William Hayden was an American pioneer evangelist of the Disciples of Christ. He was also an early advocate of system and organization in the activities of the Disciples.
Background
William Hayden was born on June 30, 1799, in Rosstrevor Township, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the oldest of the eight children of Samuel and Sophia Hayden, the youngest being Amos Sutton, also prominent among the early Disciples. In 1804 the father migrated westward, and settled in Youngstown, Ohio, where amid frontier surroundings William grew up.
Education
Of questioning mind and having access to few books, William studied the Bible assiduously.
Career
Although at one period on the verge of atheism, for William Hayden was an independent thinker, he was finally converted and joined the Baptist Church. While he carried on the work of developing his farm with diligence, he was actively interested in everything pertaining to religion. A sermon which he heard Alexander Campbell preach at Warren in October 1821 awakened in him a struggle over the doctrines of Calvinism, and in time he adopted the views of the gospel being promulgated by the Disciples. The preaching of Walter Scott resulted in the reconstituting on a Campbellite basis of numerous practically defunct Baptist churches in northeastern Ohio. Among these was the church in Austintown, reestablished in June 1828, an of this Hayden, having been licensed to preach in May by the Canfield church, of which he was then a member, was put in charge.
When the Mahoning Association met that year, however, and it was proposed to confine Scott’s activities within the Association’s borders. The Association acquiesced, and Hayden was ordained at Austintown. Scott said later that he chose Hayden not because he could preach better than anybody else, but because there was not a man in the Association who could sing like him. He was the Sankey of his day. When Scott’s appeal failed, he would retire, saying: “I’ll send Willie, and he will sing you out. ” Nevertheless, he was also a most effective preacher and was especially successful in personal conferences. Hayden's connection with Scott was the beginning of thirty-five years of remarkable evangelistic work, during which he is said to have traveled 90, 000 miles, two-thirds of them on horseback. His journeys extended from Syracuse, New York, to the Mississippi, and from Canada to Virginia, although his chief field was in the Western Reserve. He broke new ground, starting churches, turning them over to someone else, and moving on. After suffering for two years from paralysis, he died in his sixty-fourth year at his home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.
Achievements
Membership
Hayden was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and other learned societies.
Connections
On December 20, 1818, Hayden married Mary McCollum and took up land in Austintown.