More about John Nelson Hays

 The Rest of the Story on John Nelson Hays

We know that the 1860 Union County Census recorded a household headed by carpenter John N. Hays 25, his wife Margaret 26, and children Thomas 5, and 2-year-old Margaret.

We know that on March 8, 1862, John N. Hays enlisted in the Confederate Army; released April 26, 1865. (Age 30, born 1834). After that date, the records have some discrepancies:
 
The 1870 US Census recorded Margaret Gay Hays as a "widow," with son William 13, and 10-year-old Margaret. However, no death certificate, last will and testament, or pension claims have been found around this time, in Union County or elsewhere, to indicate the passing of John Nelson Hays.  

In that same 1870 census John N. Hays is listed as a carpenter living at Peacocks Store in Whiteville, Columbus County, NC. This record seems to appear out of nowhere. No earlier records of him exist in Columbus County. The census taker recorded John's birthplace as South Carolina, and that he had been married for 5 years. Living in the household were John N. 35, his wife Mariah 30, Wise 4, and 2-year-old William. The dates and other details match too closely for it to be mere coincidence. It is hard not to conclude that John N. Hays abandoned his Union County family and started a new one in Whiteville, NC.
 
The 1880 census recorded John N. Hays as a mechanic (carpenter) in Whiteville, Columbus County, NC. Again, SC was noted as his birthplace. In the household were John 46, Mariah 40, Commodor W. 14, William M. 11,  Mary E. 9, and 31-year-old brother-in-law farmer P.A. Cowan.
 
The 1900 census found farmer John N. Hays in Chadbourn township, Columbus County, NC. Once again, John's birthplace was noted as SC, born in August 1833. The census taker was told that John and Mariah had been married for married 35 years [i.e. since 1865]. In the household were John N. 67, with wife M.I. 62, son William 32 (jeweler), and 17-year-old niece B.L. Cowan.
 
OF NOTE: John Nelson Hays' "wife" Mariah I. (S.?) Cowan was daughter of John B. Cowan and wife Caroline. John N. and Mariah's daughter, Mary Ellen Hays, was born Oct. 3, 1870, and died Feb 5, 1925. She married J.W. Hasty. Mary Ellen died in Whiteville, and was buried in Chadbourn. Her Death Certificate notes her parents as J.N. Hayes and M.I. Cowan.

ALSO OF NOTE: For years among Fred Hayes' children, there were whispers that their great grandfather had been traumatized by the Civil War and had left Union County to start a new life. There is even one story that W.T. Hayes (Fred's father) had discovered his dad's whereabouts, visited him and asked him to return home. If this story is true, obviously, the answer was no. It is saga worthy of a soap opera and leaves one wishing for more details.