Seth Hays Home

Seth Hays founded what became Council Grove when he arrived in 1847 as the area's first settler of European origin. Hays opened a trading store that conducted business with the local Kaw Nation (Kaw Reservation) as well as travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. Hays and G.M. Simcock, another person instrumental in founding Council Grove, entered into a mercantile business that provided financial success to both of them. Hays built his home in either 1866 or 1867 and, although he was unmarried, lived with his adopted daughter, Kittie, and Sarah "Aunt Sally" Taylor. Sarah, an enslaved African American, came to Council Grove with Seth. This historic house now operates as a museum operated by the Morris County Historical Society.

Seth Hays arrived in 1847 and is widely recognized as the founder of Council Grove. Roughly twenty years later, he built this home (sometime between 1866 and 1867). The home speaks to the success he and his early partner, G.M. Simcock, enjoyed as mercantile businessmen on the Santa Fe Trail. Hays, who never married, lived in the home with his adopted daughter Kittie and his former slave Sarah Taylor who gained her freedom in 1861 when Kansas entered the Union as a free state. The Hays family referred to Sarah as "Aunt Sally," a moniker many white families utilized in the era before and after slavery to reinforce the racial hierarchy of the day while insisting that African Americans they owned or employed were treated "as family." Sarah Taylor chose to stay with Seth and worked as a servant, taking care of Kittie and performing household duties for the Hays family. When Sarah passed away in 1872, Seth insisted she would be buried in his cemetery lot rather than a small and separate portion of the cemetery where African Americans were buried at that time

Seth Hays was the great-grandson of Daniel Boone and cousin to Kit Carson, was born in Missouri on April 23, 1811, and grew up in modern-day Kansas City. In April 1847, two Santa Fe Trail traders — Albert G. Boone and James G. Hamilton — established a trading post on the Kaw Reservation near today's Council Grove; they possessed a Kanza Indian trading license. The two traders commissioned Hays to build a store and trade with the Kanza, or Kaw, Nation. As a result, Hays became the first white settler of the town that evolved into Council Grove. 

In addition to trading with Native Americans, Hays interacted with those traversing the Santa Fe Trail; Council Grove evolved into a popular stop along the trail. Hays constructed a log cabin where he lived and conducted his trading business. He lived with Sarah Taylor, an African-American slave commonly referred to as "Aunt Sally." In 1852, he bought out Boon and Hamilton and traded under his own name. Five years later, in 1857, he constructed a larger building to accommodate the increasing Santa Fe Trail traffic. That same year, he partnered with G. M. Simcock (See Clio Entry "Simcock House") to form S.M. Hays & Company, a trading post, restaurant, hotel, courthouse, post office, printing office, meeting and social hall, and bawdy form of dinner theater. 

Both Simcock and Hays grew wealthy by 1860 when a Rocky Mountain gold rush increased traffic through Council Grove. By 1860, the newly-formed Council Grove Town Company sold lots, which led to a home-building boom. One year later, Kansas entered the Union as a free state; thus, Aunt Sally earned her freedom, but she stayed with Hays as his servant. Also, in 1861, Hays took into his home Kittie Parker Robbins, whose mom died shortly after giving birth (the father moved, her two sisters were placed in foster care, and the family never reunited). Sarah raised Kittie, hence how she became known as Aunt Sally.

In 1862, Hays moved to Colorado after selling his store's business interest to Simcock, but Hays retained ownership of the building. During the three years he spent in Colorado, the Santa Fe trade grew exceptionally lucrative. Simcock estimated that $40 million in freight traveled through the town. Hays returned to Council Grove in 1865 and on January 1, 1866, Simcock moved his business across the street to the building that is known today as the Trowbridge building. Hays resumed trading in the original store building, selling supplies and room and board to travelers, including such famous guests as Jesse James and General Custer. 

The success of Hays' business allowed him to build the now-historic home in 1866 or 1867, roughly the same year he formally adopted Kittie. On his fiftieth birthday, he recorded the home's deed, where he lived with Kittie and Sarah (Aunt Sally), who lived in private quarters located in the home's basement. In 1870 Hays started a newspaper called the Council Grove Democrat as well as the first bank in town, the Council Grove Savings Bank, which was sold in 1872 and renamed the First National Bank. When Sarah's health began to fail in 1871, Hays sent Kittie to live with friends in Kansas City (then known as Westport). One year later, in 1872, Sarah died. Though African Americans were routinely buried together in the corner of the cemetery, Hays insisted Sarah be buried in his lot, where Hays was buried near her one year later in 1873. 

Today, the Seth Hays Home stands as a monument to the founder of Council Grove and serves as a museum managed by the Morris County Historical Society. Meanwhile, his store continues to operate as the Hays House Restaurant, the oldest continuously operating restaurant west of the Mississippi River.

Fischer, William. "Seth Hays Home. " The Historical Marker Database. hmdb.com. December 29, 2020. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=45142.

"Hays House History." Hays House Restaurant. Accessed July 19, 2021. https://www.hayshouse.com/history. 

Kansas Historical Society. "Seth Millington Hays." Kansapedia. Accessed July 19, 2021. 

Pankratz, Richard. "Nomination Form: Seth Hays Home." National Register of Historic Places. nps.gov. 1975. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/dd98c592-4879-445b-ab31-2df59d15e48a/. 

Powers, Mathew. "Simcock House." Clio: Your Guide to History. July 16, 2021. https://www.theclio.com/entry/137741.

Weiser, Kathy. "Seth Hays – Founder of Council Grove, Kansas." Legends of Kansas (blog). September, 2020. https://legendsofkansas.com/seth-hays/.