My 4th Great Grandfather William Hays

William Ranney's 1849 painting "Boone's First View of Kentucky" is among those currently on exhibit at the Speed Museum in Louisville.


William Hays b. 1754, and Susannah Boone b.1760, Daniel's daughter, were my 4th Great Grandparents. He was a soldier, and a pioneer, and taught his father in law Daniel Boone to read and write. After drinking and quarrelling with his son in law, he met his death in 1804.


Biography of William Hays

Of the ancestry of William HAYS little is known except he was of Irish descent. William Hays was born and raised in Ireland, and came to America with his mother and grandfather when he was about 16 years old . His mother being a widow.He was a weaver by trade, and probably had a better education than most of his associates, for we are told that while living on the Clinch River, he taught Daniel Boone "some in writing and improved hand" and kept Boone's accounts.

They were married just before Susannah's father, Daniel Boone, set out on his expedition for the Henderson Co. to mark and cut the road into Kentucky. He accompanied Daniel Boone on his first expedition to cut “The Wilderness Road” into Kentucky. William was a soldier and was well educated. He became a Captain in Captain John Holder's company at Boonesborough in 1779. He and Susannah moved with her parents to Missouri in 1799. In Kentucky, Daniel Boone and his party put up a few cabins, which were the foundation of Boonesborough, after which Boone returned to Virginia for his family. On April 30,1776, Boone took his family and started again over the new road to Kentucky where he planned to make his future home. In the party were his daughter Susannah and her husband William Hays. The trip through the forest and over the mountains occupied over a month. When they got within four miles of the fort, as night was approaching, the entire party camped, except William Hays and his wife, who hurried on to Boonesborough. That night, in the crude fort, Susannah Hays gave birth to her first child, on June 12,1776, one month and 12 days after leaving North Carolinas. This child, Elizabeth Hays, was without doubt the first white child born in Kentucky. On Feb.7,1778, Daniel Boone was captured by Indians and carried away into captivity. While he was a prisoner of the Indians and English, his wife Rebecca Boone and her children, accompanied by William Hays and his wife Susannah, went back to Mrs. Boone's father's (Joseph Bryan's), on the Yadkin River in North Carolina. In the spring the Hays returned to Kentucky, during which journey Elizabeth Hays, their eldest daughter, was carried on a horse by George Bryan, son of Morgan Bryan, jr. William Hays took part in the Siege of Fort Boonesborough. At that time, seeing an Indian sitting behind a tree, Hays took a shot at him, breaking the red man's knee and splintering one of his thigh bones. It is said that the Indian lived some 3 weeks but finally died of his wounds.

William Hays was enrolled as a pioneer soldier of Kentucky, on June 10, 1779 to 1783, Hays was a Captain at Bryan's Station under Colonels Levi Todd and Daniel Boone. When on Aug. 15, 1782, the Indians attacked Bryan's Station, Captain William Hays raised, probably on the second day of the siege, a party of about twelve men at Boone's Station, and hurried to their relief. Somewhere on the way they met the men from Lexington, and all went on to Bryan's Station together. During the siege Hays, who was on horseback, received a bullet wound in the back of the neck. He was so severely stunned that he was almost insensible, but managed to stay on his horse and escaped. Later Capt. Hays was detailed to attend to the building of canoes and collecting provisions for Gen. George Rogers Clark's Army in 1781.

Probably about 1785, William and Susannah Hays came into possession of Daniel Boone's Marble Creek farm, five miles west of Boone's Station, and remained there until the fall of 1799, when they moved with Daniel Boone's party to Missouri. Hays and his son, William Hays, Jr., joined that section of the party which went overland from Limestone or some point below, adding their livestock to the rest. Their route was through Lexington, Louisville, Vincennes, and St. Louis. The Hays family settled in St. Charles Co., Missouri.

