Benjamin Hayden
American politician (1822–1908)
title: "Benjamin Hayden" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1822-births", "1908-deaths", "people-from-polk-county,-oregon", "people-from-logan-county,-kentucky", "speakers-of-the-oregon-house-of-representatives", "members-of-the-oregon-territorial-legislature", "oregon-state-court-judges", "politicians-from-salem,-oregon", "oregon-pioneers", "rogue-river-wars", "lawyers-from-salem,-oregon", "19th-century-oregon-state-court-judges"] description: "American politician (1822–1908)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Hayden" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American politician (1822–1908) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Benjamin Hayden |
| image | Benjamin Hayden Oregon.jpg |
| imagesize | 175px |
| office | Member of the Oregon House of Representatives |
| termstart | 1870 |
| termend | 1871 |
| constituency | Polk County |
| office2 | 7th Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives |
| termstart2 | 1870 |
| termend2 | 1871 |
| predecessor2 | John Whiteaker |
| successor2 | Rufus Mallory |
| birth_date | September 11, 1822 |
| birth_place | Logan County, Kentucky |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Salem, Oregon |
| party | Democratic Party |
| spouse | Zerelda Gibson |
| :: |
| name = Benjamin Hayden | image = Benjamin Hayden Oregon.jpg | imagesize = 175px | caption = | office = Member of the Oregon House of Representatives | termstart = 1870 | termend = 1871 | constituency = Polk County | nominator = | appointer = | predecessor = | successor = | office2 = 7th Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives | constituency2 = | termstart2 = 1870 | termend2 = 1871 | predecessor2 = John Whiteaker | successor2 = Rufus Mallory | birth_date = September 11, 1822 | birth_place = Logan County, Kentucky | death_date = | death_place = Salem, Oregon | party = Democratic Party | spouse = Zerelda Gibson
Benjamin F. Hayden (September 11, 1822 – October 29, 1908) was an American attorney and politician in the state of Oregon. A native of Kentucky, he moved to the West Coast with the California Gold Rush in 1849 and to Oregon in 1852. A Democrat, he served in the Oregon House of Representatives, including the 1870 session as speaker of the body.
Early life
Hayden was born in Logan County, Kentucky, on September 11, 1822, but grew up in Illinois. As a young man he moved to Missouri before traveling west to California in 1849 for the gold rush. In 1850, Hayden returned to Missouri where he married Zerelda Gibson (b. 1832) who was from Lincoln County, Missouri.
Oregon
In 1852, the couple moved to what was then the Oregon Territory, settling in Polk County in the Willamette Valley. Hayden took up a Donation Land Claim in the Eola Hills near the community of Eola. There he was one of the early settlers and served as the first judge of Polk County in 1852.
In 1855, the Rogue River War began in Southern Oregon, with Hayden forming a company of troops and serving as captain of the company.
In 1870, Hayden was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives as a Democrat for a two-year term. Representing Polk County, he was also selected as the speaker of the house for the 1870 legislative session.
Later years and family
Hayden would later move to Salem. He and his wife had six children, Estella, Dora, Benjamin N., Samuel Lee, and George. Oregon historian Ben Maxwell is a grandson. Benjamin Hayden died on October 29, 1908, in Salem and was buried at the Salem Pioneer Cemetery.
References
References
- Colmer, Montagu, and [[Charles Erskine Scott Wood]]. ''History of the Bench and Bar of Oregon''. Portland, Or: Historical Pub. Co, 1910. p. 268–269.
- Following service in the war against the Native Americans, he returned to the practice of law in 1856 and was a prominent lawyer in the Willamette Valley. In 1857, he was elected to represent Polk and Tillamook counties in the [[Oregon Territorial Legislature]].[http://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/Recordpdf/6785254 Oregon Legislative Assembly (9th Territorial) 1857 Regular Session.] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on May 30, 2008.
- [http://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/Recordpdf/6785264 1870 Regular Session (6th).] Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on May 30, 2008.
- [https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Documents/elections/history-officials.pdf Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Speakers of the House of Representatives of Oregon.] ''Oregon Blue Book''. Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on May 30, 2008.
- Lang, H. O., ed. [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jtenlen/ORBios/bbhayden.txt ''The History of the Willamette Valley, Being A Description of the Valley and its Resources, with an account of its Discovery and Settlement by White Men, and its Subsequent History; Together with Personal Reminiscences of its Early Pioneers''.] {{Webarchive. link. (May 19, 2011 Portland, OR, Geo. H. Himes, Book and Job Printer, 1885. p. 704.)
- [http://photos.lib.state.or.us/exhibit4/e40191a.htm Benjamin F. Hayden.] {{webarchive. link. (August 24, 2011 [[Oregon State Library]]. Retrieved on May 30, 2008.)
- [http://www.salempioneercemetery.org/records/display_record.php?id=3024 Benjamin F. Hayden.] Salem Pioneer Cemetery. Retrieved on May 30, 2008.
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