The Hayes Family History Site

The Hayes Branch Cemetery Headstone Photo Album contains pictures from various cemteries for the following surnames.

• Lewis
• Tierney
• Beattie
• Hayes
• Hanley
• Colwell
• Gackstetter
• Bishop
• Graham
• Hayes
• Sheehan

At the turn of the Century, Thomas F. Lewis (b. 1858, d. 1924), president of the Brooklyn City Building & Loan Association Co-operative found himself in the middle of a major power struggle with other members of the board.

The Association was organized on March 2, 1887 in the old hall at Third Avenue and 24th Street in South Brooklyn.  It opened with 15 charter members.  Within the first year, it had accumulated over $80,000 of assets.  By 1890, the association’s assets had grown to $250,000. When the “great Panic of 1893″ occurred, the association not only survived, but actually increased it’s assets.  In 1895, the association moved its offices to 91 Court Street.  It also had a branch office at 76 39th Street.  In 1897, the assets had grown to a whopping $465,000.

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I know there are many relatives who served our country that are not yet on this list. By next year, I hope that I can find you and add you to our little tribute.

From Philip Sr., Colleen, Philip Jr. and Kevin…. THANK YOU!

On Veteran’s Day we honor Soldiers who protect our nation. For their service as our warriors, They deserve our admiration. Some of them were drafted; Some were volunteers; For some it was just yesterday; For some it’s been many years; In the jungle or the desert, On land or on the sea, They did whatever was assigned To produce a victory. Some came back; some didn’t. They defended us everywhere. Some saw combat; some rode a desk; All of them did their share. No matter what the duty, For low pay and little glory, These soldiers gave up normal lives, For duties mundane and gory. Let every veteran be honored; Don’t let politics get in the way. Without them, freedom would have died; What they did, we can’t repay. We owe so much to them, Who kept us safe from terror, So when we see a uniform, Let’s say “thank you” to every wearer. By Joanna Fuchs

Private Ralph Yerks b. 1894 d.1918 World War I, US Army, 9th Infantry, 2nd Division Killed in Action and is buried in Thiaucourt, France at the St. Mihiel American Cemetery. Genealogy Note: Colleens Great Uncle Second Lieutenant Harry W. Lewis b.1892 d.1972 World War I, American Expeditionary Forces Served on the United States Expeditionary Force in France. Stay an extra year after the Armistice was signed and played tennis for the AEF team assigned to rebuild relations in war torn Europe. Genealogy Note: My Grandfather James Tierney b. 1894 d.1931 World War I, American Expeditionary Forces Company M, 307 Infantry James served in France and saw many friends die in Europe. We have a letter from him, to his brother Frank, while in France. Genealogy Note: My Great Uncle Lloyd Lewis b.1928  d. 2000 Korean War Conflict Served in a “secondary” MASH unit in Japan.� Genealogy Note: My Uncle Colonel Robert E. Dunn, US Army b. 1892 d. 1974 Served in both World War I and World War II. In WWII Colonel Dunn lead a black Division of Engineers on Okinawa. Genealogy Note: Husband to Grace Elinor Tierney, my Great Aunt. James Leroy Yerks III b. 1938 Non-Wartime Served in the U.S. Navy Genealogy Note: Colleen’s Father. William B. Yerks b. 1891 d. 1960 World War I William fought in World War I and survived a Mustard Gas attack, only to die of complications of it some years later. Genealogy Note: Colleens Great Uncle and brother of Private Ralph Yerks. Jonathan J. Foley b. 1896 d. 967 Genealogy Note: Husband of Agnes Beattie, my Great Aunt. Brian Hogan Gulf War 1990 -1991 Genealogy Note: Husband to my cousin, Patty Brady Hogan. John W. Dunn b. 1930 d. 2000 USAF Active Duty 1948-1953 Korea 1950-1952 USAF AIR Guard – Berlin Wall Conflict 1961-1962 Retired USCG reserves 1979 Genealogy Note: Son of Edna V. Hone, a distant cousin to Colleen. John E Dunn 1985-1990, USAF Active Duty Genealogy Note: Another distant cousin to Colleen. William Sheehan Fred Barnes George Condos Nick Condos

Jeanne T. Lewis started to play the piano at age 7 in 1932. The base of what she learned and what she continues to pass on today to her students, comes from her first music teacher, Mrs. Charlotte Brush. Mrs. Brush had a little studio in a house located on Larchmont Avenue in Larchmont, New York, where she would go to for regular lessons right up to the time she entered high school. She then picked up lessons with Mrs. Elizabeth Read of New Rochelle. Mrs. Read taught her for several years and helped prepare her for her College. She also experienced “duo” piano playing with Mrs. Brush’s daughter, Virginia under Mrs. Read’s tutorage.

