DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and friend, this one's worth every mile. Now, some men live one life. Dr.
J.W. Hayes lived about four. He came out of Tennessee to Texas back in the 1860s, and before he ever cracked open a single medical textbook, he had already been a trail driver pushing cattle across the open range, a locomotive engineer with his hands on the throttle, and a rancher working the land.
That is not a résumé — that is a legend in progress. Then at forty years old — forty — Dr. Hayes walked through the doors of the Kentucky School of Medicine.
Most men that age are settlin' in. Hayes was just gettin' started. He graduated, and he went on to become a missionary to the Indians.
Born in 1854, he carried that life all the way to 1932. His wife, Lena Belle, was born in 1883 and passed in 1920. Now, their son — G.J.
Hayes, himself a medical doctor — he looked at everything his father represented and decided the best way to honor it was to give something back. He donated the very site of this park, and he gave it with a purpose: to honor the outstanding physicians of Augusta going back to the 1860s. And the marker names them.
Dr. S.P. Cunningham, born 1840, who lived all the way to 1935.
Dr. Hall Wilson, 1860 to 1906. Dr.
Ben S. Elliott, 1866 to 1918. Dr.
S.C. Kennedy, 1883 to 1970. And Drs.
Douglas, McDaniel, and Pugh. A park named for a man who drove cattle, ran locomotives, ranched the Texas land, went back to school at forty, and then sent his son forward to make sure nobody forgot the healers who served this community. That right there is how a family plants itself into a place permanently.
What the marker says
Named for Dr. J.W. Hayes (1854-1932), who came from Tennessee to Texas in 1860s and was a trail driver, locomotive engineer, and rancher. Entering Kentucky School of Medicine at 40, he graduated and became missionary to Indians. Wife Lena Belle (1883-1920). A son, G.J. Hayes, M.D., gave park site to honor outstanding physicians of Augusta since the 1860s: Drs. S.P. Cunningham (1840-1935), Hall Wilson (1860-1906), Ben S. Elliott (1866-1918), S.C. Kennedy (1883-1970), and Drs. Douglas, McDaniel, Pugh. (1971)