Surname Variants are: MAY, MAYS , MAYSE, MEASE,
etc
DOCUMENT INDEX LINKS
The Knights of Heraldry Letter
Coat of Arms, Historiography Document
Attestation Papers for Private Stanley Dawe,
Coming Soon
Leonard G Mays
Letter - Mays/May Genealogy
- May Arms Germany -
May Arms England -
Dawe Arms Coming Soon
Leonard G Mays Letter
Leonard G Mays Letter
*The following letter was included in the appendix of Ms. Era Mae
Smelley's book, A HISTORY OF THE MAYS AND SWINK FAMILIES, written in
July 1956, Morehead, Kentucky. The letter was written by Leonard G.
Mays of Dallas, TX in August 1928 to his cousins, Charles Edward Mays
of San Angelo, TX; Thomas L. Mays of Laneville, TX; and John Horace
Mays, of Laneville, TX.
My Dear Kinsmen:
Cousin Ed, you were here in April 1926 attending the convention of
the American Medical Association, I believe it was, and after you
returned home, I wrote asking further about our family. You replied
and also sent my letter to cousin Tom and he also wrote me.
Both your letters are full of information, being very interesting
to both Brother Brook and me. It seems a shame that neither of you
heard from me again on the subject, but I've had it in mind all along.
Have been trying to learn something more for the purpose at hand.
From you information and that from other sources, it appears that
the Mays family is of English origin. Just when our branch of it left
the old country for America and settled in South Carolina is
uncertain. Just what part it had in beating the Red Man back and
establishing a white man's government, we have no record, but it is
easy to believe that some members of our family had a part in that
great plan. If so, then without doubt, they must later have followed
Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox", in the successful efforts of the
columnists in throwing the yoke of England, when that rule was no
longer tolerable. In fact, the late Judge Milton Mays (of San Angelo,
TX), in conversation with his family, remarked that Captain Fay, a
relative, was an officer in the Revolutionary War. Some of them may
have been in the Battle of Kings Mountain, which turned the tide of
the conflict
Whatever their early activities may have been, we are told that
they moved from South Carolina to Ireful Co. NC. It was there that
great-grandfather Benjamin Mays married Rachel Gay and later moved his
family to Tennessee. He stopped first in the middle of the state near
the Cumberland Mountains. Later he went further west. Loading his
household belongings and his family in his homemade wooden axle wagon,
the wheels of which were held on to the spindles with "lynch pins",
the spindles being lubricated with pine tar, probably brought over the
old North State. With his equipment he pulled out through Cumberland
Gap, for what was called the "Western District", but leaving his
eldest son, James Gay (my grandfather), a young man in his early 20s,
to finish the school he was teaching. When that was finished, it being
a time and place where money was scarce if known at all, commercial
transactions being largely a matter of barter, the young teacher was
given a little negro boy as compensation for his services.
With this negro boy mounted behind him, he set out on horseback to
join the folks that had gone ahead and later found them in the new
home. It was probably somewhere between 1825 and 1830 when they
reached and located in what is now Madison County, Tennessee. They
settled near where Pinson Station was later established by the Mobile
and Ohio RR, when the road was built through that part of the country.
The land was poor, the timber mostly scrubby oak, with plenty of
underbrush, which when cleared away, exposed thin soil. It was,
however, a well-watered country, with hold springs and creeks. Bear
Creek drains the country and empties into the Forked Deer River not
many miles away. Wood and water the pioneers must have.
Great-grandfather settled near one of those magnificent springs and
built his cabin.
As stated above, he married Rachel Gay in the Old State and they
had five sons, named in order of their ages: James Gay (my
grandfather), Benjamin, Alfonso, Zene, and John Mandeville (your
father). These boys took a liking to the daughters of Johnny
Fulbright, a neighbor, who owned the mill on Bear Creek and ground the
corn into meal for the neighborhood. This liking resulted in the
marrying of the Mays boys into the Fulbright family-- and not just a
little bit, either. I do not know just how many of the boys took
Fulbright girls for wives, but as Zene was a bachelor, there could not
have been more than four. There were no girls in the Mays family, so
the Fulbright boys could not retaliate. Great-grandfather and wife,
Rachel, lie in the old burying ground on the hill, near the old home.
