 In the same year, according to one source, Hyer attempted to schedule fights with the "Benecia Boy", John C. Heenan, but satisfactory terms were not met.After his full retirement from the ring, he lived briefly in Washington, D.C.According to one account, he became a good friend of both Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward, which seems plausible considering his national prominence and his political connections with the Whig Party.