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Pausing research to get moved into new digs

I have come to learn the only constant in life is change. Last winters plan to get a travel trailer and travel for research fell aside to the extremely bad NY weather which about forces one to leave for the entire winter, or not at all and 2 week trips to research an item or location were impossible. And damn high NY taxes don’t help.

In February I closed on a 4 bedroom, 2 bath ranch house on 32 acres just outside of West Point, MS (an hour south of Tupelo, north of Starkvile). A 1965 house in need of renovation, the work there adding to my having to prepare and list the NY house and move my stuff. So for most of 2019 I will be away from my genealogy research.

It appears I have most of the information available online that I can get, nothing new to report since the last post. No new DNA connections either. Once settled I still intend to do the research backwards so It’ll be TX first, then OK, maybe CA (dad lived there before WWII), TN, VA, and then back to the landing here – PA. The central location in MS should allow me to travel with ease, 12 hours to Dallas, about the same to Greene, TN.

Mississippi was originally inhabited by the Choctaw Nation, one of the 5 Civilized Tribes. The Natchez Trace was used by General Andrew Jackson, who was closely connected to our Hays ancestors in TN, during the War of 1812 and the state capitol, Jackson, is named for him. It is now a 444 mile recreational Parkway run by the National Park Service which I am certain to explore once settled in the new digs.

I am still stuck at William Hays and if the line connects to John or his brother Patrick Hays. The 1805 Greene County Free Inhabitants Tax List has a Robert Hayes, 2 James Hayes, Joseph Hayes, and David Hayes (most likely “Hays”, misspelled by the Sheriff taking the poll). The Elder Mountain Bethel Presbyterian Church formed in 1792 in Greene County had a Nicholas Hays listed as a founder. These leads to be added to others requiring attention to to find the link to the original settlers John and Patrick.

I suspect Patrick arrived first as he had property in PA and then both he and John “self imported” in VA. But this is mere speculation. From my readings it appears the “Scotch Irish”, as they were called by others, were looked down on by the English settlements. Having been a generation removed from Scotland they did not consider themselves Scots, nor did they consider themselves Irish. More to come on that topic.

I continue my reading of historical books where time permits and look to be settled and in to research by the end of 2019.

Call for photo’s and Identify people and places

I’m looking for Hays-Price-Wilcox photo’s, including period photo’s of locations, for digital storage as part of the Hays history and possibly for restoration.

I’m also looking to positively identify the persons and location in this restored photo. Indications are it’s from the 1930’s and I suspect it is my father front and center, most likely in Oklahoma.

Regardless of condition you can scan the photo by placing it in the center of your scanner and scan as a TIFF in 600dpi attach it to an email to jimhays@americanman.org with the information on it that you know. If I decide to get it professionally restored I’ll send you a digital copy of the enhanced photo. See the Photo Restoration Center web page for information on restorations should you want to send in a photo direct to them for full restoration (and share the restored digital copy with us!).

If you can part with the original (or have duplicates) you can send them to me at 614 Shellstone Rd., Amsterdam NY 12010 (valid address until at least June 2019).

I intend to add the photo’s to the web site AmericanMan.org and memorialize the Hays, and connected families, as part of the American experience. The more I research the more I am impressed at the contributions we have made to making America.

I also have photo’s of people I do not know and I’ll be posting those as I scan them to see if anyone can identify them or wants the original.

As always, questions, comments, and criticisms can be emailed to me.

Different spellings by different Hays, Hayses, & Hayeses

The question I wondered is why do the related Hay, Hays, and Hayes have different spellings? Is one related to a different faction of the Clan, perhaps changed to denote a different geographical area or religion or loyalty? My line spells it H-a-y-s and “no e” was the standard response to those who sought to automatically put it in. It was so often done I now state my name then spell it (Hays-H-A-Y-S), and still many put the “e” in it. But why different spellings and why the added “e” by many?

First grammar 101 – You plural a name (noun) by adding an s (no apostrophe). For names ending in s we add an es and for names ending in y we do not change to ies like other nouns and add an s after the y, exceptions to the rule. To make a name possessive we add the ‘s but here we have another rule exception in that a name ending in s can be made possessive by adding only an ‘ after the s and both are considered correct. For example, the Kennedy family are the Kennedys and their home is Kennedy’s house. The Jones family are the Joneses and their home is Jones’s House or Jones’ House.