My grandfather, James Gay Mays, was born in North Carolina in 1803.
He married Ann Fulbright in Tennessee when he was probably between 30
and 35 years of age. They had three sons: Rufus Adolphus, Thaddeus,
and Neal Wellington (my father). They had two daughters: Ann and
Susan.
We were always under the impression that Uncle Benjamin went to
Kentucky, but James Fay of Nocona, Texas says that he settled at about
where Paris, Tennessee is now located and that he had a son, also
named Benjamin, who wrote several letters to my grandfather just
before his death in 1878, but that since then nothing has been heard
from any of them. They must have gone west, however, for Judge Milton
Mays said that Congressman Benjamin Mays from Nebrasks, I believe was
Uncle Ben's son.
Alfonso, the father of Hubert and Wyatt, lived an died near Pinson.
Cousin Herbert married and they had several children. I recall Joh,
Bob and Doss, Annie and Florence. Annie married George Simmons. They
reared a large family and now live near Harlingen, Texas. Florence
married Mr. Cunningham and they also live in the Valley probably in
Harlingen. Cousin Wyatt married Miss Simmons, sister of George
Simmons, I believe, and they had at least one daughter, Ava, now
deceased. I have no other information as to other members of this
family.
From your letters we learn that John Mandeville, your father, was
born January 16, 1810, and married Sarah Fulbright in Tennessee. He
moved to Texas about 1850 with 12 other families and settled in Rusk
County where they raised a large family. He died June 20, 1887, aged
77 years and 5 months. His wife, Sarah Fulbright Mays, died in 1870.
They had 12 children: six boys and six girls. Six were born in
Tennessee and six in Texas. The names of the sons in order of age:
Byrd, Milton, William W., Thomas L., John Horace, and Charles Edward.
The names of the daughters: Emma, Elvira, Fannie, Martha, Elizabeth
and Laura. All lived to be grown and all married except Martha. The
three older sons are dead, as are also the three oldest daughters.
Referring again to my grandfather and his family, the station of
Pinson grew to be a village, then a town. A post office was
established. Grandfather moved to the town after the Civil War, was
elected Justice of the Peace and later appointed Postmaster. He was
holding the latter office when death came in September 1878. Rufus
Adolphus (Uncle Dock), the eldest was born about 1839, he being 5
years older than my father. He married Nannie Davis. They had 3 sons:
James Grayson, Bruce, and Robert Lee. They had only one daughter,
Vesta, who died in early womanhood, unmarried. James Grayson and Bruce
married in early life and have families. Uncle Dock's wife, Aunt Nan,
having died, he married again, but they had no children. He lived the
most of his life on his little farm near Pinson, where he died in
1914, age about 75 years.
I do not have the birth and death of Thaddeus, the second son. He
married Miss Mattie Johnson and they had 8 children: Alice, Mollie,
Kate, Charlie, Gracie, Ada Lou, Jim Nick, Lem and Eva. Uncle Thad died
in middle life, the result of an accident. His widow is also dead. The
children, or at least some of them, are living in Madison Co. TN. One
of the boys lived, or at least that is my information, on my
grandfather's old home place.
Neal Wellington, the youngest, my father, was born January 19 1844
and died in Dallas, August 1, 1922, age 78 years 6 months and 12 days.
He was married February 15, 1866 to Mary Emily Bryant at home of her
cousin, Mrs. Jane Nooner, near Pinson Tennessee, with whom she made
her home. Mother died in Dallas on July 2, 1922 age 76 years and 3
months. They had seven children: Leonard Gay, Thomas Westbrook, Jennie
Ann, Emily Bryant, Neal Wellington, Elizabeth Bowen, Fulbright Fry.
