Martin Hays

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. We're talking about Martin Hays, a man Longview, Texas called one of its own and clearly meant it. Born in 1883, gone in 1958, and in between, he left the kind of mark on Gregg County that gets you a historical marker and a story worth stopping for.

He married Clara Harris, daughter of a Gregg County pioneer family, which tells you something right there about his roots in this place. He wasn't just passing through. He put down stakes.

He got involved. And in 1910, Longview voters sent him into public office for the first time, as city marshal and district clerk. Not one job.

Two. That's the kind of man Martin Hays was. You want something done, you ask a busy person.

He kept himself busy in civic affairs all along the way, active and present in the life of his community. Then came the sheriff's badge. From 1924 to 1932, Martin Hays served as county sheriff of Gregg County.

Now here's the part that makes you sit up a little straighter around this campfire. In a time and place where a lawman's reputation often rode on how fast he could draw, Martin Hays seldom carried a gun. Seldom.

And he enforced the law in a soft-spoken manner. Soft-spoken. Gregg County, Texas, in the nineteen-twenties, and this man kept the peace with his voice and his bearing more than with iron.

That takes a particular kind of nerve that doesn't announce itself. He was also among the first Texas sheriffs to organize junior deputies, which means he was thinking about what comes next, about passing something along. Outside the badge, he was a member of First Baptist Church, a Royal Arch Mason, and a Woodman of the World.

A full life, lived quietly, enforced firmly. Martin Hays didn't need to make noise to make a difference. Gregg County remembered that.

What the marker says

(1883-1958) Respected Longview citizen. Married Clara Harris, daughter of Gregg County pioneer family. Active in civic affairs, first elected to public office, 1910, as city marshall and district clerk. County sheriff 1924-1932. Seldom carried a gun-- enforced law in a soft-spoken manner. Was among first Texas sheriffs to organize junior deputies. Member, First Baptist Church, a Royal Arch Mason; and Woodman of the World.