And I note for the record I had to look it up and so expect I (and others) often make an error in the standard rules. So Hay, Hays, and Hayes have exceptions to the rules (ending in y or s) which are probably often not followed. And the rules of grammar as we know them weren’t in place until the 1900’s (the King’s English and Modern English Usage). Also, levels of education varied greatly from 1700-1900 and although many could read or write it wasn’t at the levels of knowledge we know today, many being educated at grade school levels only into the 1900’s. So our present day high school education tendency to err on making the surname plural or possessive is greatly increased in prior generations.

I note on the Scottish Clan map that Hay is used for both the highland and lowland (border) branches of the Clan. But Clan Hay (following today’s grammar rules would be the Hays and Duns Castle would be Hays’ (or Hay’s) Duns Castle. But absent a written record with todays proper grammar the use of Hays/Hays’/Hayes/Hays’s for both plural and possessive variations of Hay would sound the same. I surmise that Hays came into common language use with written spellings of Hays and Hayes being used interchangeably for plural and possessive of Clan Hay peoples and places.

While delaHaye was being anglicized into Hay in Scotland there was an Irish Clan “O hAodha” which was anglicized into Hayes (in County Cork O’Hea and Ulster Hughes). Scotland, Ulster, and Ireland all had migrations to America over time and so we can expect Hay, Hays, Hayes from Scotland; Hays and Hayes from Ulster; and Hayes from Ireland with each recorded with whatever spelling suited the writer to match the spoken. A good example is U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes who is listed on the aforementioned Irish Hayes as a famous person but his own genealogy research shows his Hayes ancestors coming to America from Scotland in the 1600’s with no Hays or Hay spelling in the recorded line.

I did find one mention that the spelling “Hays” was used by the Clan Hay who were Presbyterian and migrated to America due to religious strife in the early 1700’s (Ulstermen). It was told through 3 generations to an author (I lost specific reference in a computer crash) and thus hearsay. Pennsylvania Genealogies (1886) by William Henry Egle lists (p. 286) the Hay or Hays Family of PA noting Hay, Hays, or Hayes derive from DelaHaye and “The American branch of the family write it Hays, as a general thing.”

The US Census records (1850 and beyond) used in support of my Hays line spell it “H-A-Y-S” with notations they could read and write, and thus provided a proper spelling. Grave markers give us better support for the spelling as it is “H-A-Y-S” and it is expected that correct spelling would be of utmost importance on these.

I think we can say beyond a reasonable doubt that the Ulstermen John Hays and Patrick Hays (and their relations in PA and VA in the early 1700’s) preferred the spelling “H-A-Y-S”, but there were variations and “H-A-Y-E-S” was used, including by some of their descendants officially. We have reasonable cause to believe that Ulster Presbyterian Scots used “H-A-Y-S” as a preferred spelling and a suspicion that this may have been used in the lowlands and Ulster to distinguish the Clan Hay Presbyterians.

The title is correct for the plural of Hay, Hays, and Hayes but I note in closing the proper “s” or “es” grammar rules are not often followed even today. I am learning that most questions of genealogy and history of the Hays opens up two more questions which requires more research to answer. But it is the journey which is the adventure, nor arriving at the destination.

The question of Indian ancestry

To answer the question of Indian ancestry in the Hays line we first need to ask and answer how we will define “Indian ancestry”. Will it be by DNA, Blood Quantum, or tribal participation? Blood Quantum (BQ) is measured by a 50% rule for each parent, 25% for each grand parent, etc. DNA measures the amount of DNA in common with ancestors who identify with Indian ancestry. Tribal participation is living on the Indian lands and/or reservations of that tribe prior to the Indian Removal Act.

The clash of European and American cultures in America started in the 1500’s, grew minimally in the 1600’s and increased rapidly in the 1700’s. Initial European traders in contact with the tribes were all men and settlements had more men than women. Thus the mixing of blood was usually European Male and American Female. The European hereditary system based on individually owned land and a farm community society is from father to children (usually land to the sons). The American Indian hereditary system is based on a hunter gatherer tribal system with tribally controlled land and hereditary rights along the maternal line.

