Hayner Brothers Double Tragedy

We all suffer loss, it’s inevitable.  But most of us have time between losses to heal; then there are those who get more than their share.

Arthur Peter Hayner and Willard Silas Hayner were the sons of Silas Hayner & Elvira Althouse ~~ Elvira’s line traces back to Hezekiah Rogers Jr & Hannah Vincent.

Arthur was the Town Supervisor in Halfmoon and he married Catherine Mary Travis and had one son, Gerald A Hayner.

Willard was a Dairy Farmer and he married a Mary Smith and had 5 children:  Millard, Leroy, Mabel, Everett and Mildred. 

Arthur died on the 24^th of Feb 1938 and the day before his funeral, the 26^th, Willard was in a car accident and died a few hours before Art’s funeral on the 27th – just too much.

courtesy of Janet Reasoner - Find A Grave

Schenectady Gazette, Sat, 26 Feb 1938

Saratoga Springs, Feb 25 - Funeral services for Arthur P Hayner, former member of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors, who died at his home in Halfmoon yesterday, will be held Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock at the residence and a half hour later from the Newtown Methodist Church. Burial will be made in Hudson View Cemetery, Mechanicville.  Mr Hayner was born in Halfmoon 62 years ago and resided there all his life.  He was a member of the Newtown Methodist Church and was active in the Halfmoon Grange.  He was a past master of Clinton Lodge, F and A M, and a past high priest of Clinton Chapter R A M, Waterford.  He served on the Saratoga county board supervisors - two terms.  Survivors in addition to his widow, she was Catherine Mary Travis before her marriage, are a son, Gerald A Hayner, a brother, Willard B Hayner, all of Halfmoon; two sisters, Mrs Burton L Smith, Waterford and Mrs Willard Lasher, Clifton Park.

The Knickerbocker News, Albany, NY, Monday, February 28, 1938

courtesy of Janet Reasoner - Find A Grave

DEATH STRIKES FAMILY TWICE

Brother of Halfmoon Crash Victim Dies in Cohoes Hospital

Waterford - Death struck a double blow at the Hayner family of the town of Halfmoon yesterday.  At the moment Arthur Hayner was being buried in Hudson View Cemetery, Mechanicville, his brother, Willard S. Hayner, 59, passed away in Cohoes Hospital.  Willard Hayner died of a fractured skull, suffered in an automobile accident Saturday on the Albany-Saratoga highway. His car had been in collision with that of Salvatore Rosso, 2 Hudson, South Glens Falls.  Troopers were investigating today.  The funeral of his brother was in the family home, Halfmoon, and from Newton Methodist Episcopal Church.  Surviving Willard is his wife, Mrs. Mary Smith Hayner; three sons, Millard A, LeRoy and Everett Hayner; a daughter, Mrs. Mildred Martin of Clifton Park.  The brothers both are survived by two sisters. Mrs. Burton Smith of Waterford and Mrs. Willard Lasher of Clifton Park.