Captain Myles Standish, His Will and Captain Cudworth

Myles Standish

Our link to the Cudworth family is not new news. The fact that someone in our family was associated with Myles Standish, whose first wife was Rose, is not new news. We knew of John Irish, Junior being mentioned in the will (see it here). Ironically, I had not thought to look more closely to see who was its executor. Again, my dad used to like to say, "If that had been a snake, it would have bit you."

It is amazing what you miss when you are looking for something else. Big as life; there it is. Captain James Cudworth as supervisor and witness of the will. The will dates from 7 March 1655. James Cudworth and his family probably arrived in Plymouth around 1634. So, they would have had two decades of work together in defending and administering many affairs in the Colony.

Standish was somewhat outlandishly portrayed in the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish, which many from my generation would remember. The facts of life were far less romantic and the actions of the military types could be somewhat brutal. When it came to war, even Cudworth, who was a moderate in most things, could seem bloodthirsty by today's standards (see his incident report to Governor Winslow during the King Philip War).

That is why the following seems so poignant. However, if we realise how far from "home" they were and how desperate their plight might become if supplies should not arrive regularly from England, we can understand Standish's concerns:

I Doe by this my will make and appoint my loveing frinds mr Timothy hatherley and Capt: James Cudworth Supervissors of this my last will and that they wilbee pleased to Doe the office of Christian love to bee healpfull to my poor wife and Children by theire Christian Counsell and advisse; and if any Difference should arise which I hope will not; my will i(s) that my said Supervissors shall Determine the same and that they see that m(y) poor wife shall have as comfortable maintainance as my poor state will beare the whole time of her life which if you my loveing frinds pleasse to Doe though neither they nor I shalbee able to recompenc I Doe not Doubt but the Lord will; By mee Myles Standish

We need each other through the whole of our lives. We need people whom we can trust as our other self to care for us and ours when we can no longer care effectively. Standish died eighteen months after he signed his will. He may have died of kidney stones or bladder cancer. It would have been a painful death.

Can you be just a Yeoman with a royal ancestry?

My father used to like to say that it took an Act of Congress to make him an officer AND a gentleman. I think that there were two points being made. The first was about manners and the second was about station in life.

A gentleman in England once meant someone above a yeoman (small land holder or freeman attached to a noble) and below an esquire. A gentleman was the lowest of the gentry and often the youngest son of the youngest son of a peer. They were typically well educated for their time and sufficiently well-heeled to be able to live off the rents of their lands.

My father could not be called a gentleman on those terms. For generations, he and his forebears would have been yeomen in the Jeffersonian sense. Yet, eventually, even the land holdings disappeared. It was the education gained through the GI Bill that gave the leg up in the world to my father's generation and my own. I suspect this will be true for my nephews as well. Most of us will have served in the armed forces and, having served, will have gained a greater purchase on life.

Well, I guess that is not too far off of how the knights of old gained their wealth through war.

But, here is the irony; while my father would not fit the definition of a gentleman beyond the requisite Act of Congress, he does appear to have a royal ancestry. At this point, I have images of John Goodman in King Ralph floating through my imagination. Nothing that close; sorry. But, something very interesting nonetheless.

In fact, if I have gotten this right, and of that I am fairly certain, then, one of the lines back through my dad goes all the way back to Edward I and further. But, just as interesting, perhaps even more interesting, it goes back to a key figure in the Plymouth Colony. Well, Scituate actually. I am referring to Major (General) James Cudworth who was one of the two executors of the will of Captain Miles (Myles) Standish.

So, if you are a Hayes from Michigan whose ancestry goes back to Emmaretta C. Peper nee Bates in Buckley, then you are in for a treat.

Pulling It all Together For The Hayes Family; Well A Great Deal Anyway

The Bruce Tartan;
With the addition of alternating blue 'guards'
representing the shore line of Lake Huron, it was
adopted by Bruce County for Centennial 1967.

