Hay there:
 

Civil War buffs are well familiar with John Hay (pictured above), who was Abraham Lincoln’s personal secretary in the White House. He later became a national political figure on his own and served as Assistant U.S. Secretary of State from 1879-1881 and later as U.S. Secretary of State from 1898-1905 in the McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt Administrations. He is most famous for his “Open Door” policy on trade which helped open relations with China and for doing some of the groundwork for the construction of the Panama Canal.

As was common at the time, “John Hay” became a cigar brand in 1882 when W.W. Stewart created it – with Hay’s permission – in Newmanstown, Pennsylvania. The brand lasted for almost 50 years, finally dying around 1930 as the memory of Hay faded and cigarettes become more popular.

The Chester County Daily Local reported in a recent feature, however, that the brand was resurrected in the 1990s by Craig Stewart, the great-grandson of W.W. Stewart as a machine-made cigar using mostly Pennyslvania-grown leaf.

Stewart retired in 2004 and sold the business to Lauren and David Patrick, who run it today.

It’s still a small brand, but it’s tripled in size since the Patricks took over three years ago. The machine-made series is manufactured in McSherrystown, Pennsylvania, offered in three sizes with one available in four flavors. Beginning in 2005, John Hay returned to the market as a handmade cigar from the Dominican Republic, with a medium-to-full body with a Connecticut wrapper or full-bodied with a Dominican-grown maduro wrapper, in one size, a 5-inch by 50-ring robusto called – of course – the “Ambassador.”

Like it was in W.W. Stewart’s day, it’s mostly a local brand for now. The Patricks showcase the brand at events throughout the state and, according to Lauren, have developed an overseas clientele. “We have clients in France, the U.K. and Canada,” she told Daily Local reporter Justin McAneny. “We even ship them to New Zealand. We have a client there named Sir John Hay . . . but he’s no relation.”

Despite the challenges, the Patricks are enjoying themselves and are hoping to turn their hobby into a full-time job. Lauren is now part-time in her job with Lincoln Financial (an irony in itself) and if the brand keeps growing, David may join in. What the Hay, why not!