Martin Alonzo Haynes

Martin Alonzo Haynes (July 30, 1842 – November 28, 1919) was an American politician, newspaperman, Civil War veteran, and a United States Representative from New Hampshire. A member of the Republican Party, he served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1883 to 1887, contributing to the legislative process during a significant period in American history and representing the interests of his New Hampshire constituents.

Haynes was born in Springfield, Sullivan County, New Hampshire, on July 30, 1842, the son of Elbridge Gerry Haynes and Caroline R. Knowlton Haynes. In 1846 he moved with his parents to Manchester in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. He attended the common schools there and apprenticed in the printer’s trade, acquiring skills that would later support his career in journalism and public life. On March 9, 1863, during the Civil War, he married Cornelia T. Lane in his native Springfield; the couple would have two daughters, Ruth Ida Haynes and Mary Addie Haynes.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Haynes enlisted in the Union Army in June 1861 as a private in the Second New Hampshire Regiment. He served for three years, participating in some of the major campaigns of the war. Drawing on his experiences as a soldier, he later published a memoir, A Minor War History, which consisted largely of letters he had written to his fiancée during his time in the service. This work provided a personal and contemporary account of the conflict from the perspective of an enlisted New Hampshire volunteer.

After the war, in 1868, Haynes moved to Lakeport, in Belknap County, New Hampshire. There he established the Lake Village Times, a weekly newspaper published every Saturday. He served as its publisher and editor for twenty years, using the paper as a platform for local news, political commentary, and civic engagement. His prominence in the community and his Civil War record helped propel him into state and veterans’ affairs, where he became an influential figure.

Haynes began his formal political career in state government as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, serving in 1872 and 1873. He then held judicial administrative office as clerk of the supreme court for Belknap County from 1876 to 1883. Deeply involved in veterans’ organizations, he served as president of the New Hampshire Veterans’ Association in 1881 and 1882 and was department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic in those same years, reflecting his continuing commitment to the interests and welfare of former Union soldiers.

Elected as a Republican to the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses, Haynes served as a United States Representative from New Hampshire from March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1887. During his two terms in office, he participated in the democratic process at the national level and contributed to the legislative work of the House of Representatives at a time of industrial expansion and postwar adjustment in the United States. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1886 to the Fiftieth Congress, which concluded his direct service in the national legislature.

Following his congressional service, Haynes continued his public career in the federal civil service. He was appointed an internal-revenue agent in the United States Treasury Department, serving from 1890 to 1893 and again from 1898 to 1912. In this capacity he was involved in the administration and enforcement of federal tax laws. Notably, he played a role in extending federal fiscal administration overseas by establishing the internal-revenue service in the Philippine Islands, reflecting the expanding reach of U.S. governmental institutions in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Martin Alonzo Haynes spent his later years in Lakeport, New Hampshire. He died there on November 28, 1919, at the age of 77 years and 121 days. He was interred at Bayside Cemetery in Lakeport, New Hampshire. His life encompassed service as a Civil War soldier, journalist, state legislator, court official, veterans’ leader, member of Congress, and federal revenue agent, marking him as a significant public figure in New Hampshire’s political and civic history.