Adelbert Stone Hay (November 1, 1876 – June 23, 1901) was an American consul, politician and son of U.S. Secretary of State John Hay.[1]

Adelbert "Del" Hay
Hay photographed c. 1900
Born(1876-11-01)November 1, 1876
United States
DiedJune 23, 1901(1901-06-23) (aged 24)
New Haven, Connecticut, US
Resting placeCleveland, Ohio, US
EducationYale University
Occupations
  • Consul
  • Politician
Political partyRepublican
Parent(s)John Milton Hay
Clara Louise Stone

Life and death

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Hay was the eldest son of John Milton Hay, who served as United States Secretary of State and the United States Ambassador to Great Britain and Clara Louise Stone.[2][3] He graduated from Yale in 1898.[3]

Around 1900, Hay was appointed the United States Consul at Pretoria in South Africa during the Boer War.[4][5][3] While in South Africa, Hay was in charge of 6,000 British prisoners of war in Pretoria and the financial interests of the British citizens there.[5]

On June 23, 1901, Hay died when he fell 60 feet (18 m) from a window in the New Haven House, in New Haven, Connecticut. The San Francisco Call speculated that Hay was sitting on the window for air, eventually fell asleep and fell to his death. Other possible theories include that he was simply drunk.[6] Hay would be interred in Cleveland, Ohio. At the time of his death, Hay was in the infancy of his political career, having just been appointed assistant secretary of the President William McKinley. The elder Hay and his wife were grief-stricken by the death of their son.[6][2]

References

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  1. ^ "The Political Graveyard: Politicians Killed in Falls". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  2. ^ a b "San Francisco Call 24 June 1901 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  3. ^ a b c Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History. Tufts University. 1902.
  4. ^ Campbell, Robert Granville (1908). Neutral rights and obligations in the Anglo-Boer war. University of California Libraries. Baltimore : The Johns Hopkins press. p. 11.
  5. ^ a b Hillegas, Howard Clemens (1900). The Boers in war; the story of the British-Boer war of 1899-1900. The Library of Congress. New York, D. Appleton and company. pp. 23–25.
  6. ^ a b "Death By Defenestration: The Short Life of Adelbert "Del" Stone Hay". Retrieved 2022-10-15.