Dear John Hays,

My great, great grandfather was William Hays, 37th Mississippi infantry, company G. He was taken prisoner at Vicksburg on July 4th, 1863, when Pemberton capitulated to Grant. He moved to Arkansas after the war to raise cotton. There was an ancestor in family folk lore known as "Shubuta" Hays, his nickname from the place in Mississippi from whence he came, Shubuta Mississippi. I was at a family grave cleaning at Mount Tabor cemetery in Arkansas, when, in addition to the more recently passed Hayses, I noticed a CSA gravestone with the name William Hays on it. It's not that common a surname, especially in such a sparsely populated part of the country. Did some digging, and "Shubuta" and William Hays are one in the same. His son was Robert Lee Hays (wonder who he was named after?), who begat Chester Lee Hays, who begat Aubrey Lynch Hays, who begat me, Richard Paul Hays. One of my aunts relates that he lived well into his 90s and had a long white beard. No existing photos that I know of.

Hope this helps.

Fellow son of the confederacy,

R Hays