Joseph Hayes (c1745 – 1792)

Joseph Hayes (ca1745 – 1792) was clearly the eldest son of Joshua Hayes, the first to appear in tax and deed records.  He was taxed with his father in 1767 and by himself in 1769 and thereafter.  (Whether he was an adult in 1767 is unclear, but he was having children the following year, so it seams likely that he was.)

He probably occupied part of his father’s land for it was fifteen years before he bought his own property.  In 1782 he bought a tract of 640 acres near his father on Fishing Creek1 and in 1788 sold 140 acres of it to Thomas Johnston.2   He was taxed on his land throughout the 1780s but appeared adjacent to his father in the 1786 state census and in the 1790 tax list, which substitutes for Granville’s lost 1790 census.  His 1786 household indicated a large family:  it included 1 male age 21-60, four males under 21 and six females.

D.A.R. Patriot?

Joseph Hayes probably qualifies as a D.A.R. Patriot on the strength of a 1781 Revolutionary Pay voucher for thirteen bushels of oats supplied to the County Commission. Phillip Ness, Granville County Commissioner, signed a voucher stating that “I have purchased from Joseph Hayes thirteen bushels of oats [for] 6½ Spanish milled dollars…”3  It seems likely that he served in the county militia but no record of it survives.

1792 Last Will & Testament

He died before his father, leaving a will dated 10 June 1792 and proved at the November court 1792.4  He disposed of his remaining 500 acres on Fishing Creek by leaving 120 acres each to sons Samuel Hayes, Jesse Hayes and Stephen Hayes and 140 acres “that I now live on” to Simeon Hayes subject to the lifetime interest of his wife Sarah Hayes.  The rest of his property — including “all my horses, cows, hogs, sheep and of all my household furniture” — was to be equally divided between “my wife Sarah and all my children Samuel Hayes, Susannah Hutchinson, Jesse Hayes, Stephen Hayes, Temperance Hayes, Simeon Hayes, Mary Hayes, Lucy Hayes, [and] Levice Hayes.”  Samuel Hays and Avery Parham were named executors and both qualified at the February court 1793.  The witnesses to the will were his brother John Hayes, brother-in-law Noel Johnston, and William Moore Johnston.  Loose estate records in Granville County include one estate account by his widow Sarah Hayes covering a number of items dated in 1798 and 1799.  The 1800 census shows Sarah Hayes heading a household that included one male and three females all aged 16-26, likely her son Simeon and yet-unmarried daughters.

The identity of his wife Sarah is unknown.  He must have married her by about 1767 or so, but no marriage record survives.  (No marriage records exist for Northampton County and a number of the early records of Granville are missing.)  Sarah was still alive as late as 1802 when she and Simeon Hayes mortgaged their inherited 140 acres, and when she was taxed on the land on the 1802 tax list.  She may have been dead by 1803 as she appeared on no subsequent tax lists.  There are no probate records for her in Granville County.

He named nine children in his will, presented in this order:

  1. Samuel Hayes (1768 – 1857) He was one of two Samuel Hayes of about the same age in Granville County, but can be distinguished from the other Samuel Hayes by a combination of geography and familial relationships.  This Samuel Hayes was taxed annually on his inherited Tabbs Creek land and was enumerated in Tabbs Creek district near his brothers  in censuses from 1800 onward.  He continues to be listed in the Tabb’s Creek area through 1850, when his age is given as 82.  Cementing the identity, he explicitly identified his uncle John Hays in a Revolutionary pension application, as well as his presumed uncle Henry Hayes.

    For a detailed report on his life and family see the Samuel Hayes (1768-1857) page.

  2. Susannah Hayes (c1767 – bef 1820?)  She was called Susannah Hutchinson in her father’s will. There is a marriage bond for Joshua Hutchinson and Susanna Hayes dated 5 March 1787.5  This has been widely reported as a marriage to “Mrs.” Susannah Hayes by researchers who assumed that she was the widow of the same name, but no “Mrs” appears on the marriage bond.   Joshua Hutchinson had been enumerated as a single man in the 1786 state census located just a few names from the Hayes families on Tabbs Creek.  He possessed the will of Joshua Hayes and was a witness to it who testified as to its replacement’s accuracy.  He was enumerated adjacent to several of his brothers-in-law in 1800 (heading a family of 6) and 1810 census (heading a family of nine.)  His wife appeared to be in the 26-45 category in both censuses. He was still enumerated in Fishing Creek District in 1820 but without a female old enough to be Susanna.  He signed his will on 28 April 1832 by his mark (as “Hutcherson”) leaving his estate to Mary Hutcherson, James M. Hutcherson, Sally Ellen Hutcherson, and Permelia Prudence Hutcherson “the rest of my children having been provided for.” 6

  3. Jesse Hayes (c1772 – ?)  He married Judith Farrar by bond dated 4 August 1795 and a month later was security for the marriage bond of Peter F. Farrar and his sister Temperance Hayes.  He inherited 120 acres adjacent to his brothers from his father and on 5 May 1802 he sold 15 acres of it to his brother Samuel.7  He was subsequently taxed on his remaining 105 acres from 1802 through 1807.  (He is therefore not the same Jesse Hays who appears in Wilkes County records beginning in 1794.)  The 1800 census enumerated him with two children just a few names from his father.  Jesse Hayes, presumably the same person, was a major buyer at the two estate sales of Peter Farrar in July and November 1806.

