George W. Hayes Explained

Hon. George W. Hayes (c. 1847–1933) was a slave, the first African-American court crier in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, and a state legislator. He served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1902 to 1905.^[1] He had African American and Native American heritage and was enslaved early in his life.^[2]

Hayes married Mamie Forte in 1874 and they had five children. He later served three terms in the Ohio General Assembly, as a Republican. He and his family were members of the Union Baptist Church, Cincinnati. Hayes Elementary School in Cincinnati is named for him.

He is buried in the Union Baptist Cemetery in the Price Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati.

See also

• African-American officeholders during and following the Reconstruction era

External links

• Photographs of African-American members of the Ohio House of Representatives
• Union Baptist Church
• Letter from George W. Hays to Jere Brown

Notes and References

1. Web site: The African American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920 / Ohio House of Representatives Photograph Collection . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20210421115631/http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam/html/photo/p206.html . 2021-04-21 . 2021-04-28 . The Ohio Historical Society.
2. Web site: African-American Legislators . www.georgewashingtonwilliams.org . 13 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071010062030/http://www.georgewashingtonwilliams.org/legislators.cfm?letter=H&legislator=47 . 10 October 2007 . dead.