John L. (John Lord) Hayes

Born in South Berwick, Maine, in 1812, John Lord Hayes built a career that crossed law, public service, and industrial writing. Reliable records identify him with Cambridge, Massachusetts, the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, where he was elected in 1868.

Hayes became especially associated with the American wool industry. He served as secretary of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers and edited or wrote a number of works on wool, manufacturing, and tariff policy. His books and pamphlets show a practical, research-minded interest in how raw materials moved through industry and trade.

That same curiosity appears in Notes Upon Indigo (1878), where he turned to one of the most important natural dyes of the 19th century. Rather than writing as a novelist or poet, Hayes wrote as an informed observer of production, commerce, and technology, making his work a useful window into the industrial world of his time. He died in 1887.