Thomas J Hayter
Submitted by:  Lynn Mack
 
Thomas J.. HAYTER passed away at the family home at Dallas, October
30, 1918, at the age of eighty-eight years, eight months and
twenty-two days, and in his demise Oregon lost one of her honored
pioneers, who for nearly seventy years had been prominently identified
with the history of Polk county and of the state.  He was veteran of
the Indian wars and there was no phase of frontier life with which he
was not familiar.  He was an interested witness of the marvelous
development of the northwest and through his industry and enterprise
contributed in substantial measure to the work of reclamation and
improvement, his influence being ever on the side of advancement and
improvement.
 
Mr. Hayter was born February 8, 1830, in the old town of Franklin,
Howard county, Missouri, a representative of an old and honored
southern family of English and Irish ancestry.  His father, James H.
HAYTER, was a native of Virginia who emigrated to Missouri about 1816,
settling in the village of New Franklin, then a small hamlet in the
very outskirts of civilization.  Here he established a sawmill and a
flouring mill and also engaged in other manufacturing and agricultural
pursuits, becoming one of the leading business men of his community.
He married Sarah FULKERSON, a native of Lee county, Virginia, and a
descendent of one of the old families of the south, and they continued
to reside in New Franklin until 1856, when they became victims of the
cholera epidemic which swept over Missouri and the states along the
Mississippi.
 
Of their family of ten children, Thomas Jefferson HAYTER was the last
survivor.  As a youth he attended the village school of New Franklin
and later assisted his father in his milling and farming operations.
At the age of nineteen years, when news of the gold strike in
California was sweeping the country, he joined an expedition bound for
the Golden state.  The party left New Franklin on the 15th of April,
1849, traveling with ox teams across the plains by way of Fort Hall,
Humboldt and Truckee and following closely the route chosen by the
surveyors of the Central Pacific Railroad twenty years later.  On
arriving at Sacramento Mr. Hayter secured employment as teamster for a
large concern, transporting merchandise from Sacramento to the various
mining camps.  In August, 1849, he began mining on his own account and
was thus engaged until the fall of 1850, when he sailed as a passenger
on the Steamer Creole, bound for Oregon, and after a voyage of
twenty-three days landed in Portland, then a small settlement with but
a few scattered houses.  Here he cut wood for a few months during that
winter.  He then made his way to Polk county, where he took up a
donation claim, but in 1852 disposed of this and returned to Missouri
by way of Panama with the intention of bringing his aged parents to
Oregon.  They were too frail to attempt the long journey by wagon,
however, and he remained with them until 1854, when he started across
the plains for the state of his adoption.  On the second journey he
followed the old route as far as the Raft river and then took up the
Oregon trail.  He arrived at the first settlement in Oregon in
September 1854, and soon afterward engaged in ranching on a farm three
miles west of Dallas, specializing in the raising of fine stock.
 
In the fall of 1855 he volunteered for service in the campaign against
the Indians and as a member of Company G, First Oregon Regiment of
Cavalry, under command of Colonel James W. Nesmith, he saw several
weeks of active service in the Yakima Indian war.  During this period
he contracted bronchitis and was removed to a hospital at The Dalles,
Oregon, later receiving his honorable discharge.  He then returned to
his stock ranch in Polk county, which he sold in the following year,
locating on a two hundred and sixty acre tract of land three miles
east of Dallas.  This he carefully tilled and developed, adding many
improvements to his land and bringing it under a high state of
cultivation, so that he at length became the owner of one of the best
farms in the county.  He resided thereon almost continuously for more
than a quarter of a century and then moved with his family to Dallas,
where he lived retired throughout the remainder of his life, having
through his industry and enterprise in former years accumulated a
comfortable competence which enabled him to rest from further labor.
 
In May, 1856, Mr. Hayter was united in marriage to Miss Mary I. EMBREE
a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Carey D. EMBREE, who emigrated to Oregon
from their home in Howard county, Missouri, in 1844, at which time
their daughter, Mary, was but six years old.  Taking up a donation
claim in Polk county two miles east of Dallas, the father there
engaged in farming for many years, at length removing to Dallas, where
he lived retired throughout the balance of his life.  He became one of
the prominent citizens of his community, serving as sheriff of Polk
county during territorial days and resigning that office in 1848.
There was not a death in his family until one child reached the age of
sixty years and Mr. EMBREE'S demise occurred when he had attained the
venerable age of ninety-five years.  Mrs. EMBREE met an accidental
death in 1881, being thrown from a wagon.  To Mr. and Mrs. HAYTER were
born six children, namely:  Eugene, who is serving as vice president
of the Dallas National Bank; Mark, a prominent dentist of Dallas, who
is mentioned elsewhere in this work; Alice E. who died when five years
of age; and Frank, who died at the age of six months.
 
Mr. HAYTER became prominent in public affairs and in 1876 was elected
on the democratic ticket to represent his district in the Oregon
legislature, receiving a flattering majority of votes.  As a member of
the house of representative he was recognized by his colleagues as an
earnest and effective worker and his record was one of which the
county was proud.  While his own educational opportunities had been
limited, he had become well informed through wide reading and
observation and few men had a more comprehensive knowledge of human
events and affairs.  His chief interest outside of his home was
centered in the establishment of an efficient school system in Oregon.
He gave liberally of his means to the upbuilding of La Creole Academy,
a pioneer institution of learning, and for many years served as a
director of his local school district.  He was interested in all those
things which are of cultural value and which tend to uplift the
individual, thus bringing a higher moral plane to the community.  In
every relation he was true to high and honorable principles, never
faltering in the choice between right and wrong but always endeavoring
to follow the course sanctioned by conscience and good judgment.  His
integrity in business affairs, his loyalty and patriotism in matters
of citizenship, his fidelity in friendship and his devotion to home
and family were characteristics which won for him the high and
enduring regard of all with whom he was associated.
 
His eldest son, Eugene HAYTER, is an enterprising business man and
influential citizen of his community and is now serving as vice
present of the Dallas National Bank.
 
On the 21st of November, 1888, Eugene HAYTER was united in marriage to
Miss Evelyn SCHULTZ, a daughter of Asbury and Eliza (SEDERS) SCHULTZ,
natives of Ohio and Indiana, respectively.  In 1861 her parents
emigrated from Illinois to Oregon, becoming residents of Dallas, where
her father engaged in contracting and building.  He constructed a
number of buildings in the city, where he continued to reside
throughout the remainder of his life.  Mr. and Mrs. HAYTER have become
the parents of two children:  A daughter, Frank L. who was born April
18, 1890, and is now the wife of H. R. PATTERSON, Jr., a professor in
the Oregon Agricultural College at Corvallis; and Charles Carey, who
was born October 8, 1900, and is now a student in the department of
mechanical engineering at the State Agricultural College.
 
History of Oregon, Biographical, Vol. II, The Pioneer Historical
Publishing Company, 1922, Pages 17-19
 
 

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