We are now heading into the home stretch of this attempt to make a prima facie case for John Hayes being the son of Hiram Hayes and Cordelia (perhaps known as Mary) Guinness. Both parents are of Irish decent who were born in Canada. If I am correct, then John Hayes was the grandson of Hierom and Jane Hayes. He is the grand nephew of at least Henry Hayes. He is the brother of William Henry, Hiram Daniel (or, simply, Dan), and Rosa Hayes. He is also the grandson (1812) and great-grandson (1782) of Christopher Guinness of Ireland. He has a whole bunch of aunts and uncles that I am not going to sort out in this series. I am getting a little tired and need to work on other blogs for a while.

We begin by noting that in the 1861 Census for Ontario, there is a Christopher and Eliza Ann Gunnis with family in Grey, Huron, Canada West. Huron and Bruce Counties were variously joined and put asunder according to various criteria of expediency. However, in 1867 Bruce County became completely separate and self governing.* This is the year that Canada became a constitutional confederation. During this period (1866-1870) the Fenian Brotherhood in the United States repeatedly crossed the border to engage in raids against Canadian forts. This was ostensibly to get England to withdraw from Ireland. Additionally, this was another time of speculation in land with the further development of the railway system.

It is very likely that Christopher Gunnis was attracted to the region due to the opportunity to buy government land at a reduced price. This was also true of Bruce County. This process began in earnest in 1856 and there may have been earlier offerings as well. In any case, we find Christopher (49, Ireland) with his wife Eliza (49, Lower Canada, or closer to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River), daughters Eliza (17, Upper Canada, UC), Isabella (16, UC), Sarah J. (9, UC) and sons Nelson (14, UC) Christopher junior (11, UC). Except for the father, who is a Methodist now, the rest of the family are Church of England.

Interestingly, Christopher senior is listed as a laborer. Given his father's position as a captain in Gowan's 9th Provisional Battalion, this seems a bit of a let down. However, this Christopher had been a private in that battalion. Also, of note in the "Residence if outside of limits" column is the abbreviation: Eng. The Ward for this enumeration district is given as "2 from lot 1 to 20 inclusive of Consessions 8, 9, 10, 11 to 12 Gray".

Remember that Hiram (Hirom) and Cordelia Hays (as well as, William Henry and John) are in Brant Township of Bruce County, Canada West at this time. They are Church of England and Hiram is a farmer. What I did not realise the first time that I saw this census was that the next two names were actually with Hiram and Cordelia. This is because the forms are somewhat different than the ones used in the United States. I now recognise both the names and thire significance. Normally these two would be in Grey according to the note on the census; but, Eliza and Isabella Gunnis are visiting their sister and brother-in-law!

By the 1871 Census, all of the Hays family, but for John, have left Brant Township in Bruce County for one reason or another. Christopher Gunniss (60) is there farming with his wife Eliza Ann (60) and their son, Christopher Gunniss (21) who is listed as a servant. There is a daughter Sarah Jane (18) who is married to Alexander Springer (21) who is also listed as a servant. Sarah and Alexander have a four month old daughter, Lydia Ann. And, then, there is John Hays (11). All are Irish and Church of England. The younger ones are all listed as having been born in Ontario now.

Where has the Hays family gone? Well, do you remember all of those times that the census data indicated that they immigrated to the United States in 1866? That is where they have gone. It may be that Hiram could not pay off the final payments for the land that he had bought from the government. The government started getting serious about repayments around this time. And, the banks begin to fail; so, there is not a great deal of extra cash floating around. There were the Fenian troubles and political uncertainty about the future. With the Civil War now over, it made some sense to consider travelling south. But, where? I will try to follow that up in a moment.

The real question is why was John left? Remember, he lists 1872 as his immigration year. Where did he go to? He is in Royal Oak, Oakland, Michigan by 1880 when he marries Charlotte Jarvis and they have their first child, Florence A. Hayes, on 4 November 1880. He may have stayed because his mother was ill and she eventually died. This may be the case as Hiram is married to a Mary in 1880. Or, he may have been left because he had not been well, or he stayed as a pledge for monies lent. That money may have never arrived and the Hays farm may have been taken over by the senior Guinness.

