San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JAMES J. HAYES
A successful businessman who is also
an experienced horticulturist, and who in both undertakings has displayed
ability as a systematic manager, is James J. Hayes, who was a successful
contractor and builder in Stockton for about twenty-five years. He was born at Swanton, Wayne County,
Pennsylvania, on February 26, 1854, a son of Timothy and Julia (Carey)
Hayes. The father was a native of County
Cork, Ireland, and came to the United States in 1811 and saw service in the War
of 1812. He was second cousin to President
Hayes. The mother came from old
Pennsylvania-Dutch stock and was the mother of fourteen children, seven sons
and seven daughters, twelve of whom are still living. The father also served in the Mexican War and
all through the Civil War was commander of the Army of the Potomac. He died aged 109, having rounded out a full
life.
When James J. Hayes was eleven years
of age he ran away from home and made his way to California where he joined his
uncle, Colonel Thomas Hayes, who was at one time in command of Fremont’s army
and during 1864 he raised a company of men to join the southern forces and
James J. Hayes joined them. Poncho Vallejo,
son of Ex-Governor Vallejo, furnished about 200 horses for this company and
they started out from San Francisco on their journey south; at Fort Yuma they were
captured by Colonel Miles after crossing the Colorado River at Yuma. Bribing the guard with whiskey, they crossed
the line as immigrants, but the news soon reached Colonel Miles who went after
them and captured the entire company and sent them back to San Francisco on the
sloop of war, St. Mary, where they were held prisoners of war for ninety
days. James J. Hayes lived with his
uncle until he passed away in 1868, then he took up the trade of ship carpenter
and in 1887 settled in Stockton, where he engaged in the contracting business
until about ten years ago. He built many
of the older and larger buildings here.
The marriage of Mr. Hayes occurred
in France in 1890 and united him with Miss Mary Parsaul,
a native of Canada, born of French parents and who had gone to France to
complete her musical education and there the young people met and were
married. They are the parents of one
daughter, Ethel, now the wife of S. D. Hewlett, manager of J. W. Galway &
Company, and they have a daughter, Babe Hayes Hewlett, a graduate in June,
1923, of Stockton high school and a girl of fine literary talent. During twenty-two years spent in traveling,
Mr. Hayes was a United States deputy marshal and it was during one of his trips
to the district of Normandy, France, for the ship company that he was married
to Miss Parsaul.
Mr. Hayes is a member of the National Builders Trade Council and
politically is a Democrat. He owns a
sixteen-acre ranch devoted to orchard and alfalfa which has been developed in a
very fine home place. He has always been
a chicken fancier and was one of the organizers of the first poultry
association in Stockton. He is still
raising show birds and has some that he exhibited at all the poultry shows in
the state and taken prizes.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
459. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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