Edward R. Hays

Edward Retilla Hays (May 26, 1847 – February 28, 1896) was a nineteenth-century politician, soldier, and lawyer from Ohio and Iowa, who briefly represented Iowa's 7th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Biography

Born in Fostoria, Ohio, Hays attended rural schools near Tiffin, Ohio, as a child. During the Civil War, he served as a private in the 1st Ohio Heavy Artillery Regiment from 1862 to 1865.

Afterwards, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1869, commencing practice in Knoxville, Iowa. He served on the local school board and on the City Council.^[1]

In September 1890, less than two months before the general election, Republican U.S. Representative Edwin H. Conger resigned his Congressional seat representing Iowa's 7th congressional district to accept President Benjamin Harrison's appointment as United States Ambassador to Brazil. Rather than making an interim appointment, Iowa Governor Horace Boies added to the November 1890 election ballot a special election to choose an immediate successor to complete the final weeks of Conger's term.^[2] Hays was chosen as the Republican nominee for this special election. After winning the election on November 4, 1890 by 2,560 votes,^[3] he served in a second session that began in December 1890 and ended on March 3, 1891.

Returning from Washington, he resumed practicing law until his death in Knoxville, on February 28, 1896. He was interred in Graceland Cemetery in Knoxville.

References

• United States Congress. "Edward R. Hays (id: H000404)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.  Retrieved on 2008-10-10
• "Edward R. Hays". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2008-10-10. 

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 Thurston 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