There is a family record on Ancestry that suggests Christopher Gunnis died in Liberty Center, Ohio in 1871. That same record suggests that Eliza Ann Gunnis died in England in 1871 (remember the Census note about Eng.?) These are both possible. We have other family members traveling back and forth between the United States and England a little later in time. I will need to follow up these leads later.

But, there is one lead that I would like to follow up in conclusion to this series. With all the other information in this series, I believe that this conclusively ties John Hayes to the Hays/Gunnis family. It may not get me back to Hierom and Jane Hayes (I think that is pretty strong too), but it does the trick for me in terms of clearing up a great mystery that has kept us baffled for decades.

I have not found Hiram and Cordelia Hayes in the 1870 census data for Michigan or Ohio. However, in the 1870 Census for Akron, Tuscola, Michigan, there is a William A. Hayes (18) listed as a farm laborer from Canada. The age is not quite right. However, if you were a young man looking for work, you might just inflate your age if you were big and good at working. The A is not too much of a difficulty. Just say William H. Hayes and William A. Hayes quickly. Besides, we know that the William A. Hayes in the in the 1880 Census really is our William Henry Hayes. Also, Akron is on the way to Crawford County as the crow wobbles slightly in flight.

Oh, that reminds me. I have got to reveal that last bits of evidence. Remember William marrying Ellen Ford in Crawford? Don't forget that he has remarried by 1900. I found Ellen P. Ford in the 1900 Census in Grayling, Crawford, Michigan. She is now 50 and working as a servant. She is divorced and it is noted that she had had a number of children. These must have been from a previous marriage. A little more work and I found the actual wedding register. I knew that it had to exist because I have found similar data from Crawford and Wexford and there had to be some source to the Dibean Marriage Index.

And, what do we find in the register? While the license was obtained on 31 August 1889, the marriage took place on 6 September 1889 in Frederick, Crawford, Michigan. The Reverend William Putnam officiated. Both William Hayes (32) and Ellen Ford (40) reside in Maple Forest. He was born in Canada and she was born in England. He is a farmer and she a housekeeper. The witnesses both live in Maple Forest. He lists his parents; she does not.

Girls, do I really 
need a caption here?

Who are the parents of William Hayes? Hiram Hayes and Cordelia Genius [sic] [If you switch the vowels around you get Guines!]. One of the witnesses is William Ford. Is he Ellen's son? Who is the other witness? Mrs Lottie Hayes, John's wife!

There is one more link to finalize.  And, yet again, it will be done via a marriage registration. This time it will be the registration of at least the third marriage of the father of William, John, Rosa and Hiram Daniel.

On December 29, 1894, Hiram marries Francis Green. She is fifty and does not give her parents names. Hiram declares himself to be fifty as well. However, we know that he is sixty! She must have found out soon enough. Hiram has a new wife by 1899. Hiram, who is a farmer who was born in Canada, is living in Maple Forest and the wedding takes place in Twin Lakes. No family members are witnesses. Who are his parents? Hiram Hayes and Jane Fullerton!

And, there you have it! Here is the documentary evidence of the link between the families. I think that a prima facie case has been made. John Hayes is the son of Hiram and Cordelia Hayes nee Guinness. He is the grandson of Christopher Guinness, Junior and great-grandson of Christopher Guinness, Senior. They are of Irish descent and Church of England affiliation. John Hayes is also the grandson of Hierom (Jerome) and Jane Hayes. They too are Irish and affiliated with the Church of England.

QED.

It's time for my reward! I'm off for some stout! Cheers!

Oh, and a special thanks to San Antonio...you girls know what I mean.

*Click on this link for an excellent history of Bruce County.

