Nelson Hayward was the sixth mayor of Cleveland

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. He served only one term, in 1843.

Hayward was born in Braintree

Braintree, Massachusetts

The Town of Braintree is a suburban city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Although officially known as a town, Braintree adopted a municipal charter, effective 2008, with a mayor-council form of government and is considered a city under Massachusetts law. The population was 35,744...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 to William and Marjory (Thayer) Hayward. He was educated in Massachusetts and came to Cleveland with his two brothers, Joseph and John, in 1825. In 1840 Hayward became the assistant chief of the Old Volunteer Fire Department. He was elected alderman

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

 in 1841 and 1842 and served as the vice-president of the city's Temperance Society in 1842. He was elected as mayor in 1843 because of his Jacksonian Democrat political philosophy. Hayward was not re-elected because the city's political views shifted to partisan Whig

Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...

 and Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

. In 1844 he became a members of the Cleveland Lodge of Odd Fellows

Odd Fellows

Odd Fellows is a name broadly referring to any of a large number of friendly societies, fraternal and service organizations and/or Lodges.-Societies using the name "Odd Fellows" or variations:...

.

Hayward was never married.