Jay Wright Forrester
1918–2016American operations researcher
Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Jay Wright Forrester, born in Anselmo, 13 mi away, is the closest. No entry yet names Hayes Township as a birthplace. The longest list of any town in Nebraska belongs to Lincoln, with 45. After Lincoln, the next longest list in Nebraska is Hastings’, with 40.

The 6 best known born within 35 miles, nearest first.
American operations researcher

United States Army Medal of Honor recipient
Pick one and say why. Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Be the first to say who Hayes Township’s most famous person is.
From Wikidata and Wikipedia: people whose birthplace is Hayes Township and whose English Wikipedia article agrees, ranked by how many Wikipedia languages cover each person. Nearby people are those born in a town within 35 miles; distances are town center to town center. People known mainly for crimes, and adult performers, aren’t listed. “The usual town” = everyone born in the towns gathered so far.