WILLIAM H. HAYDEN, was born July 11, 1825, in Boston, Massachusetts, and is the son of William and Ann Hayden, natives of Massachusetts, and descendants of Miles Standish. William H. Hayden's grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Mr. Hayden was only six years old when his parents came to Alton, Illinois, in 1831. His earlier education was in select schools, and afterwards completed in Shurtleff College, Alton, Illinois, in 1846. After his school days he began the mercantile business by clerking in a dry goods store in Alton, and subsequently engaged in the drug trade, under the firm name of W. A. Holton & Co., with which firm he continued until the fall of 1849, and then went to St. Louis and commenced in the patent medicine business, which he closed the following year. In the latter part of the year 1850, Mr. Hayden was given a position in the St. Louis post office, under Postmaster Archibald Gambol, in which position he served until May, 1854, then he became bookkeeper in the wholesale liquor and commission house of Houseman, Smith & Co., St. Louis, Missouri, and kept their accounts until the last of June, 1857, when the firm dissolved, and Mr. Hayden formed a partnership with a retiring partner, under the firm name of J. P. Callahan & Co., as rectifiers and general commission merchants; disposed of his interest in this business, June 30, 1859, and from that time to the opening of the late war, was engaged as accountant for several firms in St. Louis. Mr. Hayden was mustered into the United States service with a military company, of which he was a member for three months, in Reserve Corps, in Company K, Third Regiment, and participated in the capture of Camp Jackson; then the Corps was ordered to Rolla, Missouri, to hold that position, which they did until the expiration of their time. Before he was mustered out, was detailed to the Arsenal, in St. Louis, as Instructor in Military Tactics, which position he held until the middle of September, 1861, when he was assigned as Instructor of Military Tactics in Camp Butler, in Clear Lake, Illinois; remained there one month; was ordered to Camp Dement, at Dixon, Illinois, to take charge of the camp and assist in the organization of a regiment. In January, 1862, occupied position of Chief Clerk in the Quartermaster's Department, in Springfield, Illinois, for southern and central part of the State, which position he filled honorable until the close of the war. A short time before the war closed, he accepted a position as chief bookkeeper in the First National Bank, in Springfield, and continued his services with the bank for thirteen years. On July 1, 1878, Mr. Hayden accepted his present position as chief clerk of the money order department in the post office, in Springfield, Illinois. Mr. Hayden was married in St. Louis, January 27, 1848, to Margaret C. Cohen, daughter of Thomas and Mary W. Cohen, natives of Virginia; Mr. Cohen was one of the oldest citizens of St. Louis. Mrs. Hayden was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri; her early education was in her native city, and completed in Monticello Seminary, Godfrey, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Hayden had seven children, of whom three are living, viz: Albert C., Frank N., and Adeline A.; all were born in St. Louis. Mr. Hayden located in Springfield, Illinois, in May, 1862. United with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in St. Louis - Missouri Lodge, No. 11. Mr. and Mrs. Hayden are members of the Presbyterian Church, of which Mr. Hayden is an elder; and he has, for the last twelve or fifteen years, been actively engaged and deeply interested in the Sunday school work of the city and county; and for the last eight years, has conducted a mission at what is known as "Grace Chapel", near the West Coal Shaft, near the city.