John Haywood
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See John Haywood (TN historian) for the judge and historian of the same name and same era.
John Haywood was the North Carolina State Treasurer for forty years, from 1787 until his death in 1827, far longer than any other in state history. Haywood County, North Carolina, formed in 1808, is named in his honor.
At the time of his death, November 18, 1827, he was one of the most famous and beloved men in North Carolina, but that image would change soon. Haywood, a native of Edgecombe County, began public service in 1781 as clerk of the State Senate, a position he held five years, until elected Treasurer by the state legislature. Haywood also served as the first "Intendant of Police" (mayor) of Raleigh, North Carolina, starting in 1795.
When legislation was enacted requiring State officials to live in Raleigh, Haywood bought two choice lots (190 and 191) bounded by Person, Edenton, Blount and New Bern Streets where he built a house that stands today and is a popular meeting and entertainment place for small groups. At this home, conveniently located adjacent to the Capitol, Haywood and his wife, Elizabeth, entertained official State visitors for many years. His wife, Eliza Eagles Asaph Williams, whom he married in 1798 after his first wife died, bore him 14 children.
After his death, a committee of the legislature examined Haywood's accounts and discovered that $68,906.80 was missing. That was a significant sum of money in 1827; in fact, it was more than half the State's entire budget that year. This news shocked the State's leading citizens who had come to know and respect Haywood as a great statesman. His estate reimbursed the State nearly $48,000, then a shortage totaling nearly $22,000 was discovered in the Cherokee bonds, involving sale of lands in western North Carolina. Haywood had been accused publicly of abusing his trust in 1820; however, an investigation by the legislature cleared him of wrongdoing.
According to historian William K. Boyd, there were three defects in the accounting of public funds in those days. "First the comptroller did not have oversight of the actual money in the treasury; the auditing by the comptroller did not include all State funds, and the method of bonding the Treasurer was not adequate." A 1784 law required that the Treasurer post a bond in the amount of 100,000 pounds. That law was changed in 1801 to require a bond equal to the balance of all funds in the treasury plus expected revenues for the next year, but there was no penalty for failing to provide security.
Haywood posted no bond for the years 1826-1827, so when the discrepancy was found in his accounts, the State was left short. Haywood's handling of the public funds was so haphazard that long after numerous banks were established in the state, he continued to keep a trunk full of cash in the "Public Chest" in his office which was used to pay the expenses of government. The accounting of these cash funds was notoriously inadequate by today's procedures. The State sued Haywood's estate for the missing funds; however, a jury found that an executor had administered all but $7,160.60 of the estate's assets which were then seized by judgment in favor of the State. In the end, most of Haywood's personal assets, except for a meager widow's dower rights, were seized by the State to settle the shortage of his account and his children were left with nothing.
Many citizens believed that the shortage was not Haywood's fault and that he was not guilty of any major wrongdoing but, rather, was a poor bookkeeper. Scholars are still searching today for the answer to what happened to the funds which disappeared during his term in office.
After Haywood died, the legislature at first elected his son, John S. Haywood, to succeed him as Treasurer, but the younger Haywood declined, as news of the missing funds scandal spread.
