Famous Biography

Don’t rush folks! It’s all worked out and the Hayes family lost every cent of it in the 19^th century.

Catherine Hayes went to Grass Valley, Nevada County, California in March/April 1853. She sang ballads for the miners and they threw gold nuggets on the stage. One of them called Troy went into partnership with her and they bought a claim known as the ‘Kate Hayes and Troy Mine’ . There wasn’t much gold near the surface and it was soon worked out. Troy’s name disappeared from the records and the mine was called the Kate Hayes when the Government Inspectors reported that it was situated directly over an ice age river bed which contained rich gold bearing deposits at a depth of 100 to 150 feet and that it should be worked.

Notices were posted ordering the owners to work the mine according to the law but of course no one responded since Kate Hayes was dead and George Power (the legal owner by virtue of her will) knew nothing about it. Mary Hayes probably knew that her daughter had bought a gold claim but if she received any correspondence from America, she wasn’t going to tell Power and his fellow conspirators. The mine was forfeited to the State and the Court awarded it to four men who had the capital to put it into production. They formed the Kate Hayes Mining Co. which employed over 300 miners and extracted millions of dollars worth of gold into the 1900’s.

According to the Nevada County Historical Society, Kate Hayes St. in Grass Valley and several other topographical features were named in honour of Kate Hayes the singer from Ireland. She may have donated to local causes as was often her custom. She was also a good horse rider who had probably gone out to the remote camps in the hills.