprised within their orchards, while more than three hundred and seventy-five acres is devoted to general farming purposes, and fifty acres is laid out in one of the most beautiful parks in all California, this country seat being scarcely equaled in loveliness throughout the entire valley, and by few homes of the state. Since coming to California, the brothers have also engaged in the breeding of fine horses, principally for their own use.
On the 11th of October, 1884, Mr. Hayes was married to Miss Nettie Porter, who is a graduate of the State University of Wisconsin, and was attending there when her husband was a student there. Three children have been born to them: Sibyl, Anson, and Harold. The wife and mother died in the spring of 1892, and on the 18th of July, 1893, Mr. Hayes wedded Miss Mary Louisa Bassett, who was one of his schoolmates at Waterloo and is a graduate of the State Normal School at Whitewater, Wisconsin. There were by this union four children, of whom three are living: Phyllis, Loy, and A. Folsom.
Mr. Hayes belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and to the Grange. His political support is given to the Republican party, and he takes an active and co-operative interest in local and state politics, and through the medium of his journalistic interests also supports the principles which he believes contain the best elements of good government. In business affairs, he is energetic, prompt and notably reliable. He has been watchful of all the details of his business and of all indications pointing to prosperity, and thus he has gained wealth, but this has not been alone the goal for which he is striving, and he belongs to the class of representative American citizens who promote the general prosperity while advancing individual interests.
Source: Leigh H. Irvine; A History of the New California Its Resources and People, 2 Volumes; New York and Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1903.