1905 History of Crawford County Kansas

Albert N. Hayden, a well known and successful traveling salesman in the southeastern part of Kansas and a member of the hoard of education of Pittsburg, is one of the popular business men of this city, where he has had his home for the last ten years. He has been in the ranks of the traveling business men of Kansas for the last twenty years, and his devotion to every-day business, his genial and whole-souled manner, and his ability and energy have gained him a well deserved success among that Yankee fraternity whose methods have placed American goods and products in every corner of the habitable world.

Mr. Hayden was born in Grant county, Wisconsin, March 8, 1860. His father, Joseph H. Hayden, was a native of Maine, but in the early days he came west, and for some time lived in Pike county, Missouri. He was married in that county to Miss Elizabeth Pritchett. This couple later took up their residence in Grant county, Wisconsin, but in 1872 returned to Pike county, Missouri, where they remained till their death.

Mr. A. N. Hayden spent the first twelve years of his life in Grant county, Wisconsin, and then grew to manhood in Pike county. He received a good education in the Pike county schools, and later studied law. He has never practiced law to any extent, having used it mainly as a help to his business as fire insurance adjuster, which position he held for several years with the Home Insurance Company of New York. He continued to live in Pike county until 1885, and then removed to Kansas, where he quit the insurance business and went on the road as a salesman. He had his headquarters at Chanute, where he lived for four years. In 1893 he moved to Pittsburg, where his home and headquarters have been ever since. His first work after coming to Pittsburg was for Harper and Company, wholesale produce, of this city; he later traveled for the Pittsburg Wholesale Grocery Company, and now represents the Western Wholesale Grocery Company of Kansas City.

In April, 1903, Mr. Hayden was elected a member of the board of education of Pittsburg on the Republican ticket. This office came to him entirely without solicitation on his part, and he made no effort to secure his election, in fact, remaining out on the road until noon of the day of election. He has hosts of friends in the city, and his popularity and worth as a citizen are attested in many ways.

Mr. Hayden was married at Erie, Kansas, in 1886, to Miss Ida Neal. They have four children, Stella, Clyde, Neal and Velma.