His great grandfather, William Morrison was a fur trader and he soon saw the possibilities of trading farther west. In 1804 he stocked a large wagon train which headed for Santa Fe in the territory of New Mexico. He placed Baptiste La Lande, a French Creole, in charge of the wagon train. It is known that La Lande arrived at Santa Fe, was given a cordial welcome, and the Spanish were so good to him that he decided to remain there. He sold everything down to the bare boards and kept the money from the sale.
Back in Illinois, Morrison tried many ways to collect his money, without success, and La Lande was never apprehended for his thievery. Morrison’s only satisfaction must have been in eventually realizing that through his efforts a new, historic trail westward had been created. Certainly Charles W. Hay and his descendants are proud of their family’s financing of the first trading expedition to the West. For more than half a century, this trail was used in civilization’s westward trek, and even today there are spots where the deep wagon ruts of the original Santa Fe Trail can be pointed out.
Charles W. Hay was discharged from the Illinois National Guard in Carbondale, Illinois on March 1, 1893 because he “was unable to attend drills due to the nature of his occupation”.
In 1898 Charles W. Hay was a volunteer with the Roberts Provential Regiment in the War with Spain and afterwards returned to Carbondale to clerk in a store.
He married Miss Elizabeth (Bess) Holland in 1899. They had two children; Charles C. Hay who prior to his retirement worked for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and John Allen Hay who was a Marion attorney in the law firm of Ferrell and Hay. John Allen Hay appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning a landmark case which forbids banks from using deposits as collateral for other deposits. Charles and Bess were living at 701 S. Market St. in this period.
Bess Holland died in 1908 and in 1915 Mr. Hay married Alliba Thurmond. Betty Hay was born to this union on November 3, 1928. Betty and her husband Ed McDevitt resided in the family home (513 S. Market St.) which was built in 1875 by the Holland family and has been continuously occupied by family since that time. Betty retired in 1988 after teaching 32 years in the Marion School system.
In 1900, Charles began working as a clerk in Marion where he received a fine offer to begin as a traveling salesman selling shoes for A. J. Bates and later the Carlise brand. In 1902, he established a shoe store but sold out and was again a traveling salesman and real estate dealer.
Charles Weston Hay owned a store next to the First National Bank (now Bank of Marion) at 302 Public Square. This store was destroyed by fire in 1916 along with the bank and he built a new building in September, 1917 which was designated 304 Public Square. This building, located in the middle section of what is now the Bank of Marion on the North West side of the Marion Tower Square Plaza, was one of the most modern and best ladies’ stores in Southern Illinois. It was known as Hay’s Mercantile Co.
This store was considered as the place to buy the latest style at the right prices. Mr. Hay was known as a “styleologist” and maintained this reputation by selling the famous French- American line of apparel of which no two garments were alike. The best goods for the best stores, such as Saroses shoes; Madam Grace corsets, LaFrance underwear. Onyx and Everwear hosiery were sold in this store.
The second floor of the building was conservatory of music, conducted by Mrs. Alliba Thurmond Hay, who had few equals in Southern Illinois as a vocal and piano instructor. She was a graduate and post graduate of Ewing College and Bush Temple Conservatory of Music in Chicago. She received special training on piano from Edgar A. Nelson of Chicago, a nationally known teacher of piano and pipe organ and also special instruction in voice from Madame Justine Wagner of Wilmanstrause Conservatory of Music of Berlin.
Hay’s father in law, E.M. Thurmond was a former Mayor of Marion from 1927 to 1931 and owned Thumond Monuments.
At one time C.W. Hay’s business included stores in Herrin and Benton. Through the years he sold shoes, both in his stores and as a traveling shoe salesman. From his store he sold fresh flowers, sending special messages to the recipients in his beautiful Spencerian Script, for which he had become well known.
C.W. Hay owned commercial property in Benton and Johnston City and he owned 14 acres in Marion which later became the site of Motel Marion, one of the first motels in Southern Illinois.
He owned and operated the the Marion Opera House at 400 N. Market Street. The Opera House was not the first theatre in the city as previous to its operation under the management of Mr. Hay there was a show house on the public square where the Ed Jeter Dry Goods Company was located (602-604 Public Square, west side, south of W. Main).
Hay, who was president of the Marion Chamber of Commerce from 1933 through 1939, used his own personally printed stationery to answer letters and to continually proclaim, to all who would listen, the wonders and advantages of Marion. He had numerous “letters to the editor,” defending and praising Southern Illinois printed in the Chicago Tribune. Many articles about Southern Illinois appeared in the Illinois Journal of Commerce, one of which in 1936 explained how Egypt was the “only centralized safety zone for the country’s interior defense plants.” He spoke often to the Marion Trades Council in 1930 seeking their cooperation to bring industry into the area.
Hay was also active in the Marion Merchants Association in addition to a group called the Egyptian State League. The league was active in the 1930’s as a Southern Illinois organization promoting the economic environment of downstate Illinois. He also served on the executive committee of the Illinois Reciprocal Trade Association in the 1940’s.
He was a charter member of the Marion Elks Club, holding a “50 year pin,” and also served as Exalted Ruler. Mr. Hay was president of the Egyptian State League, which encompassed fifteen counties in Southern Illinois. Its’ purpose was to promote the economy and tourism in the area. He played a leading role in securing 32,000 acres for the construction of Crab Orchard Lake, and was instrumental in acquiring the VA Hospital for Marion. During WWI, Mr. Hay was very active in the war work and served as country director of publicity during all the drives.
In 1961 at age 88, Hay tried again to push a plan to propose the Southern Illinois Canal. He had devised this plan around 1938 in conjunction with possible plans for the locating of a military inland defense plant. The canal was planned to extend from the mouth of the Saline on the Ohio River below Shawneetown and extend across Southern Illinois reaching to below Grand Tower Illinois on the Mississippi River. The canal was proposed to serve as a highway for commerce in addition to being a flood control measure. It never got off the ground.
Charles Weston Hay died October 7, 1967, at the age of 94, leaving personal files which indicate his total dedications to the betterment of Marion and Southern Illinois. Hay was the “consummate” Marion business promoter.
Sam’s Note: C.W. Hay’s lone surviving child, Betty McDevitt occupied the family home on S. Market until her death on May 3, 2016.
(Extracted from an article written by Mary Lou Roberts and published in the 1989 Sesquicentennial History, WCHS; Supplemented by Sam Lattuca on 02/28/2013)