Robert I. Chester (sometimes listed as Robert J. Chester) was one of the earliest settlers of Jackson, Tenn. His wife was Elizabeth Hays, the youngest daughter of Colonel Robert Hays and Jan Donalson [sic] the sister of Mrs. General Andrew Jackson, who had moved to Madison Co. in 1821 and settled near Jackson. By 1846 Chester was living at Elmwood, his plantation south of the South Fork of the Forked Deer River. Chester's great-great granddaughter was still living on some of the family land in 1990 when I wrote a newspaper article about the Chester family and the settlement south of the Forked Deer River. The old homeplace of William Butler Chester, son of Robert I. Chester, was still standing until the 1999 tornado that struck south Jackson. The old home was so structurally damaged that it had to be torn down. Jane's mother was living in house at the time of the tornado and lived for a little while in the new smaller house they built back in the same spot. Jane Chester Pafford died last year (or 2002, I can't remember exactly), but one of her two daughters still live in one of the Chester/Pafford homes on the old Chester land. J.C. Pafford is still listed in the BellSouth phone book. 427-6298. Don't know if her daughter has kept that number or not. Jane and her brothers all died fairly young. One of her brothers was in the first grade with me at Bemis Elementary. He died before entering the second grade. He was a hemophiliac (sp?) or free bleeder. His brother Jim died in his forties, and Jane, who passed away last year, was about 63 or 64 years old. Her mother lived into her 80s or 90s, so I'm going to assume that the health problems that caused her children's early deaths came from the Hays side. Her husband's name was Emmett Chester. If you would like a copy of this newspaper article faxed to you, just send me a fax number, and I'll be glad to fax it to you. Linda J. Higgins ----- Original Message ----- From: <meaneyplce@aol.com> To: <TNMADISO-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2004 11:01 PM Subject: [TNMADISO] Descendants of Robert and Jane Hays who settled Jackson, TN > This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > > Surnames: Hays, Butler, Chester, Deadrick, Bond, Battle, Witherspoon > Classification: Query > > Message Board URL: > > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/JgB.2ACE/1042 > > Message Board Post: > > I am collecting descendants of the Hays family. Please check out my research on this family at Roostweb. > http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=meaneymeister > Please contact me if you are a descendant. Thanks. > Jean > > > ==== TNMADISO Mailing List ==== > If you wish to unsubscribe from the Madison Co., TN list, send only the word > UNSUBSCRIBE to TNMADISO-l-request@rootsweb.com or if you are on the Digest List > to TNMADISO-d-request@rootsweb.com > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 > >