My Genealogy Hound

J. A. Hayes was a stripling of about sixteen years when the Rebellion broke out, yet he enlisted for active service in the war, and his struggles and the severity of his service are not to be overlooked. He was born in the “Palmetto State,” in the village of Cheraw, on the Peedee River, in 1846, and in 1861 enlisted in Coites’ battery of light artillery, and for some time afterward was on duty in and around New Berne. From 1863 until September 27, 1864, he was at Petersburg; but in the latter year he was taken prisoner at the iron bridge near that city, this being the first time he was ever absent from roll-call except on one occasion when he was relieved from duty by his superior officer on account of a wound received while in the seven-days’ fight at that place. After being captured he was taken to City Point, then to Point Lookout, Va., and was kept in imprisonment at the latter place until the close of the war. In the summer of 1865 he made his way back to his home in South Carolina, the most of the journey being made on foot, and in the fall of the same year was engaged in contracting for ties for the Cheraw & Darlington Railroad. In October, 1865, he emigrated westward to Memphis, Tenn., where he engaged in agricultural pursuits, being an employee of Rev. A. H. Kerr, on Big Creek. Here he continued to reside until 1875, when he came to Mississippi County, and opened up a tract of wild land on Little River; but owing to the high water of 1882 he sent his family to Virginia, and returned to Memphis, Tenn., where he engaged with Oggell Bros, in the hardware business. The following year he returned to Mississippi County, Ark., and settled on a plantation belonging to J. W. Jefferson, where he has opened up about 200 acres of land, and has now under the plow 1,000 acres, employing about 125 hands to assist him in keeping the farm in good condition. The yield of his land is about three-fourths to one bale of cotton to the acre. Since coming to the county he has purchased 320 acres of land, and owns a good residence in the town of Osceola. He was married in 1872 to Miss Lula Scott, a native of Prince Edward County, Va., and a daughter of Samuel B. Scott, who was a descendant of the same family as Gen. Winfield Scott. Mr. and Mrs. Hayes are the parents of the following children: James M., who died in infancy; Nannie L. and Algie, also died in infancy; Annie Gertie, Eddie, Pearl and Ruby (twins, two years old), and Ernest, an infant. Mr. Hayes belongs to Lodge No. 27, A. F. & A. M., at Osceola, and is also a member of the A. O. U. W.