Haywood, Richard Bennehan

5 Nov. 1819–2 Jan. 1889

See also: Marshall De Lancey Haywood, son.

Richard Bennehan Haywood, physician and surgeon, was born in Raleigh, the son of Sherwood and Eleanor Hawkins Haywood. He was educated at the Raleigh Academy and in 1841 was graduated from The University of North Carolina. Haywood then entered the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia from which he was graduated in 1844.

Returning to Raleigh, he began to practice medicine, although he continued his studies in Europe in 1851. During the Civil War, Haywood was commissioned a surgeon, serving in the surgeon general's office in Raleigh and in the military hospitals in and around Richmond. Following the Battle of Bentonville and the approach of General William T. Sherman's army, he was one of a group of seven or eight persons who surrendered the city of Raleigh to the Union forces.

In 1849, Haywood was one of the founders of the North Carolina Medical Society, which he served as president in 1880–81. He also was president of the Wake County Board of Health and a member of the State Board of Medical Examiners. On 30 June 1868, Governor Jonathan Worth appointed him a director of the North Carolina Railroad on the part of the state; a year later, he was elected a director on the part of the private stockholders and remained in the position until his death. In addition, he served as a member of the board of trustees of the North Carolina Insane Asylum and as physician to the North Carolina Institution for the Deaf and Blind.

On 19 Nov. 1851, Haywood married Julia Ogden Hicks in New York City. They were the parents of ten children, two of whom died in infancy. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, with his wife and seven of their children.