Tribes were broken down further into Clans. For example, if your mother was from the Mohawk Bear Clan and your father was from the Mohawk Wolf Clan you would have the right within the tribe as a Mohawk to farm and hunt any of the land they controlled but your right to participate in tribal politics and decision making would be in the Bear Clan. The adult male primarily responsible for rearing children (especially boys) would be the mothers oldest brother (Uncle to the child). This helped cement Clan traditions, beliefs and unity.

All the Eastern Tribes in America took captive slaves in battles with other tribes and then with the Europeans when they arrived. Although initially slaves, the captives were placed in a Clan and eventually incorporated and adopted into that tribe. This contributed to the strength of the Clan and Tribe, making it larger and replacing any persons they had lost to disease or in war with other tribes. Thus a Chickasaw Tribe member, “X”, might actually be 1/2 Mohawk Father (incorporated into the tribe) and 1/2 Chickasaw. It is possible going back that the Mohawk had a Mohawk Mother (raised Mohawk Bear Clan) and a European Father (a fur trader) and is in the present day in the Chickasaw Tribe.

If we evaluate “X” based upon Tribal participation they would be a Chickasaw, born and raised in a Chickasaw Clan on Chickasaw land. If we went by Blood Quantum “X” is 3/4 Breed Indian and if Y-DNA was done it would show both European and Indian DNA. If the initial European-Mohawk was raised on a farm as “Smith”, migrated west and settled a farm and married a Chickasaw who settled with them on the farm (off Indian lands) we would have the same Blood Quantum and same DNA but NO Chickasaw Tribal rights.

Dad’s quote “my grandmother liked to sit on an Indian blanket” and the “it has to be, look at the dark black hair and high cheekbones” in reference to Indian ancestry made it all the way down to me as a youth in the 1960’s. This was reinforced by Robert Alexander Hays and Mary Ellen Wilcox settling on a rented farm on the Chickasaw Reservation, present day Burneyville, Love, OK and their children being born there.

The 1920 Census shows Mary Ellen (60) living with Thomas Jefferson and Ruth in Justice Precinct 5, Cooke, TX. Thomas J. died in 1924 and Mary Ellen in 1930. The 1930 census shows Ruth in Olton, Lamb, TX with the children in 1930. It is unknown if the family moved to Olton after Thomas J. died or after Mary Ellen died but we can surmise that my father until he was 6 (and all his older siblings) would have been in contact with their grandmother and there is some basis for the discussion.

My Autosomal DNA (on Ancestry.com) shows no relations to Indian but my Y-DNA shows a small connection to Y-DNA of (United States) Indians. The 1860 census record show Mary Ellen Wilcox (1) was born 1859 to John Wilcox (27) and Mary Wilcox (24) living in Missouri (1960) (Mary Ellen lists Missouri as her birthplace in later census). John Wilcox lists being born in VA and Mary Wilcox lists being born in MO (1860 Census), no other records found for either. Given this we can only theorize.

Robert Alexander and Mary Ellen married in Collins, TX 1881 and had 4 children born in TX, moved to OK between 1888 and 1892 settled on a rented farm and had 3 children born there before Robert died in 1899. So it appears that moving to OK wasn’t the original intended destination for either. whether they headed to OK due to an ancestral connection to kith or kin or it was a recent availability is unknown.

The Chickasaws tribe had holdings in MO and started the move to OK in 1830 on Choctaw Land. In 1850 they split to form the Chickasaw Nation controlling land in what is now Burnyerville, Love, OK. with the land held for the tribal members. A search of Wilcox on the Dawes Rolls reveals NO Chickasaw Wilcox. But the lack of records for John Wilcox and Mary Wilcox leaves us questioning what happened to them. In any event we rule out the Chickasaw Tribal rights connection.

The 1880 census has the race column blank for all persons for several pages around the Wilcox. On the 1900 Census Mary Ellen is listed white. IF Mary Wilcox parents were full blood Indians she would be full blood, marrying a full blood white Mary Ellen would be 1/2, Thomas Jefferson 1/4, James H. 1/8 and me 1/16 (by Blood Quantum). But if we drop Mary Wilcox to 1/2 Blood Quantum I drop to 1/32.