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Many years ago, my Uncle told me a story of my Great, Great Grandfather Henry William Lewis and how he had witnessed the beginning of the Civil War.   This  story was always very interesting to me so I decided to do some research into the events of that day. There are actually many very interesting stories about Henry William Lewis that I will write about in the future, but today’s story is about his time aboard “The Nashville” and it’s role in the start of the Civil War.    The history books and buffs have many versions of how things happened that day in Charleston Bay in relation to the Nashville. But thanks to an interview with H. W. Lewis, published in “The Sun”, a New York newspaper, on May 16, 1897, things become much clearer.

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This last weekend, Mom, Colleen, Philip Jr., Kevin and myself all piled into the Trailblazer and headed south to Pennsylvania.  The drive down was without incident and allowed me some quality time to gather more family insight from my Mom.  She told me lots of new things, but unfortunately, I was driving and was unable to take notes.  I should have brought my voice recorder.  She promised to let me video record her at a later date.

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Last weekend, I took a trip to visit my Mom in Katonah, NY.  Every time I see my Mom, I interrogate her with questions about the family. Frankly, she should be pretty sick of me by now, but she keeps on entertaining me with a smile.

So I decided to ask her about some jewelry I remembered belonging to my Grandmother, Isabelle Lewis.  I was thrilled to find that there were many pieces of family jewelry in my Moms possession that I had never seen or heard of.  So I asked her for permission to have some of the items appraised.  The story behind all the items will remain for another post on another day.

So while I was at the Jewelers, we had an in-depth conversation about the engraving script used to display the initials on the many of the pieces.

The assistant told me that in those days, the letter that represents the last name is usually found in the middle of the initials.  That explains the reason I was having such difficulty reading some of the initials. But on this particular one, it did not make much sense.

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After my first experience at the New York City Records Archives, I took a short trip on the subway to Brooklyn where the Green-Wood Cemetery is.

Well, I made my first trip to the New York City Archives today, located in downtown Manhattan, next to City Hall.  I took the train in from Springdale, CT to Grand Central and then jump the 4,5,6 subway from Grand Central to Centre Street (City Hall area).  It was quick and easy trip without any trouble.  In fact, I got there 20 minutes early.

Once I got in, I quickly found myself lost in “oodles” of microfilm data.  It took me about 45 minutes to learn the process, but once I got going, it was really quite easy to find the data I was looking for.

Since the place closes at 1 PM on Fridays, I restricted my search to just a few records I knew I could find.   The first one, which I was excited about, was the father of James Yerks I. Since nobody living knew anything beyond James, the first, it would be a real eye opener. On an earlier expedition to the Westchester County Archives, we found his wife’s  Will and Probate papers; which allowed us to pull her Death Certificate from the Village of Port Chester; which led us to her burial place in Rye, New York.  She, Annie Cutler Yerks, was buried with her husband George Oakley Yerks, but there was no  birth or death year information on the headstone.  The Cemetery office staff  pulled his info card and advised me that he had died in Brooklyn!  I would never have guessed that.  So armed with the death year and location, I looked him up in the Index of Brooklyn Deaths in the year 1939.  He was the only Yerks listed there.  So I wrote down the certificate  number and looked up the actual Death Certificate in another roll of microfilm.  Once I had it, I submitted a slip summarizing the info found and the microfilm to the office staff, who printed the Death Certificate for me.  Lo and behold, George Yerks’ father was…. George Yerks.  He was married to  an Elsie Donlap.

So the records I obtained on this trip include:

• Death Certificate: George Oakley Yerks, 1/12/1939
• Death Certificate: Henry William Lewis, died 8/9/1899
• Death Certificate: James F. Tierney, died 11/6/1896 at age 29
• Death Certificate: Jonathan J. Beattie, died 1/8/1913
• Death Certificate: Mary Beattie, died 1/19/1913