San Diego County
Biographies
JOHN CHAUNCEY HAYES
John Chauncey Hayes, octogenarian,
is one of the oldest native Americans living in
Southern California. He has been a
resident of San Diego County for the past sixty-five years and is now living
retired at Oceanside, where he was long engaged in law practice and actively
identified with real estate operations.
Mr. Hays was born in Los Angeles, California, April 27, 1853, his
parents being Benjamin R. and Emily M. (Chauncey) Hayes, natives of
Maryland. Benjamin F. Hayes was a
California Forty-niner and an attorney by profession. His wife came to San Pedro, Los Angeles
County, on the old ship Goliath, which was the first vessel to dock there. She died in 1857, when her son J. Chauncey
was but four years of age.
J. Chauncey Hayes spent his boyhood
in a house at the corner of First and Main streets in Los Angeles and was a
youth of fifteen years when in 1868 he moved to San Diego. He graduated from Santa Clara College,
studied law with his father, and was admitted to the bar in 1877 by Judge Aiken
at San Diego. In 1875 Mr. Hayes became
the exclusive land agent for Andrew J. Meyers, the owner of the land now
embraced in the town of Oceanside. Mr.
Meyers was the founder of the town, and Mr. Hayes had the sale of the lots and
throughout the years of his active career sold and resold all of the townsite
time and again. For many years he filled
the office of justice of the peace, was also city recorder and an active member
of the Chamber of Commerce. Despite his
advanced age he still manifests a keen and helpful interest in the welfare of
the community which has been his home for nearly two-thirds of a century. His residence is at 422 North Clementine
Street in Oceanside.
In 1875 Mr. Hayes married Felipe M. Marron. They became
the parents of fourteen children, thirteen of whom are living. The names of these children with dates of
birth follow: Emily Dorothy, July 29,
1876; Benjamin F., April 3, 1878; John Chauncey, May 18, 1879; Sylvester M.,
January 30, 1881; Frederick, September 29, 1882; John Griffin, April 25, 1884;
Louise Helen, January 31, 1886; Lenora, deceased, November 12, 1887; Helen, May
5, 1889; Frank, November 29, 1891; Robert B., February 3, 1894; Joseph and
Mary, who are twins, April 30, 1895; and McKinley, March 11, 1897. Frederick Hayes is successfully engaged in
the real estate business at Oceanside, ably carrying forward his father’s
former interests. Robert B. and McKinley
Hayes served in the United States Navy during the period of the World War.
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. III, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 433-434, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles,
Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S SAN DIEGO BIOGRAPIES