Given the small Y-DNA match with Indian and no at-DNA match on Ancestry.com I suspect that Mary Ellen was 1/4 Indian at most. My 1/32 would amount to 3.125% (.03125) Indian Blood at most as there is no telling which 1/8th of a specific grandparent’s DNA you get. As such the little bit of Indian DNA and any Indian cultural heritage has been incorporated into us Hays as American Men.

Jim Hays, an American Man

By Jim Hays

What am I? Like very kid growing up in America I asked my parents, “what are we” in reference to our country of origin. Mom’s response was an easy one with a grandfather born in Germany and a grandmother who was first generation American from German parents. Mom’s German. But Dad? “American” he would say, “American mutts”. Schenectady was mom’s home town, dad was a transplant from out west where his kin still lived.

Over time responding to incessant inquiries Dad spoke a little of his American ancestry. But the responses were evasive, often couched in humor. He was from Oklahoma, an “Oakie” but how the Hays got there, or why, was never discussed. His dad died when he was a baby and he grew up with his mother and siblings in Texas and on his “Bachelor Uncles” Farm. Cotton pickers and dirt poor farmers, he said. The depression, dust bowl, and the flight to California in search of work were little discussed in detail. There was talk in the family of “high cheek bones and black hair”, speculation of Indian blood. He did tease, his grandmother “liked to sit on an Indian blanket in front of the cabin” but no specific tribe. What else are we Dad we asked, “We’re a little bit of everything”, “American, American Mutt”, the reply. Over the years I would tease a little out of him, but always a bit vague and never in depth. The “American Mutt” stayed consistent, “We’re a little bit of everything, American”.

It’s the early 2000’s, a new millennium. And it occurs to me I don’t know the name of either of my grandfathers much less anything about them. I never met either of them. My Dad’s long gone. And I’ve got some old family photo’s which came to me after mom had her stroke and ended up in the facility. Who are these people? Here I sat with her at each visit and pulled as much as I could from her until 2008. Some names were put to pictures, but her knowledge of the paternal side was mostly what he relayed to her the two sides of my family being on opposite coasts, the west coast unknown to me.

Looking for answers, my research revealed the name hails from the Scottish Clan Hay. I had my DNA tested and confirmed this and also that I am related to the “Scotch-Irish”, Presbyterian Ulstermen, (most likely from the Scottish borderlands initially) who migrated to America in the early 1700’s due to economic and religious persecution. I traced my line backwards, NY, CA, TX, OK, TN, VA and see I am 9 or 10 generations removed from the Clan in Scotland.

The history of Clan Hay Scotland starts with the Norman invasion, William delaHaye of Normandy. In one of my readings it was pointed out that the delaHaye line married 3 Celtic Princesses in a row, thus cementing it as a “Celtic line”. Interestingly I noted that within 3 generations the Ulstermen who came to America, as did my maternal German line, mixed things up through marriage starting about the third generation. Just as the Norman became Scottish Hay, so has the Scottish Hay become American Hays.

Dad was right, we’re mutts. In 5 generations a person has 32 cousins, 1024 in ten, so going backwards ten generations I have 1024 people who (conceivable could have) contributed genes to me and given the paternal line that’s 1024 Americans, most of European descent. Branch off of my tree along the line and I can probably show relations to the majority of people who landed in America in the early 1700’s as each person in a tree branches to another 1024. But name and yDNA follows the paternal line, a Hays from a line of Hays across America and back to Ulster and Scotland.

I see heraldry (Coat of Arms) is still controlled in many places but not in America. I’m sure I didn’t follow all the rules and am not looking to offend, but I made a Roll of Arms (Coat of Arms?) for my fathers American line. Three red escutcheons on a white escutcheon pay homage to Clan Hay Scotland and my Celtic/Norman paternal roots. Hays came into common usage of my ancestors in Ulster-America (although often misspelled) and the cross reflects their Reformed Christian Faith for which they were persecuted and driven to America. The pine tree, an appeal to heaven, is s symbol of their fight for Liberty in the U.S. from the 1740’s to today (an early American flag). The bear is an homage to my fathers line as the symbol of courage, power and strength. The Arms sit roadside, announcing a Clan Hays home to one and all.

