Carl Hayden - Background

Background

Hayden was born to Charles Trumbull Hayden and Sallie Calvert Davis on October 2, 1877 in Hayden's Ferry, Arizona Territory (renamed Tempe in 1878). Charles Hayden was a Connecticut-born merchant and freight operator who had moved west due to a lung ailment and homesteaded a claim on the south bank of the Salt River. Charles Hayden had also served as a probate judge and, following Grover Cleveland's 1884 election, had been considered for the territorial governorship. Sallie Davis was an Arkansas-born schoolteacher who served as vice president of the Arizona Territorial Suffrage Association during the 1890s. Following the birth of their son, Charles and Sallie Hayden had three daughters: Sarah (called Sallie), Anna, and Mary (called Mapes). Anna died unexpectedly at two-and-one-half years of age. The Hayden family operated a variety of business interests including a ferry service, a gristmill, a general store, and agricultural interests. While he was growing up, Hayden's family took several trips including journeys to Washington D.C. and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. To these, Hayden added several solo trips including a horseback trip to the Grand Canyon and a trip to Mexico City when he was fourteen.

Hayden attended Tempe's Eighth Street School and Arizona Territorial Normal School (now Arizona State University). After his graduation from normal school in June 1896 he was enrolled at Stanford University where he studied economics, history, language, and philosophy with an interest in attending law school after graduation. While at Stanford, he was sophomore class president and participated in debate, fiction writing, football, and track. During his junior year, Hayden suffered his only election defeat when he narrowly lost the race for student body president. He attributed his loss to overconfidence and learned to "always run scared" in future elections. Hayden met his future wife, Nan Downing, while at Stanford. The couple married on February 14, 1908 and produced no children.

One semester from graduation, in December 1899, Hayden was forced to drop out of school when his father became ill. Charles Hayden died on February 5, 1900, leaving his son with responsibility for the family and control of the family business interests. Hayden sold the mercantile business to pay off outstanding debts and then rented most of the family's properties to provide an income that allowed him to move his mother and sisters to Palo Alto, California where his sisters could attend college. In the fall of 1903, he enlisted in Arizona Territorial National Guard and was elected captain within two months.