My Genealogy Hound

William V. Hay, loan agent of Lamar, was born in Sangamon County, Ill., February 1, 1840, being a son of Eli and Armilda (Sterrit) Hay, who were born in Baltimore, Md., and Shelbyville, Ky., respectively. Grandfather Hay was born in Scotland, and, with two brothers, came to America. He settled in Maryland, a brother in Pennsylvania, and one in Ohio. The maternal grandfather was a Welshman, who was killed in the War of 1812, and Mrs. Hay was reared by an uncle. She and Mr. Hay were married in Lexington, Ky., and in 1836 moved to Sangamon County, Ill., when Springfield was a small village. Mr. Hay was a portrait painter by profession, and in those days did the fancy painting on the stage coaches. He was a Whig politically, and he and Abraham Lincoln were intimate acquaintances. He died May 6, 1851, followed by his wife May 23, 1868, her death occurring in Corydon, Iowa. The former was a Catholic, and the latter a Methodist. They were the parents of five children: William V. being the fourth of the family. He was educated in the old subscription schools, and in 1856 went with his mother to Wayne County, Iowa, and, at the age of sixteen years, began clerking, continuing three years. In 1859 he drove a team of mules to California, where he remained five years, being engaged in mining three years. He afterward made two more trips to that State, but from 1869 to 1880 was engaged in merchandising in Iowa. In 1881 he and John W. Hinds started the Fresno County Bank, and the following year came to Lamar, and has since been in the loan business. He is a Knight Templar in the Masonic fraternity, and is a Democrat politically. January 19, 1871, he was married to Alice I. Newell, a native of Monroe County, Iowa. They have no family.