In recent years, a number of family members have made an exhaustive search, with the following results. Sometime about 1660 one Jonathan Hays, reportedly a butcher, lived in Liverpool, England, but this has never been confirmed. It is believed, however, to be true. He had a son, Jonathan II, born January 16, 1685, who came to Philadelphia as a Captain on a British ship. Soon after his arrival, he sold his Captaincy and resolved to become a farmer. Thereafter he married a Quaker girl by the name of Elizabeth Elliott, who was born on March 17, 1678. In a book entitled "The Hayses of Emmitsburg, Maryland" written in 1985 by Dorothy Hays Desiardins and her husband, Peter, is an interesting story of how Jonathan 11 (the former naval Captain) was given a farm near Philadelphia by his father-in-law.

Jonathan II and Elizabeth had twelve sons and one daughter, one of the sons being Jonathan III. Birth records of the twelve sons and the daughter have not been found, but we do know that "Maryland Jonathan" was born on January 16, 1729.

