Samuel Hays (Pennsylvania politician)

Samuel Hays ( born September 10, 1783 in County Donegal, Ireland, † July 1, 1868 in Franklin, Pennsylvania ) was an American politician. Between 1843 and 1845 he represented the State of Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

In 1792, Samuel Hays came with his mother from his Irish home to Franklin in Pennsylvania. About his youth and education, nothing is handed down. In 1808 he became treasurer in Venango County. In this district, he served in the years 1808, 1820, 1829 and 1833 as sheriff. Between 1813 and 1825 he was several times delegate in the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. In the years 1822 and 1839, he also belonged to the State Senate. Hays was also a member of the state militia of Pennsylvania. In the years 1841-1843 he held there the rank of brigadier general. Politically, he joined the Democratic Party.

In the congressional elections of 1842 Hays was in the 22nd electoral district of Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of William Wallace Irwin on March 4, 1843. Since he resigned in 1844 to further candidacy, he was able to complete only one term in Congress until March 3, 1845. This period was characterized by the tensions between President John Tyler and the Whigs. It was also at that time already been discussed about a possible annexation of the independent Republic of Texas since 1836 by Mexico.

After the end of his time in the U.S. House of Representatives, Samuel Hays operated in the iron industry. In the vicinity of Franklin he ran a molten iron. In 1847 he became a U.S. Marshal for the western part of his state; In 1856 he was an Associate Justice of the District Court. He died on July 1, 1868 in Franklin. His son Alexander was a general in the army of the Union during the Civil War and was killed during the Battle of the Wilderness.