William Hays was killed by James Davis, his son-in-law, on 13 December 1804 in St. Charles County. William Hays had quarreled with James Davis and had told him not to come on his place, but he did anyway. Mr. T.P. Davis of Wright City, Missouri, a descendant of James Davis, said in 1958, that the argument was over a land dispute. William Hays was said to have been a heavy drinker and prone to fights and disturbances. Apparently because of his 'rough reputation' sympathy seems to have been with James Davis. In fact it is said that even though Daniel Boone, as Commandant of the Femme Osage District, was the one who arrested James Davis and delivered him to the "calabazo" in St. Charles, he spoke up on his behalf and believed that William Hays had pulled a pistol on James Davis first. The shooting was eventually determined to be "self defense." This occurred at Femme Osage, in the district of St. Charles in the Territory of Louisiana , in what is now Missouri.

Timmy Travolta's Disco Inferno

Tonight I am paying tribute to my brother, who happens to love the BeeGees. SO............Get your MOJO on, and go listen to some BeeGee's.

Stayin Alive
I started a Joke
Mend a broken Heart
More Than A Woman
Should be Dancin
Jive Talkin

Have a Good Week
Daniel

In The News

The Hardy Boys series began in 1927, when Grosset & Dunlap released the first three volumes, known as "breeders." At first, the books were bound in a plain cloth cover, with cover art printed on the paper dust jacket. In 1962, Grosset & Dunlap dropped the dust jackets and switched to the more durable "picture cover" format, in which the cover art was printed directly on the book's cover. Over the years, the graphic design of the covers has changed several times.

Potter Party
Everyone is having their "Potter Parties" tonight, after the release of the new book, "Deathly Hallow". I for one, have not even read the first book, much less the others. I used to read the Hardy Boy's.......is it the same? We used to call it "Party Hardy".

Obama: I’d walk picket line as president

I'm sure that this was a strategic gesture on his part to promise the Labor Unions. However, I also think it would be against the law. The President has the power to order any Labor Union in America back to work. Failure to do so, is a felony. Would this not be a conflict of interest for him to walk a picket line?..............The real question is "does he really have to promise these kinds of things to get elected?".....Is there a Lawyer in the house that can answer this question?

OxyContin makers fined for downplaying addiction risk

OxyContin was ordered to pay 634 million dollars in fines for misleading the public about the painkillers risk of addiction.

This would be the remnant of the fines inflicted on the Tobacco industry for misleading the public of cigarette addiction. While tobacco companies deserve their fair share of blame, there's plenty to go around. A large portion of the tobacco company payments will flow to the states to help cover their health care costs, the very same states that have been collecting billions of dollars of excise and sales taxes on the sales of tobacco products to their people.

The state of Florida -- which will receive a relatively healthy share of the payments -- at one time actually produced unfiltered cigarettes in its prisons to give to inmates and to sell to municipalities.

Even the federal government shares some of the blame. They weren't above selling cut-rate cigarettes on military bases.

Nevertheless, big tobacco must now pay the price of its success. The companies have signed an agreement to pay hundreds of billions of dollars in fines, drastically cut their product's advertising, and pay even more fines if consumers don't actually use less of their product. If underage smoking does not fall by 30% in five years, 50% in seven, and 60% in ten years, tobacco companies will pay as much as $2 billion a year in penalties. And the tobacco growers are lining up too -- they want $6 billion to help them switch to other crops and/or a protectionist requirement that a higher percentage of American tobacco be used in cigarettes.

Let's not forget that from the year 1609, the first Americans grew Tobacco. We have supplied the rest world with Tobacco products for over 200 years. It is, in a sense, what built this country to what it is.

Taliban says killed two Germans in Afghanistan

Taliban says they have killed thier hostages, while another Taliban says one is still alive. For Gods Sake!..........I thought the Taliban was disbanded, and we had won this war long ago. That was when our President strolled across the deck of that Aircraft Carrier in his jumpsuit, declaring victory.......Remember!

Do fish suffer from exposure to Uriah Heep?

