15 Jan. 1825–18 Jan. 1894
Haywood received his early education at the Raleigh Academy and in 1843 entered The University of North Carolina. Although he was an excellent student, ill health forced him to leave the university in 1846 without a degree. After regaining his health, he entered the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and was graduated with distinction in 1849. Returning to Raleigh, he went into private practice.
At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Haywood enlisted as a private in the Raleigh Light Infantry and was elected its surgeon. Recognizing Haywood's superior professional qualifications, Governor John W. Ellis soon detached him from his unit and directed him to inspect the military hospitals then established on Morris Island, in preparation for organizing a military hospital in North Carolina. Afterwards, he established the first military hospital in the state and on 16 May 1861 was appointed surgeon of the North Carolina state troops. His first assignment was as administrator of the hospital at the fair grounds and as surgeon of the Raleigh military post and training camp. In July of the same year, he was named president of the Board of Surgeons which examined and approved applications for appointment as surgeon in the North Carolina state troops. As the war progressed, Haywood became more involved in practical military surgery and he saw heavy fighting in the Peninsular Campaign and in the Seven Day's Battle around Richmond. His compassion for, and attention to, the enemy wounded was widely noted. At the conclusion of his Virginia service in August 1862, he was commissioned a surgeon in the Confederate Army and served for a time as president of the Army Medical Board, which granted medical discharges and convalescent furloughs. In the same year he also became acting medical director of the Department of North Carolina and was placed in charge of the Raleigh military hospitals. His headquarters were at Pettigrew Hospital at New Bern Avenue and Tarboro Road, with subsidiary hospitals at Peace Institute and the state fair grounds.
Near the end of the war, as General William T. Sherman's victorious troops approached Raleigh, Haywood continued to attend the wounded and ill of both Union and Confederate armies. After Appomattox and the collapse of the Confederate government, Haywood, at his own expense, remained at his hospitals until the last patient was released or evacuated. During the war years he became known as a progressive and innovative physician who developed unusual and complex surgical procedures. He was also known and loved as a humanitarian and as a compassionate friend of all ranks and classes.
Over the years, Haywood became increasingly interested in the plight of Black and white people housed in prisons and mental institutions. In 1890, he was directly responsible for establishing the Black mental hospital at Goldsboro and the Western State Hospital at Morganton.
An Episcopalian, Haywood was a member of Christ Church, Raleigh, and a vestryman for twenty-five years. It was said that he never missed a vestry meeting during his tenure. His numerous professional, civic, and church activities were credited with weakening his health and causing the acute pleurisy that finally took his life. He died at Haywood Hall, the house in which he was born.
In November 1850, Haywood married Lucy Ann Williams of Franklin County. They had seven children: Edmund Burke, Jr., Alfred Williams, Hubert (who also became an eminent physician), Elizabeth, Ernest, Edgar, and John.
