Edward Joseph Hale, son of Edward Jones Hale and Sarah Jane Walker, was graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1860 as valedictorian. He worked briefly for his father, who was founding editor of the Fayetteville Observer, before enlisting in the Confederate Army. He achieved the rank of major in the Confederate army and remained in service until his surrender with Lane's Brigade at Appomattox. Because of the Observer 's support of the Confederacy, Sherman had destroyed its printing presses, which put a temporary end to the enterprise. After the war, Hale entered a mercantile house in New York, where he eventually became a partner. He moved back to North Carolina in 1875 and, in 1882, reestablished the Fayetteville Observer .
Hale was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 1884 for which he drafted a tariff plank for its platform. The following year, he was appointed to the position of consul to Manchester, England, a key post because of extensive cotton trade between the South and the manufacturing interests in that city. After his consulship, Hale became the confidential financial agent of the North England Trust Company and was sent to India to investigate the indigo industry and make investments. From 1890 to 1891, he lived in New York as commissioner of the Manchester Ship Canal in North America.
Hale returned to North Carolina in 1892 and resumed the editorship of the Observer and his position in state politics. In 1894, he was again a member of the North Carolina Democratic Convention, drawing up the National part of the State Platform. He served again in 1896, 1900, 1904 and 1906.
From the guide to the E. J. Hale Papers, 1815-1936, (Southern Historical Collection)
