To MJBell:
According to the succession records of St Helena Parish, John Hays was married to Susannah Jacobs. If I remember the passages correctly, after John Hays died she married a John West. When Susannah Jacobs died the records say William petitioned the court to take care of her children, William and Lasitta Susan. I think Wm. and John might possibly be related in some way to Parker Hays, my 2nd ggrandfather. We might have corresponded a while ago. I also found a record from St Tammany or Feliciana mentioning them in the Tax Records in the 1830's.