The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 1098 JEHU J. HAYS. Jehu J. Hays, a prominent attorney and leading business man of Grandview, was born near Asheville, in Buncombe county, North Carolina, on the 4th of March, 1868, and is a son of James M. and Eliza (Embler) Hays, who were also natives of Buncombe county. His paternal grandfather, James Hays, was born in the same place and there spent his entire life. They belonged to a good old southern family and most of its representatives followed the occupation of farming. Both parents died in Buncombe county. During his boyhood Jehu J. Hays had little opportunity to attend school and at the age of eighteen could read poorly, but he determined to have a better education after hearing his father read the life of James A. Garfield, in which was told the experiences of the president during his boyhood and how he overcame all obstacles in winning prominence. Mr. Hays at length entered the Carson and Newman College of Jefferson City, Tennessee, where he paid his own expenses, and after his graduation he taught school for some time. He began the study of law at home and when his eyes grew tired his wife often read to him. He took a two years' course with the Columbian Correspondence College of Washington, D. C., and at length was graduated from the law department of the University of Tennessee in 1907, winning the gold medal for the best work in Moot Court and Practice. After leaving college he taught for one year in the Jonesboro high school and later was for some years at the head of the Masonic institute at Mountain City, the county seat of Johnson county, Tennessee. He continued to live there until he completed his law course, after which he practiced at that place for one year. It was in the fall of 1908 that Mr. Hays came to Washington and spent the first winter in Kittitas county. In the spring of the following year he became a resident of Toppenish, where he made his home until March, 1912, when he removed to Grandview. He is today the oldest lawyer in the place and has served as city attorney during most of his residence here. He also filled the same position while living in Toppenish and was police justice for a time. On the 13th of April, 1901, Mr. Hays was united in marriage to Miss Martha T. Helm, a native of Jefferson county, Tennessee, and a daughter of William B. F. Helm, a farmer by occupation. Both her parents are deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Hays hate been born five children: Byron Jackson, Martha Lucille, Ruth Mary, William and James Woodrow, all of whom are living with the exception of William. Although Baptists in religious belief, Mr. and Mrs. Hays now attend the Methodist church and he is also identified with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Foresters of America. In politics he is an independent republican. Although he started out in life with limited advantages, he has always made the most of his opportunities and has become one of the leading attorneys of Yakima county. He has had a degree of success financially and is today the owner of two ranches, which he is now developing. In addition to his law practice he also engages in the real estate and insurance business to some extent. He attributes much of his success to the assistance given him by his wife, who has helped him in every possible way. They were married before she finished her college course and she, too, was making her own way through school, having commenced teaching at the age of eighteen years. They are today numbered among the leading citizens of Grandview and wherever known are held in the highest esteem. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in January 2008 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.