Clarence Milton Hayes: Man of Mystery (with Canadian connections)

Record of Birth: Otis Arthur Hayes

Otis Arthur Hayes was my grandfather. I never knew him. He died before I was born. He died of a heart attack in his earlier forties. Readers related to Otis will want to take note of this. Otis' brother Clarence Cecil Hayes also died young. So did their mother, Lucy Amy Hayes nee Peper. Lucy and her sister, Edith Bradford, died within a few weeks of each other.

I guess that is why I have been fascinated by a document in my possession. It is a Court of Record document for the birth of Otis. This is where I was able to confirm for the first time that Otis' father was Clarence Milton Hayes (I think there is a novel in the reason for the middle name as we will see).  We also now have confirmation of Lucy's middle name, Amy.

Notice that this Court of Record document was procured on 10 June 1942. There may be a specific reason for this. I have another document from the same Circuit Court in the county seat, Cadillac, Wexford, Michigan, indicating that Lucy and Clarence finalised their divorce on 5 June 1942. The reason for the divorce is a claim of desertion that seems uncontested. Clarence is able to keep his lands and Lucy goes her own way.

First Page of Hayes Divorce

The document states that Clarence had confessed to non-support and desertion. It also states that there were material facts presented in open court to attest to this desertion. We do not have access to this information at present. Perhaps it is on record somewhere. What I have available are the copies of documents passed on to me.

June 1942 is a significant month in the history of my family. The repercussions of this legal action have been long lasting. Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the behaviours and decisions of family members that led to this decree have decisively influence our family's ability to know something of its history and heritage.

After several decades of seeking out information, I have been able to unravel something of the mystery of Clarence Milton Hayes after the last census in which he is found with Lucy and his children, Otis and Clarence in 1920. This has taken patient work and the good luck of having access to a wide variety of scanned documents that are increasingly available online. It would be impossible to have conducted this search from Australia. In fact, it would probably have been impossible to do while living in North America without the Internet.

Second Page of Hayes Divorce

Perhaps of even greater importance than finding a little more about Clarence is the fact that I have been able to find many of his father's family. I can even speculate with a reasonable certainty that his grandfather was a private in the 100th Regiment of Foot while stationed in Canada before it was renumbered as the 99th in 1816. It was disbanded in 1818 having been engaged in important contests during the War of 1812. [Think of Sharpe's Rifles; you'll see why later.]

Most of the recruits for the 100th were from various counties in Ireland. Because it was a British Army regiment, we may eventually be able to view the recruitment and regimental records at the Public Records Office (PRO) in London. Having gained my doctorate through researching Australian and British forces captured by the Japanese in World War 2, I have spent some time in the Imperial War Museum and have also found documentation in the National Archives in London. I have also traveled to England with immediate family to investigate family who originated in Wales and Kent. Another trip to London would be nice!

But, I have one more document that I would like to present in this post. Clarence had to register for both the First and Second World Wars. The registration for the later took place in 1942. So, while I have not found Clarence in the 1940 census as yet, I can place him in Detroit in 1942. I know that this is our Clarence Milton Hayes because he lists Clarence Cecil Hayes of Flint, Michigan as the person who could contact CMH when required. This is an important bit of information. A Clarence M. Hayes had been a rather famous and influential photographer in Detroit for many decades and the databases are filled with information about him.

WW2 Draft Registration Card: Clarence Milton Hayes

Like the first draft registration card, this document is important for confirming CMH's birth as 2 February 1883. I have not been able to find any other record of birth as yet. For a long time, I thought that he was the first child of John and Charlotte (Lottie Jarvis) Hayes. However, I have since found a record for the birth of a Florence A. Hayes in November of 1880 which was the year that John and Lottie were married in Royal Oak, Oakland, Michigan. John and Lottie are recorded as her parents.

Notice the shaky signature. Also notice that CMH is working for self and that he had been born in Cadillac, Wexford, Michigan. So, he was born, married and divorced in Wexford. Lucy would die in a hospital in Cadillac in 1946. Clarence died in 1963. We know this because the sexton of the cemetery in Wexford County told me the date. I have no other source at this point. I have a newspaper clipping of Lucy's death and interment. I found information on the Internet as to where the couple were buried. But, when we went there in 2011, we had to ask the sexton where they were buried because the graves are unmarked. However, there are stones for Lucy's parents. I would like to procure headstones soon.

As yet, I cannot find anything for Clarence Milton Hayes after 1942. He disappears from the radar. However, there is an important piece of information in the 1930 Census that I have not known how to use until very recently. I was never sure that it referred to our Clarence Hayes. Now I am. I'll tell you about it in the next post.