[dropcap]B[/dropcap]ecause 200 candles would be too many to place on a cake, Hays County officials last week instead opted to pass a proclamation celebrating the bicentennial birthday of the county’s namesake.
The court, joined by members of the Hays County Historical Commission, celebrated Col. John “Jack” Coffee Hays week Jan. 28, which was Hays’ 200th birthday, according to a release.
“We’re honored to be named after one of the most famous Texas Rangers and a pioneer in law enforcement on the Texas frontier,” Hays County Historical Commission Chair Kate Johnson said.
She added the HCHC spent “countless hours to documenting his life,” resulting in a chapter in the Hays County history book as well as the first historical documentary produced by the Commission.
Born in Tennessee, Hays made his way to Texas where he joined a Ranger company and fought under Thomas Rusk and Erastus “Deaf” Smith for Texas Independence.
In 1840, he was appointed a Ranger captain and engaged in battles and skirmishes with Native American tribes as well as Mexican troops.
Hays and his Rangers were involved in important actions at Plum Creek, Salado, Enchanted Rock, and the “Woll Invasion” of 1842, among others. He was among the first to use the 1844 Navy Colt Paterson five-shot revolver, making suggestions for improvements to it that led to the Colt revolver becoming one of the guns that helped win the West.
Senator Edward Burleson introduced legislation that on March 1, 1848, created the county named in Hays’ honor from part of Travis County.
Hays left Texas in 1849 and became the first sheriff of San Francisco, Calif., the first U.S. Surveyor General for California and founded the City of Oakland. Hays died on April 21, 1883. He is interred in the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.