I seem to have an affinity for my paternal ancestry, the yDNA, and the surname as a large part of “what am I?” and incorporate the Scottish diaspora to America into the symbols used. The paternal line in Scotland for 800 years does add Scottish to the heritage, distinct to my line due to Ulster Presbyterian also. But 300 years in America counts a lot. If pressed I would say I’m an Scottish-American, pressed further, German on my mothers side. But I am my fathers son so if asked, in homage to him and by birth, I am an American and why I (try) to tell the story of Hays on AmericanMan.org.

White cotton sweaters and kleenex

by Jim Hays

It was the uniform of the mother in the 1960’s, various ones for various occasions, but ever present, the white cotton sweater. “Put a sweater on” was the response to the “I’m cold” lamentations of youths. The fact that the “GE Tract” houses off central State Street in Schenectady had been converted from coal heating units to natural gas didn’t solve the problem of the drafts and cold leaking in. Clapboard on rough cut 2 by 4’s with lathe and plaster walls, no insulation, and single pane glass windows let in the cold and drafts. The heat wasn’t going to be turned up for one person as blue collar families had limited resources and so the heat was left low to conserve money. You put your sweater on.

Lined up for church on a Sunday morning, groomed and cleaned, wearing your Sunday best Mom’s (sweater over their shoulders) would inspect and chide boys not to get dirty. Fat chance in families with multiple young boys, many close in age as “Irish Twins” were common. Boyish exuberance was the norm leading to wrestling matches and all out fights. Any food or candy found out and about was immediately consumed like a pack of wolves, muzzles often showing the sticky evidence of “the kill”. Armed against the normal activities of young boys moms loaded the white sweater with supplies. Mints. life savers, and butterscotch candies to soothe the savage youth’s and against any incursion of dirt upon “the boys” moms loaded their sweaters with a never ending supply of kleenex.

They sat unseen, hidden, tucked away in various spots for quick retrieval. They were amazingly never new nor totally used up, wrinkled, used and reused they magically retained some measure of utility. A speck of drool on a young boy would usher forth one from up the sleeve and the offending slobber removed with a force which rendered the little face scrunched into a frown. No matter the facial orifice which produced offensive substances, and how many occurrences, a state of cleanliness was achieved, even if only temporarily. Mom’s weapon of war against the never ending dirt, drool, and snot of young boys was returned to a safe hiding place ready to be called back into battle on the side of cleanliness. Another battle won.

It was a happy time when a boys growth brought him to a size which prevented the kleenex assault. In addition to not being needed as much, when an incident did occur one was now old enough to escape the clutches of cleanliness by flight to a safe distance just out of mom’s reach. Unfortunately, this left the youngest of “the boys” as the sacrificial lamb, small, easy to catch and hold onto. And lacking another to distract her the poor boy suffered the time and energy usually equally distributed among many, bearing the full brunt of it and often with a multiple kleenex assault.

I suppose I had suffered the “lick and wash” where the kleenex was first dabbed on her damp tongue and now quasi-damp was used as a wash cloth against some stuck on offending substance. I probably parked it in the sub-conscience memory, no need to recall that trauma, I’m sure. But I was witness to my poor little brother suffering this fate time and time again. The poor lad suffered all the attentions of moms maternal instincts going through youth impeccably clean and with nary a hair ever out of place for the “wash cloth” also served as a damp comb.

Even Dad saw the excesses of attention Mom gave the youngest lad, trapped like a kitten in the clutches of an overly attentive momma-cat, groom, clean, clean, groom. I expect he would have physically intervened to save the boy but most assuredly suffered this same fate at the hands of his mother and so was conditioned to not get close. When the “lick dab” would first appear he would attempt humor to distract her as she wiped at the face saying, “good thing the boy didn’t shit himself” bringing “us men” to great laughter at that visual, but it never did deter her and so we could do nothing but sit idly by and watch, hoping she would tire and release the poor lad at some point.

Just as a moms kleenex replaced grandma’s handkerchief I expect now the kleenex has been replaced by the moist towlette. I suppose it’s a bit more sanitary than mom’s reused spit-kleenex, towlette ushered forth new and unused from the wrapper and not from a sweater sleeve, used once and thrown away. Hopefully the mothers of today can still wipe away offending dirt from little boys faces with such force that they are scrunched into a frown for it certainly wold be a shame if a boy grows old with no warm memories of mom being mom.