John Hay, who, since 1890, has been secretary of state of the United
States, first saw the light at Salem, Indiana, on October 8, 1838. His
father was Dr. Charles Hay, and John was educated in the common schools
at Warsaw, Illinois, and in the academy at Springfield, Illinois.
He graduated from Brown university in 1858, and after a preparatory
period in a local law school was admitted to the Illinois bar. Mr.
Hay was one of the private secretaries of President Lincoln. He was
breveted colonel of United States Volunteers and was also assistant
adjutant-general during the Civil war. He has also been secretary of
legation at Paris, Madrid and Vienna and was charge d’affaires at
Vienna. From 1879 to 1881 he acted as first assistant secretary of
state. During the international sanitary conference of 1881 he was made
its president. His services as ambassador to England from 1897 to 1898
will be long remembered in connection with his tactful and dignified
diplomacy. Mr. Hay, notwithstanding his many and onerous official
duties has found time to write books of both prose and poetry. His
Castilian Days and Pike County Ballads are among the most popular of
these. In 1874 he married Clara Stone, of Cleveland, Ohio.