Imogene, Thanks so much for your lengthy letter. I appreciate the info and have saved it in a file for further investigation. On the surface, the names don't connect, other than John being born the right year and having a brother Henry. No diabetes ever seen in the descendants of my John Hays family.....guess I'll have to investigate all the John Hays families in TN and narrow it down. Unfortunately, my Hays clans seem to always live on the "frontier", like in Hardin Co, TN (which only became a county with records in 1819) This is where they lived before moving to MO in 1819; this info re John's son Henry' obit; he died in Washington state.) Any other John Hays families in Tennessee around 1783-1819??? Thanks for your help. Carol