William's son John D. Hays was born 1773 in Virginia. Oral tradition says John and his father moved to Holly Creek Kentucky in 1791. They came from Rockbridge County Virginia, where they had been members of the large Scotch/Irish settlement.
William's parents are believed to be John Hays and Jane Wood, daughter of Lysander and Elias Wood of North Carolina. It is believed (the elder) John Hays served with the Virginia Militia during the French and Indian Wars of 1754-1763.
visit: www.breathittcounty.com/HayesFamily.html
The recently discovered 1915 handwritten document was composed by Gabriel HAY, son of John D. Hays born 1773. Gabriel's descendants spell their surname HAY to this day, and here's why:
Gabriel states 5 Scottish brothers were our first ancestors in America, and they spelled the surname HAY. Gabriel writes the brothers "came across the Cumberland mountain from Old Virginia." Gabriel names 3 of the brothers: John, Adrian and William.
Gabriel writes "the other two brothers went off down the river in the direction of Indiana and Ohio and was never heard from by the other brothers." (The names of "the other two brothers" are at this point lost to posterity. It might explain why I find many HAY/S/ES as far West as Arkansas in the 1830's, and it might explain why my Isaac Simpson Hayes was in Arkansas at the end of his life.)
Gabriel's 1915 document has us scrambling to discover more, and new findings will soon appear to fill in more descendants.
My HAYES surname obviously has many known variations. Franklin Pierce Hayes (that's him pictured above with my Dad on his knee) ... Frank's tombstone has his surname spelled HAYS, the same spelling as John D. Hays and most of his descendants (except for Gabriel's, who go back to HAY). I've seen the surname in other records as HASE, HAZE, HASS, etc.
My g-grandfather Frank married Scottish Nannie Sumrall, and her ancestors go back to the Vikings. Looks to me as if my HAY/S/ES are headed that way too! I figure our 5 HAY brothers sailed from Ireland, were in Scotland prior to that, and undoubtedly earlier ancestors were in Scandinavia based upon theories on the origins of my blue eyes.
Where the DNA leads I will follow ... come with us?