I am following a difficult paper trail back through my paternal grandfather, Edwin James Hays (1902-1980). He and his little sister (Erma or Irma) were Orphan Train Riders according to a recently opened family journal. Their father was George Dillard Hays, who was born in Co. Cork Ireland between 1857 & 1860, and came to New York, via Queenstown, Ireland while in his mid-twenties. George Dillard Hays married Lelah Alice Mitchell of Illinois (Daughter of James W. Mitchell. James W. Mitchell was born 1830). Both George Dillard Hays & Lelah Alice (Mitchell) Hays were born somewhere between 1857 & 1860. Their son (my grandfather) Edwin died in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona in 1980. A Texas orphanage, that my grandfather spent his teen years in, re-assigned the same birth date to every orphan under their conservatorship including my grandfather... 25 December) and his last name was later changed from Hays to Hayes.

If you have access to any information regarding my grandfather Edwin, his little sister Irma, or their parents, George Dillard Hays and Lelah Alice (Mitchell Hays), PLEASE let me know.

Thank you!
From the Hays Family Camp
H.R1b1c@gmail.com