Background
Patrick Hayes was born to Thomas Hayes and Eleanor Barry in County Wexford, Ireland, most likely in or near Tacumshane.
Patrick Hayes was born to Thomas Hayes and Eleanor Barry in County Wexford, Ireland, most likely in or near Tacumshane.
Hayes was a merchant and a seafarer, eventually becoming a ship"s captain. One of his more memorable naval trips involved a 1787 voyage to China on the Asia. Hayes held several positions in the commercial and political spheres in Philadelphia.
In 1834 he was listed as a director in both the Marine Insurance Company and the Captains" Society.
Other societies that Hayes belonged to included the State Society of the Cincinnati. He was appointed Harbor Master for the Portuguese of Philadelphia by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, David Rittenhouse Porter, on February 9, 1839, a position which he held until April 1842.
In 1843 Hayes was appointed Master Warden for the Portuguese of Philadelphia and remained in that position until 1849. Hayes married Elizabeth Keen, descendant of Swedish immigrant Jöran Kyn and daughter of William Keen and Dorothy Gaylor, on April 8, 1795 in what is now Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in a ceremony performed by the Reverend William White, an Episcopalian bishop.
The couple had five children: John Barry Hayes, Sarah Barry Hayes, Thomas Hayes, Isaac Austin Hayes, and Patrick Barry Hayes.
A Roman Catholic, Hayes was a member of the Hibernian Society for the Relief of Emigrants from Ireland.
