Charles Hayt

Charles Denison Hayt (May 20, 1850 – January 8, 1927) was an attorney, district attorney, and jurist from Colorado. He served on the Colorado Supreme Court for nine years, including six years as chief justice. He practiced law and was a regional judge before and after he sat on the Supreme Court. He was the president of the Children's Home Society. He lectured on taxation at the University of Colorado from 1900 to 1908. He and his wife had three children, all of whom died by the end of 1917. He was a member of a number of organizations. Early life and education Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, on May 20, 1850, his parents were Jane (Berry) and Henry Delevan Hayt, who was a farmer that also freighted goods on the Hudson River. He graduated from the State Street High School at Albany, New York, in 1864. He studied at the Williston Seminary in Easthampton, Massachusetts, where he graduated with honors in 1867. He ran his father's farm until 1871, and he began to study law in Poughkeepsie in 1870. Hayt first visited Colorado in 1870 or 1871. He was admitted to the bar in 1872. Career In 1872, he was in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, where he worked for Uniontown Spoke Company. He became its appointed receiver in 1873. He moved to Colorado permanently in 1874, settling in Walsenburg of Huerfano County, where he became a partner with Judge John F. Read of Read & Hayt. He engaged in realty and the law, while he continued to study the law. The governor appointed Hayt that year to the board of county commissioners of Huerfano county. In the fall of 1874, he became the probate judge for the county.