Attribution of Image:


Tartan By Celtus (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-2.5], via Wikimedia Commons
Stout By Guinness, Pic By Sami Keinänen (www.flickr.com) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Militia of Leeds, Ontario; Leading Families; and, Some Family Leads

Ogle Robert Gowan
Lt. Colonel of Queen's Royal Borderers,
Enlightened Orangeman of Brockville 

War is hell. It should be avoided at nearly all costs. Since there are worse things than war, war will occur. Since both sides may lose, some wars cannot be won. Yet, despite their destruction, wars have tended to provide us with information about people through the bureaucratic means of administering materiel and personnel. The Napoleonic War and the War of 1812 brought some of our family to North America. The threat of future war positioned them in certain situations for which we have some data.

Gowan was a Captain in the Leeds Militia. During the Rebellion (1837 and following) he was given command of the 9th Provisional Battalion. This Battalion was renamed the Queen's Own Borderers in honor of his services. It was based in Brockville. A Christopher Gunnis was Captain of the Battalion in which a Christopher Jnr (likely Cordelia's father) and a William Gunnis also served during the 1838-1840 period.

Gowan is an interesting person. While an Orangeman who wrote pamphlets against Popery, he was conciliatory towards Canadian Catholics. Was he just cynically using their political clout? Perhaps, but he was a brave man who lived out is convictions and served in Parliament during an interesting period. I would like to learn more about him. He seems to have been a Tory whose mind was bent on reform. Shades of William Cobbett!

But, I would also like to know how a Hiram Hays met and married Cordelia Gunnis. The Hayes family were Church of England folks from Ireland. They seem well educated from what I can gather. More about that later. However, they were also plain working folks. How did they get tangled up with a family that obviously had wealth and a modicum of power?

They probably met through their church connections. According to the 1852 Census, all of the Gunnis family (with the possible exception of Abigail the only daughter of Christopher senior) lived in Kitley Township, Leeds, Ontario. All were Church of England with the exception of William and his wife, Mary Ann, who were Methodists. So, this might explain why Cordelia and Hiram marry in a Wesleyan Chapel. Additionally, many of the neighbors surrounding the Christopher Jnr Gunnis family are Wesleyan or New Connection Methodists.

But, I do not wish to forget Henry and Hiram Hayes. Or, should I say, Hierom? Could there be a connection? Yes. At various times in the Canada British Army and Canadian Militia Muster Rolls and Pay Lists 1795-1850 for the period following the Rebellion, you can find either Hierom (Latin version of Jerome) or Henry Hayes (as they signed their names, regardless as to how the paymaster spelled their names). They are listed with the Brockville Independent Company. The period seems to be from December 1838 until the middle of 1840.

Hierom appears to be the most keen. He is there more often than Henry. Additionally, they are found together in the monthly pay list for only one month. That was in July 1839 which is listed on page 570 of the book. When Henry is listed, he is listed above the privates as a Drummer. Hierom, as he signs his name, is always in the correct place alphabetically among the privates. That is something to note; both men sign their names rather than make their mark. So, were they alternating musters so that one or the other of them was free to take care of other responsibilities? This would be a typical family solution to resource problems.

I recall that Henry was listed as a musician in Richmond. Hiram was listed as a private in the 100th Regiment of Foot. That pattern holds here as well. I believe we have cousins, if not brothers. If this is the case, then it is very likely that Hiram is from Tipperary as well. But, how do we get to Brant, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada from here? And, can we get everyone there? You may be surprised.

The new Grand Trunk Railway may have had something to do with moving people out of Brockville which was chosen as a major point on the railway in 1855. Our family does not do well with the influx of technology whether in New York, Michigan or Ontario! When populations grow quickly, our family has a tendency to move on rapidly.

Attribution of Image:

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license and it is from volume 6, page of Robertson's Landmarks of Toronto by J. Ross Robertson, Toronto, published in six volumes from 1893 to 1914 and hosted by the Internet Archive. Note that the creator and creation dates vary. 

Hiram Meets and Marries Cordelia Gunnis [Guinness]

Unveiling of the bust of General Isaac Brock in front of the 
courthouse in Brockville, Leeds, Ontario, Canada.

This work is full of swings and roundabouts. You can gain some here and you lose some there. You have to keep trying to prove yourself wrong to be sure that you just might be right. It means a lot of work. I have had to chase down several false leads to ensure that I might be on the right track. Fortunately, the tools are getting better each month.

