Hager's father was Samuel Patton Hager, who worked as a lawyer in Ohio and later moved to Charleston, West Virginia to run a coal corporation.[4] Hager came to Ashland with his parents in April 1881, becoming a student at Beech Grove Academy in 1884.[5]
Hager became a prominent criminal lawyer in Ashland, Kentucky and in Chattanooga, Tennessee, working across several other state boundaries.[5] As a lawyer, he was noted for his oratory abilities.[8]
In 1907, he was appointed state auditor's agent by his cousin, state auditor Samuel Wilber Hager.[9][10]
In 1929, Hager was designated special judge in a case in the Floyd Circuit Court between J. H. Nunnery and the Pike Floyd Coal Company when the regular judge, C. B. Wheeler, was disqualified.[11]
In 1932, at the age of 64, Hager was elected mayor of Ashland, Kentucky. Immediately after becoming Mayor of Ashland he reached out to neighboring cities across state lines, such as Portsmouth, Ohio, to forge closer relationships.[19] Hager engaged in the purchase of a police radio system, funded by Ashland's merchants.[20] In 1933, he became the fifth person to be elected president of the Kentucky Municipal League, succeeding City Manager Paul Morton of Lexington.[2] Hager, who had previously served as vice president of the league under Paul Morton,[2] started his term on January 1 of 1934. Hager was succeeded as president of the Kentucky Municipal League by (also Democrat) Mayor Edward G. Scott of Paducah. Hager served as Mayor of Ashland until he died in office in December 1935.[16]
Edgar Hager in Polk Johnson's 1912 A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians
One of the most accomplished and cultured men that ever graced the Kentucky bar, Edgar Browne Hager, of Ashland, Boyd county, has won distinguished prestige during his professional career, his vigorous mentality, scholarly attainments and comprehensive knowledge of the law winning for him an enviable record. A thorough master of the legal rules and rulings, his powers of expression are broad, keen and clear, while his judgment is clear and impartial, and his integrity unimpeachable.[5]
Family, death, and legacy
Edgar Hager had five brothers, of whom two died at an early age, and a half-brother through his father's first wife. He was cousins with Louisville politician and state auditor Samuel Wilber Hager (1858–1918), the father of the journalist and Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer publisher Lawrence W. Hager (1890–1982).[21] Edgar Hager was also first cousins with Judge John Franklin Hager (1852–1933) of Ashland, after whom the city's Hager Elementary School was named.
Edgar Hager married Lucie Vinson Prichard from Louisa, Kentucky on June 21, 1898. Ms. Hager died on January 20, 1902. By then Edgar Hager had two children, Edgar Browne Hager Jr. (1899–19??) and Virginia Patton Hager (1901–1979). In their later lives, Edgar Jr. lived in Ashland, Virginia in Louisa.[22] In his later life, Edgar Sr. married Sylvia "Kittie" Wiley of Lewisburg, West Virginia with whom he had a son, Samuel Patton Hager, II (b. and d. April 10, 1933) and an adopted daughter, Kittie Brown Hager (born 1934).[22]
Hager died December 19, 1935, of a heart attack.[23] He was buried at Ashland Cemetery.[22] Published in 1912, A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians contains a detailed biography of the lawyer/politician.[5]
References
^Ashland Centennial Committee (1954). A History of Ashland Kentucky 1786–1954. Kentucky culture series. Ashland, Kentucky: Ashland Centennial Committee.
^"Ashland Man Is Elected President of Kentucky Municipal League". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati. Associated Press. 18 November 1933. p. 13. Retrieved 30 June 2018 – via Newspapers.com. New officers for the Kentucky Municipal League were elected this afternoon just before the league closed its fourth annual convention here. Edgar B. Hager, Mayor of Ashland, was elected President, to succeed Paul Morton, City Manager of Lexington. Mr. Hager is the retiring Vice President.
^"New Law Firm Formed in Ashland". Portsmouth Daily Times. Portsmouth, Ohio. 30 March 1923. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com. Hon. Edgar B. Hager, noted Kentucky orator and attorney, today announced the completion of a new law firm, in which John S. Fullerton and James P. Adamson will be associated with Mr. Hager who is a son of S. P. Hager, of this city, where he practiced law for many years prior to connection with a large West Virginia coal corporation which has necessitated his residence in Charleston for the past few years.
^ ab"Hager May Run For Congress in Ninth District; Friends Urge Him". Messenger-Inquirer. Owensboro, Kentucky. 23 July 1906. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com. Hager is a lawyer by profession, gifted, highly educated and an eloquent and convincing speaker. He is popular with all classes and all parties. He has had wide experience on the stump. His friends who are urging him to make the race have every confidence that if nominated he will win the election by a handsome majority.
^"Six Candidates in the Ninth District"(PDF). The Cincinnati Enquirer. 6 June 1908. p. 8. Retrieved 26 June 2018 – via Chronicling America. Col. Edgar B. Hager of Ashland a Democratic candidate for Congress has just completed a tour of Greenup county in the interests of his candidacy. In the interests of his candidacy. There are now six candidates in the field, [...] and Col Hager.
^"Urges Harmony Between Cities". Portsmouth Daily Times. Portsmouth, Ohio. 21 January 1932. p. 5. Retrieved 17 June 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Council Receives Communication From New Mayor Of Ashland, Ky. In an effort to promote the relationship and more closely knitted harmony in tri-state cities Mayor Edgar B. Hager of Ashland, Ky., has taken the initiative step. Members of city council at their meeting Wednesday night were agreeably surprised when the following self-explanatory letter was received from Mayor Hager, who assumed the mayoralty duties of Ashland, Jan. 1.
^ abc"Hager, Judge Edgar B."Big Sandy News. Louisa, Kentucky. 20 December 1935. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018 – via Lawrence County, Kentucky Genealogical & Historical Society. Judge Edgar B. Hager, 67, mayor of Ashland and widely known in eastern Kentucky, died suddenly at his home in Ashland this morning (Thursday) of a heart attack [...] Surviving are his widow, the former Miss Kittie Wiley, of Lewisburg, VA, and adopted daughter, Kittie Brown Hager, 18 months old, a son, Edgar B. Hager, Jr., of Ashland and a daughter, Mrs. H. L. Webb of Louisa.
