Watson McMillan Hayes

Who was Watson McMillan Hayes?

Watson McMillan Hayes was an American missionary and educator in China.

Watson M. Hayes was the son of David Hayes and Margaret Jane Hayes. He graduated from Allegheny College. He was ordained on August 15, 1882 and sent to China in the same year. He taught at Tengchow College and later served as its president in present-day Penglai, Shandong. In 1901, he was invited by Yuan Shikai to organize Shandong College, the forerunner of Shandong University and the second modern university in China. With the backing of Yuan Shikai, he also published Shandong's first successful newspaper and petitioned the Qing court to grant a holiday on Sundays for government schools and colleges; Shandong College was closed on Sundays right from the start. However, by the end of 1901, Hayes and six Chinese Christian teachers he had brought with him had resigned already over disagreements regarding the policy of mandatory Confucius worship for students of the college. After that, Hayes went on to teach the Presbyterian Mission Theological Class in Cheefoo.