Walter I. Hayes

Walter I. Hayes
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1895
Preceded by	Jeremiah H. Murphy
Succeeded by	George M. Curtis
Personal details
Born	(1841-12-09)December 9, 1841 Marshall, Michigan
Died	March 14, 1901(1901-03-14) (aged 59) Marshall, Michigan
Political party	Democratic Party
Alma mater	University of Michigan

Walter Ingalls Hayes (December 9, 1841 - March 14, 1901) was a four-term Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district during the Gilded Age.

Hayes was born in Marshall, Michigan. He attended the common schools and graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor in 1863, and was admitted to the bar the same year. Hayes commenced practice in Marshall and in 1864 and 1865 held the positions of Marshall city attorney and United States commissioner for the eastern district of Michigan.

Hayes relocating to Iowa as the Civil War came to an end. He served as United States commissioner for Iowa from 1865 to 1875 and was city solicitor of Clinton, Iowa in 1870. Hayes was the district judge of the seventh judicial district of Iowa from 1875 to 1887. In that capacity, in 1882 he presided over one of the most important cases in the state of that era, in which liquor merchants challenged the enforceability of the 1882 amendment to the Iowa Constitution requiring prohibition. Hayes declared the amendment unconstitutional on procedural grounds, based on the failure of the law to pass both houses of the Iowa General Assembly in identical form.^[1] The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed Hayes' ruling,^[2] but in the next session the Iowa General Assembly adopted prohibition, by statute, in a constitutional fashion.^[1]

Hayes served as delegate to the 1884 Democratic National Convention.

In 1886, Hayes wrested the Democratic nomination for the 2nd district away from incumbent Jeremiah Henry Murphy. To enhance the chances for Iowa Republicans to hold all other Congressional seats in Iowa, the state's General Assembly had included many of the most Democratic-leaning areas of eastern Iowa in a single district (the second). Hayes won the general election that year and represented the 2nd district in the 50th United States Congress. He was also elected to the three succeeding Congresses. However, in 1894, when seeking a fifth term, Hayes was defeated in the general election by Republican George M. Curtis. Between the Civil War and the Great Depression, Hayes was the only Democratic congressman from Iowa to serve more than two terms, and (along with Murphy) was one of only two who served two full terms.

While in Congress, Hayes served as chairman of the Committee on Education in the Fifty-second Congress. In all, he served in Congress from March 4, 1887 to March 3, 1895.

After leaving Congress, Hayes resumed the practice of law in Clinton. He served as member of the Iowa House of Representatives in 1897 and 1898.

He died in Marshall, Michigan, on March 14, 1901. He was interred in Springdale Cemetery in Clinton.

References

• Walter I. Hayes at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa 1st W. Thompson Miller Henn A. Hall S. Curtis J. F. Wilson McCrary Stone McCoid B. Hall Gear Seerley Gear S. Clark Hedge Kennedy Kopp Eicher Martin Schwengel Schmidhauser Schwengel Mezvinsky Leach Nussle Braley Blum 2nd Leffler L. Clark J. P. Cook Thorington Davis Vandever Price Smyth W. Wolf Cotton Tufts Price Farwell Murphy Hayes G. Curtis Lane Rumple Wade Dawson Pepper Vollmer Hull Letts B. Jacobsen W. Jacobsen Talle L. Wolf Bromwell Culver Blouin Tauke Nussle Leach Loebsack 3rd Allison Donnan Ainsworth Burdick Updegraff Henderson Birdsall Pickett Connolly Sweet Robinson Willford Gwynne Gross Grassley Evans Nagle Lightfoot Boswell Latham Young 4th Grinnell Loughridge Walden Pratt Deering Weller Fuller Sweney Butler Updegraff Haugen Biermann Talle Le Compte Carter Kyl Bandstra Kyl N. Smith Ganske Latham King 5th Kasson G. Dodge Palmer J. Wilson R. Clark W. G. Thompson J. Wilson Frederick Kerr J. Hamilton Cousins Good Cole Thruston Le Compte Cunningham N. Smith Scherle Harkin Lightfoot Grandy Latham King 6th A. Hubbard Pomeroy Orr Loughridge Sampson Weaver Cutts J. C. Cook Cutts J. C. Cook Weaver Lacey White Lacey D. Hamilton Kendall Kirkpatrick Ramseyer Dowell Utterback Dowell Goodwin Cunningham Gilchrist J. I. Dolliver Coad Hoeven Greigg Mayne Bedell Grandy 7th Kasson Cummings E. Gillette Kasson H. Smith Conger Hays Hull Prouty Dowell Wearin Jensen Hansen Scherle 8th McDill Sapp Hepburn Anderson Flick Hepburn Jamieson Towner Evans Thurston Gilchrist Hoeven 9th Orr Oliver Carpenter Pusey Lyman Reed Bowman Hager McPherson W. Smith Green Vincent Swanson G. Gillette Harrington Narey 10th Holmes J. P. Dolliver Conner Woods Dickinson Gilchrist 11th Struble Perkins Thomas E. Hubbard Scott Steele Scott Boies Campbell AL Hastings and Leffler Terr Chapman A. Dodge

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.