Edward Dixon Hays (April 28, 1872 – July 25, 1941) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Jackson, Missouri Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, United States. It is a principal city of the Cape Girardeau-Jackson metropolitan area Area. The population of Jackson was 15,481 at the 2020 census. History In 1813, ...

. He was later a key staff member with the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

. Prior to his election to congress he had lived his whole life in

Cape Girardeau County, Missouri Cape Girardeau County (commonly called Cape County) is located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri; its eastern border is formed by the Mississippi River. At the 2020 census, the population was 81,710. The county seat is J ...

. Hays was born on a farm near Oak Ridge, Missouri (in Cape Girardeau County) to John W. and Mary Jane (Horn) Hays. He attended public schools. His parents were natives of Pennsylvania. Hays graduated from the Oak Ridge High School in 1889 and from the Cape Girardeau State Normal School (now

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (Southeast or SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing t ...

) in 1893. After his graduation from Cape Girardeau State Normal School he became a school teacher. He was so employed for two years, leaving that profession in 1895. He at that time moved to

(the county seat of Cape Girardeau County). There he studied law in the office of an established lawyer. He was admitted to the Missouri bar in 1896 and commenced practice, still working in Jackson, Missouri. He would continue doing this for several decades. Hays served as Mayor of Jackson from 1903 to 1907. In the last year he was elected Probate Judge of Cape Girardeau County, which Jackson is part of. He served in that position from 1907 to 1918. He moved to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in 1915 and continued to practice law. He was elected Republican Congressman to the Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh United States Congress (March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1923). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1923 to the Sixty-eighth Congress. He was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar and appointed trial lawyer. He argued cases before the United States Supreme Court as Special Prosecutor for the Attorney General of the United States, first for the Justice Department (1923–1925), then for the Interstate Commerce Commission (1925–1933). In 1934, he continued to practice law in Washington, D.C., while residing in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

, where he died on July 25, 1941. He was interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C. His New York Times obituary describes him as having been "assistant attorney general".''New York Times'' obituary
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hays, Edward Dixon 1872 births 1941 deaths Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri Southeast Missouri State University alumni People from Jackson, Missouri Mayors of places in Missouri 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives