Mary Jane Hayden facts for kids

Mary J. Hayden (born Mary Jane Bean) was born in 1830 in Athens, Maine. She spent her early years with her grandparents in Cornville, Maine. In 1845, Mary and her parents moved to the wild lands of Wisconsin. There, in 1847, she met and married Gay Hayden.

In 1850, Mary and Gay moved to the Oregon Territory, settling near what is now Vancouver, Washington. In 1851, they learned about the Donation Land Claim Act. This law allowed people to claim land. They settled on an island in the Columbia River, between modern-day Portland, Oregon and Vancouver. This island later became known as Hayden Island. Gay Hayden built a large home there. They lived on the island for five years with their twin children. Both Mary and Gay became well-known pioneers of the Pacific Northwest. Mary was a member of the Oregon Pioneer Association. She passed away on June 24, 1918, in Seattle, Washington.

Mary Hayden's Land Dispute

In 1886, Mary and Gay Hayden decided to separate. They divided their property and managed their own money and land from then on. Later, Gay Hayden sold some of his land to a man named Terrence Furey. Furey was told that Mary had no claim to this land.

Years later, Furey sold the land to Reinhold Zerbst. Mary Hayden did not agree to this sale. Gay Hayden had passed away in 1902. In 1903, a railway company needed Zerbst's land for their tracks. They paid him $1200 for it.

Mary Hayden did not try to claim this land until the sale to Zerbst happened. In 1908, she took her case to the Supreme Court of Washington. She wanted half of the money from the land sale. This case became known as Hayden v. Zerbst. In the end, the court decided in favor of Zerbst. The court said that Mary had waited too long, about 14 years, to take action after her husband sold the land.