Seth M. Hays was a shrewd, colorful, and successful trader, rancher, tavern owner, and publisher.
He built this house in 1867; it was elaborate for Council Grove at that time. Though he was a life-long bachelor, Hays adopted five-year-old Kittie Parker Robbins the same day he recorded the deed to this home.
Hays, a great-grandson of Daniel Boone, first came here to trade with the area's Indians in 1847. He witnessed many changes in Council Grove over his 25 years as a community leader: the Kaw (Kansa) Indians were relocated to their reservation in this area; the settlement he started grew into a town; and Kansas evolved into a territory, and then achieved statehood.
Hays lived in this home until his death in 1873.
[Photo inset caption reads] Hays' adopted daughter, "Miss Kittie," was the child of James and Caroline Robbins. Hays took her into his home as a foster child while she was still an infant, after her mother died during childbirth. Hays died when she was only 11 years old, leaving her as his sole heir. She completed boarding school in Westport, Missouri; married; and settled in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Sarah Taylor, "Aunt Sally," came to Council Grove with Seth Hays as his slave. With the admission of Kansas to the Union in 1861, she was freed, but chose to remain in the Hays household. She lived in her basement quarters and cared for her "family" until her death in 1872. She is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery, close to Seth Hays.
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