William Wallace Hays was Haysville’s founder. More information on William can be found in his obituary.
William Was married to Juliet Hays.
William Wallace Hays obituary.
William Wallace Hays grave-site.
The following was submitted by Greg Silvey in June 2012…
I ran across your reproduction of the obituary for my great-great grandfather William Wallace Hays, and thought I would fill in a few details for you, based on my own research into my family’s history.
My great-grandfather Walter R Rehm married one of W.W. Hays’daughters, but the daughter he married was Anna “Hannah” Hays, notCatherine G. “Kate” Hays.
Kate married Edward J Darnell in Haysville in 1888. The Wichita Daily Eagle reported this in an article on April 17, 1888, which is attached.
Ed Darnell worked for W.W. Hays as his turnkey when Hays was sheriff of Sedgwick County.
All of the Hays family except one daughter, Amy, (who married Charles Knorr and stayed in Kansas), moved from Kansas to Washington in early 1900. W.W. Hays and his son Will struck out for the Alaska gold fields of Nome in the spring of 1900. The Wichita Daily Eagle reported on their efforts, and reported further on their visits back to Haysville after returning from Alaska.
Anna Hays (1866-1934) married my great-grandfather Walter Rehm in Haysville in 1896. They had three children, two born in Haysville, Hays, Sidney, and my grandfather Jack, who was born in Spokane, Washington. Anna and Walter are both buried in Tacoma, Washington, as are William W and Juliet Hays.
Richard Hays, who was a reporter for the Wichita Daily Eagle, became the arts critic for the Seattle Times, and worked for the paper from 1919-1952. He died a few months after retiring.