Archival Materials in Special Collections

Title

Reference Code (ID/Accession #) 

Name and Location of Repository 

Dates of creation 

Extent

Creator(s) 

Sidney Hayden (Mar. 1, 1813-Apr. 4, 1890)
Sidney Hayden (Feb. 15, 1857-Feb. 15, 1907)
Bert Hayden (Mar. 19, 1844-Oct. 9, 1918) 


Charles Hayden (July 25, 1846-Apr. 2, 1917) 


Estella (“Stella”) Whitaker Hayden (Nov. 28, 1841-Apr. 26, 1901) 


Florilla E. Miller Hayden (Feb. 23, 1814-Aug. 20, 1868) 


Julius T. Hayden (Sept. 18, 1838-Feb. 22, 1894) 


Ruth Hayden (Sept. 11, 1848-Sept. 23, 1880) 


Benjamin Eglin (Apr. 28, 1838-Aug. 14, 1914) 

Administrative/Biographical History 

A native of Torringford, Litchfield County, Connecticut, Sidney Hayden (Mar. 1, 1813-Apr. 4, 1890) moved with his family to nearby Barkhamsted in 1814.  He moved again to Candor, Tioga County, NY in 1834.  Marrying another native of Torringford named Florilla E. Miller on March 23, 1836, Hayden remained in Candor until he moved the family in 1840 to Athens Borrough in Bradford Co., PA., not far from Tioga Co., NY.,  where he and his wife resided until their deaths.  The family home stood until March 1965 when it was demolished to make way for the new St. John’s Lutheran Church.

In 1850, the census listed him as a brickmaker and valued his land at $10,000.00.  But in 1860, his property was worth only $4,000.00 and his personal estate worth $1,000.00.  In 1870 and 1880, Sidney’s occupation is listed as farmer.  

Following an 1847 fire, Sidney Hayden was one of the subcontractors who helped rebuild the county courthouse.  Two years later, he erected a block of businesses in Troy, PA for a local merchant.  After the Great Troy Fire of 1869, Hayden helped rebuild much of the town.  In 1884, the President appointed him postmaster of Sayre, which post he filled until his death.

Today, Sidney is most remembered for his work with and writing about Freemasonry.  He was a member of the Rural Amity Lodge, No. 70, F. & A. M. in Athens, PA .  By 1832, Sidney had joined the Freemasons and was a 3° Master Mason.  Sidney’s 1830 Master Mason certificate is viewable at https://nationalheritagemuseum.typepad.com/library_and_archives/signed-and-sealed-masonic-certificates/ .  By 1866, he was a 33° Mason of the Scottish Rite (the highest level of this branch of Freemasonry).  Hayden researched and recorded the early history of American Freemasonry. Working with his associate, the noted Masonic author and editor of The Masonic Review (the order’s national periodical), Cornelius Moore (Nov. 23, 1806-June 3, 1883), Sidney became noted both as authority on Colonial and Early National periods and was in demand as both an author and speaker on the Masons.  He contributed to Moore’s 1863 publication Leaflets of Masonic biography, or, sketches of eminent Freemasons and three years later (1866) issued the first edition of his Washington and His Masonic Compeers.  By the next year, the work was in its sixth edition and was still in print as late as 1905.

The couple had six children:

1.  Julius T. Hayden (Sept. 18, 1838-Feb. 22, 1894) first became involved in railroads in 1862 working for the Union military in the Civil War.  Afterwards he worked for the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.  Around 1885, he moved to Florida where he was the superintendent of the Jacksonville & Atlantic Railroad.  In the 14 years prior to his death Col. Hayden lived in Jacksonville, FL, Sayre, PA, New Orleans, Memphis, and New York.

2.  Algernon Sidney Hayden (Feb. 5, 1843-May 23, 1843)

3.  Bert Hayden (Mar. 19, 1844-Oct. 9, 1918) was, like his father, a 33° Mason.  For 30 years, Bert worked for the Lehigh Valley Railroad.  When he died, he was the “oldest officer” of the company and had served as its’ “first division freight agent for the system.”  At one time, he lived in Rochester, NY.

4.  Charles Hayden (July 25, 1846-Apr. 2, 1917) moved around 1872 to Kansas.  Five years later, he settled in Holton, Jackson Co., Kansas.  He was an active Democrat although he never sought or held public office.  His brother Sidney and he were admitted to the Kansas bar on June 6, 1883.  “Charlie” was known throughout the state for his criminal defense work—especially his defense of John Collins in the latter’s murder trial.  He survived his wife by less than a month.

5.  Ruth Hayden (Sept. 11, 1848-Sept. 23, 1880) never married and lived with her parents until her death.

6.  Sidney Hayden (Feb. 15, 1857-Feb. 15, 1907). In 1872, after reading law for a year in Waverly, NY, Sidney moved to Holton, Kansas, to join his brother Charles’ law firm.  Active in local and state politics, he was one of Kansas’ presidential electors in 1896. He was also a lecturer at Campbell University’s law school, and a Mason, rising to the rank of Knights Templar and was a Shriner. 

Scope and Content 

System of Arrangement 

Conditions Governing Access

Physical Access  

Technical Access  

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use  

Language(s) and Scripts of the Material

Custodial History

Immediate Source of Acquisition