Yep.. I am tired of feeling depressed.... Say did any of those Ellis I found in Hardeman belong to you?????? I am at a standstill here in the US searches. but the searches in The West Indies have given me a bonanza of family information.. Much more than I ever thought I would have. To bad we cant say the same in our search.. I have come to the conclusion it IS all about money.. IF we were rich I bet we could go throug hte records personally of all the places you mentioned in your letter just know and ahve a host of informaton...It still grips me that we cant nail down positive information on Solomon Hays..... Lenora

Don't give up, Lenora! Someday we will find a census record of some Hayes man who was married to a woman named Catherine and had 2 sons named J.W. and Soloman. Of course, it will only raise more questions for us! From what I've heard, maybe we need to check the genealogies of some "outlaws"---those Hayeses were "mean"! I remember my great-grandmother telling my Mom that she'd better do something (I don't remember what she wanted). "Aunt Pearl" said if Mama didn't do it, she would come back an haunt her. Mama was afraid NOT to do it---she was sure "Aunt Pearl" would come back! "Aunt Pearl" was also known for her "doctoring". Daddy always said whenever any of the boys got a wart, they went to see her. She would sit down and talk to the boy and rub his wart while they talked----the next day, the wart would be gone! (Maybe she got it from that German side--her mother's family.) JW and Mary Bartee Hayes moved to the Hayes farm in Stewart County. Theodore and Clara Trump Hayes lived on that farm until the early 1900s. "Aunt Pearl" told that some of the other family members moved in the house and told Theodore to move his family out! That's when/why he and Clara moved their kids to Montgomery County. Daddy also wants me to pull the deeds on this Montgomery Co. land. He said that the land went to all the children when Theodore and Clara died. The land was eventually sold but "Aunt Pearl" claimed she never signed the papers to sell the land---she also mentioned others that didn't agree to sell it. I'm told that this land is across the river from Clarksville, between the sand company and the railroad bridge. (There used to be a "foot bridge" across the river and that's the way they came to town on Saturdays.) The Ellises in Hardeman County are probably related to Gary but I haven't researched them yet. I'm still "collecting" the ones in this area. I'd sure like to find someone that could document the children of Miles and Polly Bobbitt Ellis or when/where Miles and Polly died. Speaking of Ellises----Gary's g-grandfather was in the Battle of Shiloh. I've had his records for over 20 years and still go back and read them---and learn more every time! He was denied his pension because he was classified as a deserter so he wrote a letter telling about the battles he was in. He named names, too! He was in a hospital and the doctors gave him his discharge papers but he couldn't get to his company for his commanders to sign them. He was captured and escaped with 3 other men. Since they couldn't get to their company and they had their (unsigned) discharge papers, they decided to walk home. He told how many days it took to walk home to Stewart Co. and how many weeks he was in the bed after he got home---said he'd fought the last battle he was in with the mumps! After his accounts of what happened, he was approved for his pension but died before he got a check. His widow applied for the pension and was approved---but she died before she got a check, too! Don't give up on the Hayes---we will find them! And we are going to find out just who Jesse Bartee and Sarah Harkleroad were, too! Sandy Ellis