    Oddly, I found no record of Jesse Hays selling the remainder of his inherited land, but he was taxed on it only through 1807.  In 1808 and thereafter he continued to be taxed in Fishing Creek district,  but with no land.   He was enumerated in subsequent censuses and tax lists 1810 through 1850 (when he was age 77.)  There does not seem to be  a probate record for him in Granville County.  Jesse Hayes was shown with no females in the 1820 census, although he apparently had remarried Martha Johnson in 1717.  Her father, Thomas Johnson write a will in 1824 leaving property in trust for his daughter Martha Hayes and any future children she might have.8  Jesse Hays was a buyer at Johnson’s estate sale.  His children are unknown,

  4. Stephen Hayes (c1775 – c1801?) He appears in the 1800 census as a single head of household aged 16-26, consecutive with his mother.  There is no marriage record for him and he does not appear in tax lists in 1802 or later.   Nor is there a record of him selling his 120 acres of inherited land, suggesting that he died rather than that he left the area.   There was no probate record found in Granville County.
  5. Temperance Hayes (c1781 – aft1850) She was unmarried when her father made her will in 1792, but was married by the time her grandfather’s will was proved five years later, having married Peter Field Farrar by bond dated 20 September 1795.   Records of the estate of Joshua Hayes refer to Peter F. Farrar as her husband.  According to a book on the Farrar family, he was the son of William Farrar and Winifred Clark.9  Peter Farrar died before 9 May 1806 when a creditor named Stephen Sneed posted bond to administer the estate. 10  The following day Temperance Farrar petitioned the court for a year’s provisions for herself and her children.11  Temperance was age 68 in the household of her son Obediah Farrar in the 1850 census of Chester County, South Carolina.
  6. Simeon Hayes (c1780? – 1829) He was likely the male aged 16-26 in his mother’s household in 1800. He married Mary (Polly) Hester by bond dated 5 October 1803.  The 1810 and 1820 censuses show him with a largish family, aged 26-45 both years. He was dead by 4 January 1830 when his widow Mary Hayes filed an initial account as guardian of his four children.  Henry Tatum, his administrator, filed the estate accounting a month later.  Guardian records show that he left four minor children:  Francis Hayes (c1814 – ) came of age in late 1834 or early 1835, Sarah Hayes (? – 1838) died in 1838 not having reached maturity, Stephen Hayes, and Mary (Polly) Hayes.   There were older children who were not minors at his death.  His widow Mary Hayes died in 1839 and a 1844 petition regarding her estate indicates that her only living children were sons Stephen Hayes, Archibald Hayes, and Frank Hayes, and daughters Mary Tippett (wife of John Tibbett or Tippett) and Mildred Hobgood (wife of Henry Hobgood.  Another son,  Alfred Hayes, survived his father but was deceased by 1844.12  Mary was a legatee of her uncle Benjamin Hester, whose estate records confirm the names of her surviving children.  Archibald Hayes and Frank Hayes were living in Smith County, Tennessee at the time of the petition.  Alfred Hayes had died in 1838 leaving a widow named Emily and two small children named James Hayes and Elizabeth Hayes.
  7. Mary Hayes (c1770? – ?) She was unmarried when her father made his will, but married Reuben Inscore (sometimes rendered as “Inscoe”) by bond dated 25 October 1792.  As Mary Inscore, she was a legatee of her grandfather Joshua Hayes’ will by virtue of being an heir of her deceased father. (Subpoenas issued during probate of Joshua Hayes’ estate identify Mary Wood as a child of Joshua Hayes and Mary Inscore as a daughter of his son Joseph Hayes.)  Reuben Inscore appears in the 1800 and 1810 censuses of Granville County, and was taxed annually in Tabbs Creek district. The 1800 census shows his wife as age 16-25, consistent with Mary’s apparent age. However, the 1810 census shows a female 16-25 and a female over 45 in his household indicating either that Mary was dead or that one census or the other is incorrect. The 1830 census shows both Reuben and his wife as aged 60-70.
  8. Lucy Hayes (c1784 – ?)  Lucy and Levice were named last among the children in their father’s will, so were probably the youngest children.  She was evidently one of the females in her mother’s household in the 1800 census.  She was probably the Lucy Hayes who married Thomas Dement by bond dated 7 January 1807, as Thomas Dement was later security for the marriage of Levizah Hayes and was taxed through at least 1815 (the last year I checked) in Tabbs Creek district.
  9. Levice Hayes  (c1786 – ?)  She was evidently one of the females in her mother’s household in the 1800 census.  She was probably the “Levizah” Hays who married William Blackley by bond dated 25 December 1808.  Thomas Dement was his security.  William Blackley (age 62) and “Lovica” (age 63) are in the 1850 census of Granville, living in Fishing Creek district.
  1. Granville County Deed Book O, page 179. [↩]
  2. Granville County Deed Book N, page 129. [↩]
  3. Revolutionary Pay Vouchers, North Carolina Archives.  “…as Commissioner of the County aforesaid [Granville] I have purchased from Joseph Hayes thirteen bushels of oats [for] 6½ Spanish milled dollars…” Signed: Phillip Ness, County Commissioner. [↩]
  4. Granville County Will Book 3, pages 13-14. [↩]
  5. Marriage Bond #2576. [↩]
  6. Granville County Will Book 12, page 381. [↩]
  7. Granville County Deed Book R, page 70. [↩]
  8. Granville County Will Book 9, page 375. [↩]
  9. Some Farrar’s Island Descendants, James S. Farrior and Alvahn Holmes (1979). [↩]
  10. Granville County Loose Estate Records, file “Farrar, Peter F. 1806”. [↩]
  11. Ibid. [↩]
  12. Loose estate records for Granville County, NC Archives. [↩]