A Finnish researcher is to study fish in an aquarium while a rock group performs nearby, to see if the sound causes any ill-effects or distress.

Which brings us to The Song of the Week!
I attended a Uriah Heep concert in Anahiem, CA, in 1971. All I ever remember was there was alot of smoke, and the song "July Morning".

Have a Good Week

Daniel

Home of the Assassins and the "Old Man of the Mountain"

I have always been fascinated by Castles. I never knew there were so many Castles in the Middle East. There are Castles in Syria, Iran, Cyprus, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Israel. In Iran alone there over 80 Castles, most were built by the Pershians. Most of the Castles in the Middle East were built during the Byzantine Empire, from the years 950 to 1200 AD. While many others were built by Muslims, and Crusaders.

While browsing the internet this week I found another group. The Hashshashin , was a religious sect of Ismaili Muslims from the Nizari sub-sect. They had a militant basis which was employed in various political or religious purposes. They were thought to be active from 1090 to 1272. This mystic secret society was known to specialize in terrorising the crusaders with fearlessly executed, politically motivated assassinations.

The name "assassin" is commonly believed to be a mutation of the Arabic "haššāšīn" (حشّاشين). However, there are those who dispute this etymology, arguing that it originates from Marco Polo's account of his visit to Alamut in 1273, in which he describes a drug whose effects are more like those of alcohol than of hashish. It is suggested by some writers that assassin simply means 'followers of Al-Hassan' (or Hassan-i-Sabah, the Sheikh of Alamut). Others suggest that since hashish-eaters were generally ostracized in the Middle Ages the word "Hashshashin" had become a common synonym for "outlaws". So the attribution of Hassan's Ismaili sect with this term is not necessarily a clue for drug usage. Some common accounts of their connection with hashish are that these "assassins" would take hashish before missions in order to calm themselves; others say that it helped to boost their strength, and turned them into madmen in battle.

Bernard Lewis notes in his book, "The Assassins: A Radical Sect in Islam", by the thirteenth century, the word Assassin, in various forms, had already passed into European usage in the general sense of hired professional murderer. The Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani, who died in 1348, tells how the lord of Lucca sent "his assassins" to Pisa to kill a troublesome enemy there.Even earlier, Dante, in a passing reference in the 19th canto of the Inferno, speaks of "the treacherous assassin"; and his fourteenth-century commentator Fancesco da Buti, explaining a term which for some readers at the time may still have been strange and obscure, remarked: "An assassin is one who kills others for money." Since then "assassin" has become a common noun in most European languages. It means a murderer or, more particularly, one who kills by stealth or treachery, whose victim is a public figure and whose motive is fanaticism or greed."Assassin" is now a common noun in most European languages, but it first came to the West from Arabic around the time of the Crusades, when it was the name of a secretive Muslim sect feared by the Crusaders and the Muslim establishment alike. Bernard Lewis traces the origins of the Assassin sect to the Shiite branch of Islam whereby the Assassins were to the first group to make planned, systematic and long term use of murder as a political weapon. They were history's first terrorists.

MASYAF CASTLE , SYRIA, Home of the Assassins and the "Old Man of the Mountain", made news this week. Secrets of Assassins' fort unearthed in Syria. Restoration of this Castle has begun in the last year, and authorities hope it will become a popular tourist attraction. Saladin, the great Muslim leader, laid siege to Masyaf castle in the 12th century. But he thought twice before launching an assault on the Assassins, who had a reputation for mounting daring operations to slay their foes. "Anyone who tried to take the Assassins' castle would be dead the next day," said Haytham Ali Hasan, an archaeologist involved in the restoration project.

You can browse many of the Castles of the Middle East here.

Song of the Week

The Rob Thomas album "Something to Be" was an amazing album, released in 2005. It was his first solo album, and immediately went to number one. It was also the first album by a solo artist, from a rock group, to hit the U.S. Billboard #1 in 50 years. It features the top ten hit "Lonely No More". It also features John Mayer's guitar on the single "Street Corner Symphony." One of my favorite songs on the album, ironically, is the cover song " Something to Be". The song was never played on the radio.........why?.........because the "S" word is used in the fourth verse.

