     Samuel E. and Martha B. (Davis) Hays remained in Roane County for many years.  In September of 1811, Samuel E. Hays served on the third term of the first grand jury.  The grand jury had been formed in March of 1811.  True bills returned by the grand jury often resulted in trials like the one of Leonard Vandagriff accused of Horse Stealing. When tried, he was found guilty. His sentence was that he was to be branded on one thumb with an "H" and on the other with a "S"; he was to stand in the stocks located on the front lawn of the courthouse for several hours and receive lashes across his bar back while in the stocks and then be imprisoned for six months.

     Each county had a responsibility to comply with the law to form its own militia.  All males between 18 and 50 had to serve in this militia. the individuals were fined if they did not comply with the laws.  Samuel E. Hays was a private in the 4th Regiment, Roane County.  Between May of 1809 and April of 1810, he and John Davis were excused from militia duty due to inabilities of the body. On 10 January 1814, he served as a Private in Captain Allen S. Bacon's Company of East Tennessee Drafted Militia in the Battalion commanded by Maj. Thomas C. Clark for a term of 6 months, 14 days.  He received $51.61 for his tour of duty. Upon his return Samuel E. Hays appointed Gideon Morgan as his Power of Attorney to receive monies due him for his was service. This document is signed by Hays and marked with a seal attesting it is his valid signature.

     During the October 1816 and December 1816 Regiment Court Martial Sessions, Hays was present and served in the capacity of Ensign.  Later at the Regiment Court Martial of October 1817, Ensign Samuel E. Hays was fined $5.00, reason unstated.  At the Regiment Court Martial of 4 December 1817, Samuel E. Hays was released from his imposed fine of $5.00, reason still unlisted.

     On the 1814 tax list, Samuel E. Hays paid one white poll tax.  Poll tax was a tax levied on all males over the age of 21 and under the age of 50, regardless of whether they owned land.  If they did own land, they were taxed on the acres also.  On the 1815 tax list, both Samuel E. Hays and Asa Davis, of Hinds Valley, were each taxed for 75 acres.  Asa Davis did not pay a poll tax which indicates he is over 50 years old or younger than 21.  Samuel E. Hays and Asa Davis of Hinds Valley were each taxed for 62 acres. Davis again did not pay a Poll tax by Hays paid one white poll tax.  It is inconceivable to believe that both parties sold separately 13 acres of land during the same year. Thus, it could be rationalized that they must be co-owners of the land, the original being 150 acres, both owning half, selling off 26 acres leaving 124 acres to divide equally for tax purposes.  A review of the deed books listed no transactions by Samuel E. Hays or Asa Davis during this time period. Hinds Valley is located east of Kingston, Tennessee between the Clinch and Tennessee Rivers.

     Is the Asa Davis mentioned above, if over 50 years old in 1815, the father of Martha B. Davis?  Or is he, if younger than 21, the brother of Martha B. Davis.  Asa Davis and Samuel E. Hays do not appear again in the tax lists of Roane County as owners of any land.  Captain John Essary, who collected taxes from Davis and Hays in 1816 also owned 200 acres and lived in Hinds Valley in 1817 and would not have missed them if they had still been living there.  It definitely appears that Davis and Hays left the county before tax due day in 1817.

     A young Asa Davis married Ann Wilkinson in Roane County on 5 June 1817.  This Asa Davis is believed to be a brother of Martha B. Davis.  In 1818 this young Asa Davis paid one white poll tax to Capt. John Essary. The name Asa Davis does not appear again in the tax lists until 1821 at which time he paid one white poll tax.  The area from which the Asa Davis is taxed in Roane County in 1821, is known as the Hiwassee District, south of the Tennessee River between Little Tennessee and Hiwassee Rivers.

     In July of 1820, S.E. Hays paid off a note of $28.75 to the estate of Henry miller, through the Roane County Court.  Henry Miller was the father-in-law of Henry Davis, a brother of William Davis mentioned at the first of this writing.  It cannot be determined if Hays lived in Roane County or was living elsewhere.  Not being listed on any tax lists of Roane County in 1820 leads us to believe he has already moved westward.

     During the time our ancestors were in Roane County, the land on the south side of the Tennessee River was the last remaining "homeland" of the Cherokee Indians in that part of eastern Tennessee.  These Cherokee Indians were on a friendly basis with the white man.  The white man was continually negotiating treaties with them, day by day and little by little grasping their lands, until finally they had it all in trade for their removal to a far distant western land called the Indian Territory.

     Martha B. Davis is believed to be descended from the Algonquin speaking tribe of Powhatan Indians.  Her mother is said to have been full-blood Indian of the same tribe as Pocahontas.  These Indians have the copper black coloring as opposed to the red coloring of the Cherokees. Absolutely no documentation  has been found regarding the above.  Family legends  and the copper black coloring inherited by many descendants of Martha is our reasons for stating this belief.

     In October of 1821, a petition had been presented to the General Assembly by citizens who lived in the most southern part of Humphreys County, to grant them relief of crossing two rivers with no ferrys for access to their county  seat, and to put their strip of land in Perry County.  There are 62 names on this petition.  These names, written by one individual, included the name of Samuel Hais.

     Who can say that these two individuals, Asa Davis and Samuel Hais were our ancestors?  There is only a strong probability.

    The spring fed timbered land in the north eastern quadrant of Henderson County must have appealed greatly to the people from Roane County because by 1830, they had settled in with many other migrants, building their log houses and clearing land for farming.

     It is believed Samuel Ellett Hays did not live long after reaching his new home.  (One descendant tells us he was killed by Indians and one of his young sons captured by the same Indians).  Census records indicate that by 1830 he has died, but that his wife along with his five sons and at least two daughters are established in their homes in the north east portion of Henderson County.

     The parents of Samuel Ellett Hays or Martha B. Davis have not been proven as of this writing.  Based upon information currently available, Martha B. Davis appears to be the daughter of James Davis or maybe Asa Davis.  It appears she has brothers Asa, John, Isaac, Elisha and Christopher and sisters Ann, Cynthia and Elizabeth.  Samuel E. Hays appears to be the son of Joseph Hays, possibly the one listed in Anderson County, Tennessee in 1801.  Others related are John Hays and James Hays.

     Samuel E. Hays and Martha B. Davis have not been found documented in any Bible or any County Court Records, or any other type record at any place as the parents of the five Hays boys.  However, through exhaustive study of every available document that we have studied, strong circumstantial evidence of their parentage of these children is beyond a doubt.

Written and Researched by Freda and Lincoln Hays