Take the Automated Genealogy site for instance [Click here for the 1852 Census]. Stumbling on to it saved me a great deal of trouble. I put in 'Hays' and got a hit for a 'Hiram' in Dundas county. Interesting bloke. Immigrated from the United States and lived in Dundas creating generations of people to follow up. But, once you realise,  after reviewing the data of a couple of decades that this could not be our guy, you write him off the list. And, on it goes.

The other Hiram Hays was too young. But, there was a Henry of the right age in Emsley Township, Leeds. So, I followed the link. It led me to a transcribed page that was easy to read quickly. However, you could activate the split view and see the original scanned page from the census book. There are a lot of people doing very tedious work so that we can find our relatives. They deserve our thanks.

What did I find? A lead which was both positive and negative. First the negative, there were no other members of a family with him:

Hays, Henry, Labourer, Ireland, Church of England, 55, M. [He's still there, single, never married, in 1861.]

But, this was positive as well. I had a possible direction to follow, if this was the Henry Hays from Richmond. It meant that Henry was not our likely progenitor. And, it gave me a putative age for Hiram. As I had suspected, they were probably born before the Acts of Union passed in the Parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland in 1800 and taking effect in 1801.

Now, I have to admit that I found a stray bit of interesting information at this point. I cannot discover the source because the link is broken. But, on one of the large names and numbers sites, I found an interesting tidbit on this page of the Sorted By Name site.

HAYS, Hiram (father), and Jane [no surname shown], had a baby, Jane HAYS born 29 Dec 1845 in Elmsley, Ontario, Canada.

I've learned to use the shotgun approach every now and then to break of the monotony of a systematic gleaning. So, I knew that there was something to be found in Leeds. This is part of the positive. I knew that there was a Hiram there somewhere and finding Henry convinced me to investigate further at the Automated Genealogy site; thus, in went a query for Hayes. This is what I found:

Hayes, Jane, Ireland, Church of England, 48, F [Note: Widowed]
Hayes, Hirem, Canada, Church of England, 19, M
Hayes, Margaret, Canada, 10, F
Hayes, June, Canada, 7, F

This was actually in Wolfred Township, Grenville County, Ontaria. But, not to worry, Grenville and Leeds are adjoined. In fact, they are later joined into one county. This is the 1852 Census (begun in 1851 and finished in 1852). So, June or Jane would have been born in 1845. It may be reasonably assumed that Hiram senior died sometime between 1845 and 1852.

Just a few short years later, another event of importance to the family occurs. According to an entry on page 427 of Reid's Marriage Notices, Hiram Hays marries Caroline [Cordelia] Gunnis in Brockville, Leeds, Ontario in the Wesley Chapel on 2 October 1854. The Reverend R. Whitney officiated.

Is this Cordelia Gunnis, the girl with the unfortunate name, the same Cordelia found with Hirom in Brant, Bruce, Ontario and is she the mother of our John Hayes? I'll make the connection in the next posts. And, yes, Gunnis is really spelled: Gunniss, Gennis, Guiness, Guinness and so forth, as well. With the right accentuation, it is easily discerned as the same name [anyone who has been to New Zealand knows the interesting differences that can occur in pronunciation]. Same family origins as well, magennis [Mac Aonghusa], descendants of Angus. Their territory was traditionally the County Down of Ulster Province.

Attribution of Image:

See page for author [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

One more Hiram, perhaps Hierom (Jerome), to go

A soldier of 100th Regiment (PD:75yrs)

When I realised that I would be looking for a Hiram Hayes in Ontario, I did something a bit silly. I just put that into a Google search engine. What I found were some interesting pieces of information about the early settlers in Goulbourn. This would become Richmond, Ontario.

At a site dealing with the early settlers in the Goulbourn Township, we are informed that the soldiers who settled in Richmond had been disbanded in Lachine, Quebec. They were mainly from County Cavan and County Tipperary. In fact, the 100th was known as the Prince Regent or County Dublin Regiment which had been raised in 1804.

