[4][nb 1] Hayes attended Prescott Grammar School and Boston College, graduating with highest honors in 1885.

[11] After his ticket was declared the winner of an 1897 election for the local Ward Three Democratic Committee, his supporters hoisted him upon their shoulders at 3 a.m. and marched him through the streets, being led by a fife and drum corps.

[17] By the time he was elected Supreme Knight in 1897, Massachusetts had one-third of all the councils in the Order and one half of the members.

[4] Hayes defeated John J. Phelan by a vote of 17-13 with one abstention to become Supreme Knight[18] However, having died so shortly after taking office, he presided only over three meetings of the National Board of Directors, and never wielded the gavel at a meeting of the National Council.

Vincent A. Lapomarda, S.J., wrote that "the contribution of Mr. James E. Hayes to the start of the Knights of Columbus in Massachusetts can not be exaggerated.

[3][21][2] His funeral was held Friday, February 10, 1898,[20] at St. Francis de Sales in Charlestown, and was attended by 1,500 Knights.

[4] His death, one history noted, "deprived the Order of a leader whose career had been so admirable that it gave the promise of remarkable fruition.