Rob Thomas
Something To Be

Hey man

I don't wanna hear about love no more

I don't wanna talk about how I feel

I don't really wanna be me no more

Dress down now I look a little too

Boy next door

Maybe I should try to find a downtown whore

That'll make me look hardcore

I need you to tell me what to stand for

I've been looking for something

Something I've never seen

We're all looking for something

Something to be

Hey man

Play another one of those heartbreak songs

Tell another story how things go wrong

And they never get back

My pain is a platinum stack

Take that shit back

You don't wanna be me when it all goes wrong

You don't wanna see me with the houselights on

I'm a little too headstrong

Stand tall

I don't wanna get walked on

I can't stand what I'm starting to be

I can't stand the people that I'm starting to need

There's so much now

That can go wrong

And I don't need somebody

Trying to help it alongIt's the same old song

Everybody says you've been away too long

Everybody wanna take you what went wrong

Wanna make you like an icon

Will you believe that they're right

Have a Good Week

Daniel

Boot's is his name..SAX is his game

Tonight I thought I would tribute a couple of musicians, one young, and one old that just passed away this week at the age of 80.

Boots Randolph was a wonderful musician. He played in a variety of bands throughout his career. You will probably remember him from his big hit in the early sixties, "Yakety Sax". That song later became the theme song for the Benny Hill show. Boots Randolph was the first to ever play sax on recordings with Elvis, and the only one to ever play solo with him, in addition to recording on the soundtracks for 8 of his movies. Boots also played on such diverse recordings as Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman", Al Hirt's "Java", REO Speedwagon's "Little Queenie", and Brenda Lee's "Rockin' 'Round The Christmas Tree". In fact, he has a 30-year history of playing on records with her, including "I Want To Be Wanted" and "I'm Sorry". An array of other artists who have added the Yakety Sax touch to their recordings include Chet Atkins, Buddy Holly, Floyd Cramer, Alabama, Johnny Cash, Richie Cole, Pete Fountain, Tommy Newsom and Doc Severinsen.

His final solo studio album "A Whole New Ballgame" was released June 12, 2007. Boot's passed away July 3, 2007, at his hometown of Nashville, TN.

Please enjoy these songs, by one of the greatest Sax players of all time!

Yakety Sax

Sweet Georgia Brown

Sleep Walk

Cracklin Sax

Sentimental Journey



Blue-eyed soul music has got a new crown prince...and he's on a crusade.






Mark Broussard has a new album out called SOS - Save Our Soul. This is a wonderful album of words and music that will touch your soul. He has done his own renditions of some of the old school soul music of the sixties and seventies. Songs by Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, and others.

You can listen to his interview with NPR Radio this week at this link. Go to his MySpace page to hear Al Green's hit "Love and Happiness".

Broussard was born into a musical family, so his "ownership" goes back to his days as a boy hearing his father, Louisiana Hall of Fame guitarist Ted Broussard, (member of the legendary Gulf Coast blue eyed soul band The Boogie Kings) tear through soul nuggets with bands around suburban Carencro. And Marc was singing like the style's founders by the time he was in his teens.

"Years before I made my first album" - 2002's surprisingly mature Momentary Setback - "my uncle told me I needed to form my own music by using all of my influences along the way and combining them with my own perspective on life. 'Then,' he said, 'you'll have a great package to call your own.' I think I achieved that with Carencro. Now I've been touring behind that album nearly three years, and I want to share a new message. Not just that real soul music still has a place in our lives, but that we need to have more social consciousness. I don't want to lecture anybody about that. I want them to feel it through the positive vibes of this music."

I failed to mention that Mark is 20 something, and from Louisiana Cajun Country. Good Luck Mark, your destined for greatness in your career.

Have a Good Week

Daniel