Benjamin Franklin Hayes (1836-1901) was a judge, state representative, and state senator from Medford, Massachusetts.
Biography
Hayes was born in Berwick, Maine on July 3, 1836, to Frederick and Sarah (Hurd) Hayes, active Free Will Baptists.[1] He attended the New Hampton School and then studied the law for a year with Wade & Eastman in Great Falls, New Hampshire in 1859-60 before entering the Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the Suffolk County, Massachusetts bar in 1861 while still in law school and then worked for Baker & Sullivan in Boston and lived in Medford.[1]
From 1862 to 1873 Hayes served as a Middlesex County trial justice. From 1864 to 1870 he served as assistant U.S. revenue assessor, and from 1868 to 1871 served on the Medford school board. He was elected a state representative from 1872 to 1874; and then state senator from 1878 to 1879. In 1892 he worked on the commission to create and obtain a city charter for Medford, and served as the first city solicitor until his death. Starting in 1869 he served as a trustee and board member of Medford Savings bank and later president starting in 1899. He also served in the Lawrence Rifles militia.[2] His brothers Frederick Hayes and Dr. John Alfred Hayes, a surgeon, were notable Civil War veterans.
Benjamin Franklin Hayes died at his home in Medford on January 31, 1901.[2][3][4]