The plan was for the soldiers to settle along the border region with the United States to provide a group of trained militia in the event of another incursion from the south. This would also reduce the number of unemployed, and perhaps unemployable, men at arms who might otherwise return to Ireland and England. Ironically, there was a rebellion in Canada in 1837 due, in large part, to poor governance.

Included in a list of yeomen, private, who were late of the 99th Regiment (the 100th after the 95th was removed to become the famous Rifle Brigade) living in the Township of Goulburn, County of Carleton, District of Bathurst are*:

Hiram Hayes E 1/2 No 13 in the 4th Concession of Goulbourn 4 Feb 1824
Henry Hayes W 1/2 No 14 in the 4th Concession of Goulbourn 4 Feb 1824

According to the site linked below**, this setting was not auspicious. It was not well situated in terms of farming. Perhaps more importantly, the construction of a canal at 'Bytown' (Ottawa) meant work for people possessing various crafts or a strong body (similar to the construction of the Eire Canal in New York). This canal work began in 1826. It stifled the further development of the settlement of Richmond which had begun in the early 1820s. The decommissioning of the joint civilian and military authority over the settlement in 1822 had not helped.

The situation for Hiram and Henry seems to fit this nicely. I was unable to find either of them in this area in the census data of 1821/1822.Yet, according to the transcription above, they took up the opportunity for gaining a land concession at the beginning of 1824. However, by 1826, they had sold their 'memorials' to their service in the 100th Regiment of Foot which would have been 100 acres as privates.

In 1826, a John Gordon bought Concession 4, Lot No 13 E from Hiram Hayes on 9 January. Henry sold his portion in stages. He also sold them at a later date. If I am correct, he sold one half of his allotment to Edward Morris, former sergeant in the 99th, on the 4th of November 1826 and the other half on 3 December 1827.***

Notes from the site from which this information about the sale of the lots was gathered provide the following information:

Henry was born in Tipperary, Ireland and was a musician in the 99th (100th). Hiram was a private. 

There is no indication in the notes that they were related. However, as we shall see, they do end up settling near each other in another location.

Where were these two before 1824 and where did they go after 1826? At this point I just shotgunned it and saw something curious in the list for the 1861 Census.

There was a Hirom Hays listed in Brant, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. Looking closely at the scanned document I was delighted to see:

Hirom Hays, Farmer, 26, Upper Canada, Church of England, Married
Cardale [Cordelia] Hays, 25, Upper Canada, Church of England, Married
William Henery [sic] Hays, 5, Upper Canada, Church of England, Single
John Hays, 3, Upper Canada, Church of England, Single

Cordelia (according to the transcriber) is a twist in the hose; but everything else looks like it might line up. Hiram, William H. and John Hayes. Rosa and Hiram Daniel were born after 1861.

Can I make the connections to Hiram or Henry? Can I make a connection between this family and the Hiram Hayes family that I have found in Michigan. I think there is a prima facie case for both.

But first notice, once more, the spelling of Hiram as Hirom! There may be a good reason for this.

* http://www.bytown.net/goulbour.htm
**Click here to be taken to a site with good background information on the topic.
***http://www.stanzell.ca/Early%20settlers%20Goulb.htm

How Many Hirams Does It Take To Find John Hayes' Ancestors?

I put Hiram Hayes into the search engine for Ancestry and got a hit for the 1880 Census in Hamtramck, Wayne, Michigan. There are other Hayes families around Hiram, such as those belonging to Edward and Michael whose parents turn out to be John Hayes and Ellen Allen. The Hayes familes are all nested together in the census in the northeast corner of the township. However, the details don't all fit. One thing that I notice as I search is that Hiram Hayes arrived in the United States in 1866. Edward and Michael were both born in Michigan in the early 1830s. Hiram was born in Canada around 1864. Can this all be explained? Hmmm...good question.

