Wingate Hayes (1823–1877) was Speaker of the

Rhode Island House of Representatives The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is ...

and U.S. District Attorney for the district of

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. In 1823 Wingate Hayes was born in Farmington, New Hampshire to John and Sarah Hayes. Hayes graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in 1844 and then studied in the office of Richard Ward Greene in Rhode Island. He was admitted to the bar in 1847. Hayes served on the Providence City Council and in the

, where he was elected Speaker, serving from 1859 to 1860. Hayes also served as assistant adjutant general and division inspector, with rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

. President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

appointed Hayes to be the U.S. District Attorney for Rhode Island serving from 1861 to 1871. President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

tried unsuccessfully to replace Hayes, and Hayes eventually resigned to private practice. He mentored and later partnered with future Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Matteson.Stephen O. Edwards, "The Supreme Court of Rhode Island", in Horace Williams Fuller, et al., eds., '' The Green Bag'', Vol. 2. (1890), p. 542. Hayes was also involved in various railroads and other enterprises. He died in 1877.

References and external links

Abraham Payne ''Reminiscences of the Rhode Island Bar'' (Tibbitts & Preston: Providence, 1885), 227-232 (accessed on Google Book Search)Rhode Island Speakers of the House of Representatives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Wingate People from Farmington, New Hampshire Providence City Council members Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives Speakers of the Rhode Island House of Representatives Brown University alumni Businesspeople from Rhode Island United States attorneys for the District of Rhode Island 1823 births 1877 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century members of the Rhode Island General Assembly