Tombstone Tuesday - Surprise Grandfather - Gilbert Hayse

Ancestors can just pop up where you least expect them.   While on my annual visit to see my parents this summer, I asked my father to take me to the usual family cemeteries to take pictures of the ancestor stones I may have missed in the past.  Dad is pretty good about visiting these cemeteries to make sure that our family member headstones are kept up and he was in a talkative mood and told me some stories I had never heard as we drove around.  I also pointed out to him in one cemetery his great-great grandparents' stones and he was not even aware that they were his great-great-grandparents!

Family Farm in Bonnie, IL

As we left that cemetery he continued talking as we drove along the back country roads and showed me the sights including his old home site in Bonnie, Illinois which I was very familiar with - it was built by my great-grandfather Otis Green Wilson.   He then pulled into a small cemetery I had never seen before called Cubb Prairie Cemetery.   I thought I had heard of all the cemeteries in Jefferson County so I was pretty surprised.  We got out and walked around and I noticed a few stones with some familiar names, but they didn't really ring too many bells so I took a few pictures and we left.  When I got home to Florida I uploaded all the pictures I had taken and have gradually over the past few months been sorting and processing what I had taken last summer.

Just a few weeks ago, for some reason I was looking at my father's ancestry, in particular his 3x great-grandfather Gilbert Hayes (Hayse) and bells started going off in my head!!!  I opened up my photo program and sure enough, there was a picture of his headstone in Cubb Prairie Cemetery.  My mouth just fell open in shock that I had been standing there in front of that grave and didn't even realize who that was!  I have researched every cemetery in Jefferson County using the local genealogical society website and somehow have missed that.  It just goes to show that you  never know what you will find!

Now for a little background history - Gilbert Hayes born about 1783 North Carolina, married to Frances A. (unknown), came to Jefferson County, Ill from Rutherford County, TN with his wife and family sometime between 1840 and 1850.  His son John, was the father of my civil war great-great-grandfather George Washington Hayes who I discussed in a previous post.  Gilbert Hayse died 15 May 1854.  I can't wait to go back to Illinois next summer and take another look at that cemetery!

Wednesday's Child - Samuel & Josephene Hayes

My great-great grandparents George Washington and Margaret (Howard) Hayes were the proud parents of nine children, but sadly as often happened in those times, only three lived to adulthood.  Brutus, Bristol, Dollie and Ollie all born between 1866 and and 1872 died as infants and if there are headstones they have not been found.  Samuel died at age 2 and Josephene at age 6.  It is unknown how these six children died, and as parents of the twenty-first century we can only imagine the grief and horror of losing six children so young and tragically.  They are buried at South Hickory Hill Cemetery in Jefferson County, IL.

Samuel Carey Hayes (Son of George W. & Margaret)

Josephene Hayes (Daughter of George W. & Margaret)

Tombstone Tuesday - George Washington Hayes

George W. & Margaret (Howard) Hayes - South Hickory Hill Cemetery, Jefferson County, IL

Military Monday - George Washington Hayes - My Civil War Gr-Gr Grandfather

George Washington Hayes

Born 4 Jul 1841 Rutherford County, TN

Died 14 Oct 1927 Jefferson County, IL

Parents - John and Rebecca (Mathis) Hayes

George W. Hayes 1861

My 2nd Great grandfather enlisted as a Private in the 15th Illinois Cavalry on 10 Dec 1861 at the age of twenty, under the service of Col. Bacon, Company E, Capt. Hutchins.  In the spring of 1862, they moved with the army from Cairo up the Tennessee river to Fort Henry and later participated in the battle of Shiloh. In the spring of 1863, the companies were organized as the 15th regiment and during the following year did post duty and severe scouting. By expiration of term of service it was mustered out Aug. 25, 1864, and the recruits who were enlisted in 1862, were consolidated with the 10th Ill. cavalry.  They fought in the following battles:

5 Feb 1862 at Fort Henry, TN.
4 Jun 1862 at Hickman, KY.
29 Jul 1862 at Anthony's Lane, TN.
10 Apr 1863 at Greenville, MS.
23 Jan 1864 at Vicksburg, MS.
Fought on 21 Mar 1864.
Fought on 12 Apr 1864.
14 Apr 1864 at Helena, AR.
24 Jul 1864 at Atlanta, GA.
6 Aug 1864.
19 Oct 1864 at Trenton, AR.²

George mustered out on 26 Jan 1865 at Brownsville, Arkansas.  He was referred to as Big George although I am not sure why; his pension papers state that at enlistment he was 5' 6'' tall with light complexion, blue eyes and dark hair.  His occupation was farmer.  This picture was taken at the end of his service:

"Big" George Hayes 1865

  

After returning home to Spring Garden, Jefferson County, IL, he married Margaret Howard on 24 Oct 1865.  They had nine children, but sadly only three lived to adulthood, Lillie Dora (my great grandmother), Willie Arthur and Charles.  They later lived in the new town of Bonnie, IL, four miles southeast of Spring Garden, which was created when a rail depot was built there and George donated some of the land for the new town to be built.³ 

When George died on 27 Oct 1927 he was receiving $72 month in pension for his Civil War service.  In 1920 at age 79, "Declaration for Pension" papers filed state he suffered from "very poor eyesight, can hardly see his way, must be led most of the time if he gets away from the house.  Unable to dress or undress himself, requires aid in eating and dressing.  Very hard of hearing, can only hear loud sounds.  Very feeble.  Totally unable to do any kind of physical labor, bothered much with rheumatism."  When he died he was the last Civil War Veteran residing in Bonnie.

George Washington Hayes 1920's

¹ The Union Army, Vol 3.

²Historical Data Systems, comp.. American Civil War Regiments [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.

Original data: Data compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA from the following list of works. Copyright 1997-2000
Historical Data Systems, Inc.
PO Box 35
Duxbury, MA 023.

³Personal family history and Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie,_Illinois.