Last updated: December 18, 2024
Person
Maria Hayes – Canadian County, Oklahoma
Government Land Office
Quick Facts
Significance:
Oklahoma Black Homesteader
Place of Birth:
Washington County, Kentucky
Date of Birth:
April 30, 1836
Place of Death:
Canadian County, Oklahoma
Date of Death:
October 30, 1914
Maria Hayes was born on April 30, 1836, in Washington County, Kentucky. At 22, she married Thomas Hayes, and together they had eleven children, though they faced the heartbreaking loss of six of their children in infancy. In 1879, Maria and Thomas relocated to Atchison, Kansas where Maria's husband tragically died.
In 1891, at the age of 65, Maria moved to Oklahoma and applied for a homestead, where she established her home and lived for the remainder of her life. The homestead was located in Lot 3 and 4 of Section 2 in Township 14N, of Range 8 West near Indian Meridian. The property was 155 acres of prairie, timber, and farmland in Canadian County, Oklahoma.
Several improvements were made to the land including the building of a home, stables, a hen house, 60 acres of fencing, a well, and an orchard. Additionally, nearly 90-acres of the land was cultivated for the growing of several different crops. Her application was eventually approved by the General Land Office on December 20, 1902 with the land patent issued for Mrs. Hayes on February 2, 1903.
Following the submission of her application, Maria took out a mortgage on her land from Winne and Winne Loan Company of Wichita, Kansas. The $1,000 loan was to help her son secure land in Caddo County, Oklahoma.
She also took out a personal loan with the Wichita loan company but was never given the money. The loan company subsequently filed a lawsuit against her, alleging she had not repaid the loan she never received. However, according to court documents, the case was dismissed, with the court finding the loan company's claims to be fraudulent.
Maria Hayes died several years later in Oklahoma on October 30, 1914 at the age of 78.