ll17

LFGA Line 17.

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Line #17 William Marion Lay b. ca. 1760, VA., d. 1843, Wayne Co., TN., married Martha Duncan; They had son James and possibly others.
(See Line 30.)

CONTACTS

Helen Lay Dalgleish

Kathy Gregory bob48kat45greg@yahoo.com

Curt M & Susan Kline cskline@charter.net

Nancy B. Samuelson

Helen and Arthur Dalgleish

Helen Marie Lay Dalgleish was born to Arthur Garfield Lay and Nettie Jane Kimbrell Lay in Southern California As a youngster, she thought they were the only Lays in the world. Growing up, and working on her family history, she was surprised at the many genealogical cousins she found.

She dropped out of college to marry Arthur Dalgleish in 1943; going back and getting her B.A. in Fine Arts after their children were grown. She worked until retirement as a secretary. They live in the Sierra foothills, near Yosemite Park. Helen and Arthur have two children, and four grandchildren. Their son is a pathologist, and their daughter is a registered nurse. Their interests include the outdoors, RVs, genealogy, watercolor painting and classical music.

William Marion Lay, The Teenage Revolutionary War Soldier

Line 17

By Helen Lay Dalgleish

Up until very nearly the end of his life, William Marion Lay was still trying to get recognition from the U. S. Government for his service in the Revolutionary War. He and his brother served in the same military unit for one year. It has remained a mystery why one brother would later qualify for the war pension and the other denied his benefits. (Note: J.G. Lay, Lay Family Genealogy, P. 626 shows the brother who served with William as Thomas).

By an Act of Congress passed on June 7, 1832, those with proof of service in the Revolutionary War became eligible to receive a pension. In an effort to receive that pension, William Lay made several appearances in Court at Waynesboro, Wayne County, Tennessee (from around 1833 to near the end of 1842). During these Court appearances, he made many Declarations regarding his personal life, and his enlistment and service in the military during the latter part of the Revolutionary War. Most of the following statements are abstracted from Court Records available from The National Archives.

His Childhood

William Lay declared that he had no record of his age, as his father didn't keep records of the ages of any of his children. He didn't know where he was born, but thought it was Virginia. He stated that he had lived since childhood in Wilkes County, North Carolina, and was living there when he enlisted in the Revolutionary War. Note: It has been estimated that he was born circa 1760. Several researchers think that his father was Thomas Lay/Leigh who married Nancy Middleton.

He enlisted near the end of the Revolutionary War on the side of (in his words) the United States Army. He did not remember the exact date, but believed it to be the latter part of 1780. He distinctly remembered that his enlistment took place after the taking of Charleston by the British, and also thought it to have been after the battle of Ramsour Mills. He believed his enlistment was after the defeat of General Gates near Camden, South Carolina.

The regiment in which William was placed was organized for a period of one year with Captain Charles Gordon in charge. They became known as;twelve-months men. He went in as a substitute for draftee Benjamin Howard. They remained stationed at the Wilkes County Courthouse for a little while. From there, Captain Gordon marched his troops to Salisbury, North Carolina where they joined forces with the Regiment of the North Carolina Infantry under the command of Col. Joel Lewis. They remained garrisoned at Salisbury from sometime in the fall 1780 until the next spring 1781.

Military Details

On a previous occasion, just before the defeat of General Gates, William declared he had tried to enlist under the command of Col. Cleveland. He was rejected because he was too young at that time. He would have gone in as a substitute for a Sam Tucker.

William recalled that while he was stationed at Salisbury, he (along with other troops) was assigned to guard British and Tory prisoners of war. In particular he remembered guarding a British officer named Col. Briant (sic).

Next, they were marched toward Deep River, then to Haw River, where they remained until the expiration of their one-year term. On the way, they became attached to a larger battalion. (William explained to the Court that because of his advanced age he was unable to recall the name of the Commander). The battalion to which William was attached was marched and counter marched for the purpose of protecting and guarding that section of the country. Their assignment was to scour the surrounding area in search of the enemy, particularly the Tories. Much was seen and heard about the depredations of the enemy in the;traces of the country, but the troops never encountered them.

During this campaign, William Lay was included in a foraging mission, and he and his buddies stumbled upon the headquarters of David Fanning (the celebrated Tory leader) and his men. They were not present, but the foraging party cut short their mission and hastened back to their base! Near the end of their twelve months of service, the troops were ordered to march toward Hillsboro, North Carolina where they were to be discharged. On the way to Hillsboro, William Lay was taken with fever and ague which was then prevalent in that country. His debility became so great that he was unable to continue the journey, and was permitted a furlough to return home to recuperate. Meanwhile at Hillsboro, the troops under the command of Major Lewis were discharged from the service.

While William was still very ill at home, his father went in his place to Hillsboro to receive his final discharge paper. William then placed the discharge in the care of his father for safekeeping. He believed that the document was lost or destroyed, for that was the last time he saw it.

Shortly after the war, William Lay married in Wilkes County, North Carolina and continued living there for five or six years. He then moved to Pendletonton County, South Carolina where he resided until about 1810, then moved back to Wilkes County, North Carolina a few years, how long he did not remember. His next move was to Eastern Tennessee where he resided a few years on the Holston River. From there, he moved to Warren County, Tennessee. His final move was to Wayne County, Tennessee. At his final Court appearance, William declared in his own words that he "had resided there for the last 14 or 15 years (from circa 1827-1828 to 1842).