Just a reminder, our John Hayes records 1872 as the date of his arrival. This has caused me a great deal of anxiety for some time. However, when I finally got all of the pieces of the puzzle together, this information actually helped me to confirm what I had found. It is an amazing tale. Yes, the Guinness family is involved. So, I had better keep moving to get to the pint.

In the 1880 Census, there are two Hirams. One is 43 (1837) and he has a wife, Mary (44; 1836). The other Hiram is 16 and has an older sister named Rosa (18). When I walk the census forward to 1900, I get a bonza hit. [By the way, there is at least one more Hiram, or should I say Hierom (Jerome) in the pile.]

Hiram D. Hayes (36; Oct 1863) is living in Wexford, Wexford County, Michigan with his wife Sarrah E. Hayes (32). They have three children with them: Amy (13), Minnie M. (3) and Russell D. (1). Very significantly, as we will see in a future post, Hiram's father was born in 'France, Canada' and mother 'Canada, Ireland'. Hiram and Sarrah were married in 1887. Sarrah has had four children; but, only three have survived. Her parents were both born in English Canada.

And, where is the older Hiram (60) in 1900? He is living with his wife of one year, Mary (56)! He is also living with a son, William, and his wife of two years, Olive. They are all in Deep River, Arenac, Michigan. He immigrated in 1866 and his parents were both born in Ireland. The age differences betwen the 'two' Marys may indicate that Hiram had married again. This is certainly not unheard of. I'll have more to say about this later.

In the 1910 census, the couple are listed as 63 for Hiram and 60 for Mary. They are still in Arenac. In fact, just two years later, they both die within months of each other. Mary dies of face cancer. While we can access their death certificates, there is not information of consequence as there is no informant. Mary dies first and Hiram is so incapacitated that he can only make his mark. When he dies, there is no family member there to provide information. So, sadly, there is nothing about parents. However, this is not the dead end that it looks like it might be.

Did you notice that Hiram D. Hayes is living in Wexford in 1900? This is Sherman Village. Who else is living in Hanover, Wexford? John, Lottie, Clarence (17), Harry (9), and Eva (7). [Note that in the 1900 Census, Lottie is listed as having 3 of 5 children still living; this will be important below.] Is this enough to link the two families? Perhaps not. But, what if we were to as where everyone was between 1880 and 1900? It certainly gets interesting. We know that Hiram D. and Sarah E. were in Green Oak, Livingston, Michigan in 1898 (between Lansing and Detroit). Their son Raymond, who had been born in 1892, was killed by a horses' kick to his head on 8 May 1898. According to the death certificate, he was buried in the Baptist cemetery there. Their son, Russell D. was born in Green Oak on 15 August 1898.

Minnie M. was born in 1895/1897 in Argenton [Argentine], Genessee, Michigan.

If we look for William Hayes, who might be John's brother, we get the following important hit. A William A. Hayes is in the Census for Maple Forest, Crawford County, Michigan in 1880. He is single. In 1888, there is a land claim in Crawford for a William H. Hayes. It turns out to be for 100 acres which is a lot of land to clear, plow and upgrade by yourself! According to the Crawford County, Michigan Dibean Marriage Index, a William Hayes marries Ellen Ford on 6 September 1889.

When we realize that Florence A. Hayes was born in Royal Oak, Oakland on 7 November 1880, Clarence Milton in Cadillac, Wexford on 2 February 1883; Charles is born in Maple Forest Township on 8 June 1889; according to the "Michigan, Births, 1867-1902" records, of which a scanned copy was viewed, Harry James in Maple Forest Township (draft registration says, Frederick), Crawford on 19 October 1890 and Eva C. in Grayling, Crawford in 1893. It would seem that the Hayes family members were working to support each other in a variety of places. Later, Clarence Cecil, son of Clarence Milton, would settle in Mount Morris with his cousins.

Can I do more? Yep. After all, there is a pint of Guinness waiting for me at the end of the trail.

Just a reminder: William H. Hayes said in the 1920 Census that he arrived in 1871; in the 1910 Census he said 1866. Is it possible that both dates are correct?

Attribution for image: Kenneth Allen [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons