Edwin B. Hay

by Vinnie Ream Hoxie

 This 1906 bust of  Edwin Barrett Hay, 1850-1906, by Vinnie Ream Hoxie tops a monument to Edwin and Florence Brown Hay, 1855-1944 and their daughter Julia Hay Nash, 1883-1938, in Washington's Rock Creek Cemetery. The bust is one of Reams later works done when she was 59 years old after her return to sculpting with the permission of her husband. 

HAY

The Smithsonian gives this description of the monument:

Bust of Edwin Barrett Hay wearing a coat with wide lapels. An insignia appears on the proper left lapel and he wears an ascot at the neck. His hair is close cropped and he stares straight ahead. The bust rests on a three-tiered base inscribed with the names of family members. The top tier is rectangular and is adorned with decorative scroll work.

Edwin Barrett Hay

1850 - 1906

Florence Brown Hay

1855 - 1944

Julia Hay Nash

1883 - 1939

Hay

A Friend of All Mankind

1913 George E.  Nash 1991  1911 Olga G. Nash 1982

The memorial is further described in the The Washington Star, September 22, 1907:

Memorial to Edwin Barrett Hay

The monument was designed by Noble Harry E. Rupprecht of Almas Temple. The Shriners paid for and installed Hay's monument because he was impoverished when died of indigestion in 1906.  (See The  Washington Times, May 13, 1906.)

Gemini sums up Hay this way:

Edwin Barrett “Ned” Hay (1850–1906) was a prominent 19th-century American attorney, nationally recognized handwriting expert, and influential fraternal leader based in Washington, D.C..

His 1906 obituary in the New York Times entitled “Tucker Witness Dies” emphasized his expertise as a handwriting expert:

He testified as a handwriting witness in the murder case of Charles L. Tucker, the Massachusetts murderer. He also was a handwriting witness in the Patrick trial in New York, in the Mann-Collier libel case, and other notable trials. He was a member of the Gridiron Club of this city.

Edwin Hays handwriting expertise not only included the ability to identify the handwriting of others; it extended to his own excellent penmanship. In 1903 he was the calligrapher of a scroll sent by the  Washington News Correspondents to David Francis president of the then ongoing Louisiana Purchase Exhibition in St. Louis. The Editor and Publisher, a newspaper for newspapermen, said “It is a magnificent piece of pen work, and was executed by E. B. Hay.”

Hay famously criticized the handwriting of Theodore Roosevelt's cabinet. The Washington Times,  April 6, 1906  quotes him: “I think we have the crudest handwriting in the Cabinet now that we have had in many years.” 

This Harris and Ewing photo in the Washington Times, June 12, 1906, describes Hay as a “Gifted Lawyer, Poet, Wit...”

Col. Edwin B. Hay

Gifted Lawyer, Poet, Wit, Who Numbered His friends All Over the Country

by Thousands, and Who  died Last Night After a Brief Illness of Acute Indigestion.  

The only example I can find of his poetic ability is this parody of "High Up in the Bamboo Tree." which Hay delivered to the Gridiron Club: (Also in the Washington Times, Apr. 12 1906.)

“Although I'm up in the Speaker's chair,

I'm lonely, I'm lonely:

I like the boys so well, I love them only;

They always were so good to me,

They helped me on to victory,

I wish they all could rule with me-

High up in the Speaker's chair.”

“Ned” Hay was a leader of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and was twice elected Grand Exalted Ruler. Ellis's Authentic History of the Elks includes this photo:

Hay was a member of  Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. This Harris and Ewing photo appeared in The Shield, in 1906:

Edwin Barrett Hay

“He gave more pleasure to more people than any man

who ever lived in the city of Washington.”

Ned Hay was one of six D.C. delegates to the 1904 Democratic Party convention in Saint Louis. (See the Washington Times, May 15, 1904)

(The Washington Times, May 15, 1904)

Hay's novel The Vivians was published after his death. A review of the novel notes that: “Washington probably never had a more popular citizen than the late Col. Ed. Hay. ”  “Colonel” here is just a courtesy title.  (See the effusive review in the Washington Times Magazine, August 7. 1907.)

Edwin B. Hay's elaborate signature was printed on the frontispiece of  The Vivians: