This home at 1517 West Okmulgee was built by William and Josephine Delehanty around 1920 on land originally part of a Creek Indian allotment to Judge John and Jessie Thomas in 1899. In 1924, John T. and Ada Toole Griffin bought this house which belonged to their family until his death in 1944. The Griffin estate then sold the property to A. W. and Grace Hays in 1948 and remained as such until the death of Mrs. Hays in 1988. Originally from Arkansas, Mr. and Mrs. Hays came to Muskogee from Gore, Oklahoma in 1929 from which point they owned and operated several mercantile stores in Oklahoma and Arkansas. In Muskogee they may be remembered for the operation of Modern Clothiers.
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A. W. Hays Funeral Set Here Thursday
Funeral services for A. W. Hays, 69, prominent and widely known Muskogee businessman who died Tuesday night following a long illness, will be held Thusday afternoon.
A former president of the Muskogee Chamber of Commerca and a resident here since 1930, Hays died about 11 p.m. Tuesday in Muskogee General Hospital. Rev. Wilford Jones, pastor, will conduct funeral services Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in Saint Paul Methodist Church. Burial will be in Greenhill Cemetery under direction of Bradley-Agent Funeral Home. Pallbearers will be B. R. Hays of Blytheville, Ark., Ray Swearingen of Webbers Falls, Eulus LaFave of STigler, J. C. Starr of Haskell, J. H. West of Spiro and Richard Warren of Muskogee. Honorary pallbearers will be L. W. Duncan, Dudley Wilkinson, Tams Bixby Jr., R. S. McKee, George Lynde, R. H. Lomax, Earl Sneed, Hardin Nelson, Bert Baker, W. E. Roswey Jr., T. H. Niles, Nat Irish, C. F. Lynde, Joe Butler, Cecil Bohanon, A. Bacher, Carl Bates, W. Pat Fite, Preston Jones, Dr. W.N. Weaver, Dr. Edwin H. Fite, all of Muskogee; Bob Sibley of Pryor, George M. Reeves of Vinita, C. L. Priddy of McAlester, Ben Harned of Okmulgee, Dr. Joseph Fulcher of Tulsa, Neil Simms of Ft. Smith, J. B. Sheffield of Webbers Falls and Carl Allenbaugh of Gore.
Hays was born February 22, 1892 near Van Buren, Arkansas, and the youngest of five children of the late Mr. and Mrs. John J. Hays, pioneer Arkansas residents.
He received his education at the Arkansas Teachers College in Conway, Arkansas. On May 15, 1913, he was married to the former Grace Mae Graham, who survives.
Before entering the mercantile field in 1917, Hays taught school in Crawford County, Arkansas. His first store was opened in Verana, Oklahoma in 1917. In 1920 he entered into a business partnership with the late David King in Tahlequah. From there he went to Gore and to Webbers Falls where the partnership opened general merchandise stores. He was also active in the buying of cotton and the operation of a cotton gin in Webbers Falls for many years. In 1930, Hays and his family moved to Muskogee, and on January 31, 1935, he started a mercantile store in Blytheville, Arkansas, driving there from Muskogee every two weeks for many years. His business expansion also includes stores in Monette, Arkansas, Hayti, Missouri, Stigler and Spiro and the Modern Clothiers, in Muskogee.
In recent years he had been in a partnership with J. C. Starr of Haskell in the oil business. Throughout his career, Hays practiced the philosophy of choosing as a partner for each new business venture a young man who might otherwise not have the opportunity to enter business for himself especially in the depression years. Very active in civic and community affairs, Hays was a member of the Board of Directors of the Phoenix Federal Savings and Loan and was the first chairman of the Child Welfare Board of Muskogee. Until ill health forced his resignation, he was a member fo the Board of Directors of the Commercial National Bank of Muskogee.
An aviation enthusiast for a long time, Hays was one of the first members of the State Aviation Commission and later served as chairman. As chairman of the Aviation Committee of the Muskogee Chamber of Commerce he was active in helping to bring the first airline service to Muskogee. Before World War II, he operated civilian training programs in connection with the University of Arkansas and Connors College. In 1945 he received his pilot's license and had more than 3,000 hours vlying time.
A member of the Saint Paul Methodist Church, he was also a member of Knights Templar, Royal ARch Mason, The Shrine, Scottish Rite Masons, Royal Order of the Jesters, Muskogee Kiwanis Club and the Muskogee Country Club.
In addition to his wife, survivors include a son, Arthur G. Hays, 2705 Boston; a daughter, Mrs. James C. Buchanan Jr., also of the home; and four grandchildren. Other survivors include three sisters, Mrs. K. M. Comstock, Springdale, Arkansas; Mrs. David King, Tahlequah, and Mrs. Ira V. Comstock, Van Buren, Arkansas.