Sgt. Arthur A. Hayward New York National Guard 13th Regiment collection

Arthur A. Hayward was born March 19, 1862 in Brockton, MA. He enlisted in the New York National Guard at the 13th Coast Artillery Armory in Brooklyn, N.Y. on June 15, 1882 and rose in rank from corporal to color sergeant by 1889, and then from sergeant to master sergeant to sergeant major by 1922. Sgt. Major Hayward served in the 13th Regiment for 44 years until his retirement in 1926, and was auditor and secretary of the 13th Regiment Veterans Association. Hayward and his wife, Jennie, had a daughter, Mary Lovel, and three sons, John Parker, Albert Barton, and Arthur A. Hayward, Jr.

The New York National Guard at the 13th Coast Artillery Armory was originally known as the 64th during the Revolutionary War. The New York State Legislature passed a bill for the reorganization of the state militia on May 13, 1847, and the 64th officially became the 13th Regiment as of July 5, 1847. Regimental headquarters were on Liberty Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, N.Y., destroyed by fire in 1858. Liberty Street no longer exists, but was located near D Street, now Dupont Street, and F Street, now Freeman Street. A building was then erected at the corner of Henry and Cranberry Streets in Brooklyn Heights as the headquarters of the 13th Regiment. Much of the history of the 13th is no longer available, as most of the records and documents were lost or destroyed when the Regiment moved into new armory quarters at Flatbush Avenue and Hanson Place, near the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, in 1875. On Saturday, October 2, 1891, the Regiment left that location and moved into their new headquarters at 357 Sumner Avenue in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, renamed Marcus Garvey Boulevard in 1987. The 13th Regiment Veterans Association, organized in 1879, moved to the upper floor of the new building. In 1920, the 13th Regiment became the 245th Coast Artillery, and in 1988 the Regiment's building became a homeless shelter.