October 5, 1840: William Lay declared he had made a previous application for pension, but his brother, by whom he could then prove his war service, he believed had since died.

December 7, 1840: He declared that there was now no living person by whom he could prove the facts as stated. He declared that he did everything correctly and truthfully when applying the first time for the pension. He believed that his former application was rejected because the Certifying Officer (of the Court) had no Seal of Office. He believed that the package containing his application was not correctly sealed, and that important papers fell out and were lost in the mail.

June 9, 1841: William Lay declared that he retained two lawyers to prepare his application papers, which were sent to the Commissioner of Pensions in Washington, D. C. prior to 1833. The Commissioner stated that the papers were sent back to William Marion Lay, but he had no recollection his Declaration was ever returned to him. He did receive, however, a Brief containing objections to his claim. He declared his lawyers failed to show up in Court to represent him, and he was never able to see or meet with them. According to him, they lived more than 50 miles away.

Because he was illiterate, had no counsel, and no help to make out his papers, he failed to renew his application in a timely manner. He declared that Court Clerk Jonathan Morris (successor to Court Clerk William Barnett), after careful examination of former records, could find no declaration or any other papers connected with his application for pension.

October 4, 1842: William Lay made application for pension about eight or less years previous to this date, but due to omissions and clerical errors, those papers were never returned to the Wayne County Clerk, or his lawyers. The returned papers were either lost or mislaid, and he has never seen them, nor does he know anything about them.

On this occasion, which may have been his final Court appearance, he declared that from the best information he could obtain as to his age, he was confident that he was not less than 83 years old. Witnesses who appeared on his behalf at various times testified that they believed him to be correct about his age.

The second application for a pension was also rejected, for William Marion Lay never received the benefits to which he was entitled. He became ill after making his first application and was ill for more than two years. Being already old, very feeble and almost blind, it was with great difficulty that he was able to get to Court for the above-dated Court appearances.

William Marion Lay died soon after his last Court appearance, perhaps sometime in 1843. It is believed that he is buried in an unmarked grave near Waynesboro, Tennessee. A local historian of nearby Collinwood, Tennessee, Edgar D. Byler III made the following statement; From the 1840 census of Wayne County, Tennessee it appears that William Marion Lay is buried in the area of Cromwell Crossroads or Brantley's Crossroads, southwest of Collinwood, Tennessee.

One descendancy line from William Lay down to the present generation comes through his son James Lay born ca 1785 in Wilkes County, North Carolina. James Lay married Frances Thompson of North Carolina. The oldest child of James and Frances was John Wesley Lay, Sr., born 1813, Tennessee per Census record. He married Mary Stan-field of South Carolina, and they had 12, maybe 13 children. Some were born in Wayne County and some were born in Hardin County, Tennessee.

The fourth child of John and Mary was John Wesley Lay, Jr. His Civil War Pension Record indicates he was bom 12 April 1840, Wayne County, Tennessee. The 1860 Wayne County Census reveals that John W. was age 19 and living with his parents John and Mary Lay. This researcher believes (but not proven) that the John W. Lay, Sr. family soon afterward moved to Searcy County, Arkansas and got caught up in the Civil War in that state. Several of their sons had to serve in the military from Searcy County. One son, Albert Hans-ford Lay, died in the War. Several of their children also married in Arkansas.

By 1862 John Wesley Lay, Jr., had married Martha Cotton in Searcy County, Arkansas. John; and Martha had nine children. Their first child was born 1863 Searcy County Arkansas in the midst of the Civil War devastation. Their second was born 1866 in Springfield, Missouri, presumably because it was a safe haven for families who fled from Arkansas. The family then moved to Indian Territory where three daughters were bom. After the War, when conditions were improved, they moved back to Searcy County, Arkansas where two more sons were added to the family.

Their eighth child was Arthur Garfield Lay, bom 1880 in Marshall, Searcy County, Arkansas. Garfield Lay married Nettie Jane Kimbrell in Marshall, Searcy County Arkansas. Their first four children were bom in Arkansas. Garfield and Nettie moved from Arkansas to California in 1923 where their fifth and last child, Helen Marie Lay, was born about five months later. Through the one ancestral line as narrated above, the living descendants of John Wesley Lay, Jr., the great grandson of William Marion Lay, are settled along the Pacific Coast.

This article was originally published in the Wayne County Historian, Volume 9, September 1996, Number 3. Helen revised it in June of 1997, for publication in Lay of the Land.

Pedigree for Helen Lay

Helen Marie Lay b. 26 September 1923 Kern County, California

Father: Arthur Garfield Lay b. 20 December 1880 Marshall Searcy County Arkansas, d. 29 March 1963, Highland, San Bemardino County, California. Grandfather: John Wesley Lay, Jr., b. 12 April 1840, Wayne County Tennessee, d. 17 December 1 1913, Calexico, Imperial County, California. Great-Grandfather: John Wesley Lay, Sr., b. 1813 Tennessee, d. ca 1870 Searcy County Arkansas, or Wayne County, Tennessee. Great-Great-Grandfather James Arthur? Lay b. 1785, Wilkes County North Carolina, d. ca 1850-1860 Tennessee, probably Wayne County. Great-Great-Great-Grandfather William Marion Lay, b. 1760 Halifax or Pittsylvania County Virginia, d. 1843 Wayne County Tennessee.

Lay of the Land Sept 97

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