Pike County Ballads and Other Poems

'Pike County Ballads' is a collection of poems written by John Hay. The collection of post Civil War poems is one of the first works to introduce vernacular styles of writing. Hay was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a private secretary and an assistant for Abraham Lincoln, he eventually became United States Secretary of State under Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. Hay was also a biographer, and wrote poetry and other literature throughout much of his life.