Jennie Ann, Emily Bryant, Neal Wellington and Elizabeth died early in
life, at ages 23 to 25 years.
Of my father�s sisters, Ann married James Swink and moved to Rusk
County, Texas about 1854. Both she and her husband have long since
passed on. They left a family in Rusk County. Susan married James
Alford at Pinson and they had 4 children: Albert, Jennie, James and
Robert. Albert died in early life. The others married and reared
families. Jennie married a Mr. Wren. They now live in Saltillo,
Mississippi. Their daughter married Lemuel Hall, a Baptist minister,
and I understand, now lives in Oklahoma. James was through Dallas on a
circle tour to the west coast and called to see us. Robert is chief
train dispatcher for the Illinois Central RR at Fulton, Kentucky if
our information is correct. James Alford and his wife, Aunt Susan,
have long passed on to the great beyond.
Neither of my uncles left the neighborhood in which they were born,
but father moved to Lauderdale County about 60 miles west in 1872.
Lauderdale borders Mississippi River and in that county, on the bluffs
of the river, was fought that famous Civil War, the Battle of Ft.
Pillow, where the Confederates under General Forrest wiped out the
fort. Father lived in that county until January 1900 when he came to
Texas with the remnant of his family.
It is our understanding that after the death of Uncle Alfonso his
sons, Hubert and Wyatt, lived in my grandfather's home. All the boys
of this household, Rufus, Thad, Neal, Hubert, and Wyatt, went to the
war and stayed with it to the end. All came home without any serious
wounds, they were in some serious fighting. All came out as they went
in-----honorable privates, except Dock, who was a captain of his
infantry. Uncle Dock was taken prisoner and confined at Rock Island,
Illinois for a while, from where he was exchanged before the end of
the war. These men enlisted in the Sixth Tennessee Infantry which was
afterwards consolidated with the 9th. I do not know exactly the war
record of these five brave boys, but I heard my father mention some of
the engagements he was in as follows: Perryville, Murphreesboro,
Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Franklin, and
Nashville. He was not at Shiloh, being at home on sick leave, but was
in the battle of Corinth. He was in the Georgia Campaign,
participating in the fighting in and around Atlanta. These are not in
the order in which they occurred, but just as they came into my mind
at this time.
My father and his brothers were men of highest
character----earnest, sincere, and religious. all were Methodists, but
Uncle Thad, who after marriage joined the Baptist Church with the
wife.
I knew my Uncle Dock better than Uncle Thad, for the reason that my
father bought land in Lauderdale Co. and moved to it. Uncle Dock also
bought a track near us, and although he never moved to it, made
frequent visits to look after it, and would stay at our house. We
children would look forward to his visits, for he would usually write
Father when to expect him. He always brought some little presents for
us.
Father and Uncle Dock were Masons, but Uncle Dock took more
interest and held some important offices. He often met with the Grand
Lodge at Nashville. He also represented his county with credit in the
State Legislature for awhile.
Grandmother Ann (Fulbright Mays) having died in early life,
Grandfather married Serena Weaver, to whom 4 children were born:
Louena, James Gay, Waunie, and Hugh Hines, all whom are living. Louena
is at , Texas; James Gay near Nocona, Montague Co., TX; Waunie at
Duncan, OK; Hugh near Harlington, Texas. Waunie married J.M. Armstrong
of Oklahoma, after coming to Texas. Both have children. The husbands
are both dead. The boys married in Montague County and have children.
I trust that you have had patience with my long letter. Knowing
little of composition, arrangement, punctuation, or other rules of
writing, it is therefore subject to criticism. However, a desire to
put in writing with the best of my knowledge the information from you
and others is my apology for the effort, incomplete, limited, and
badly presented though it may be.
If there are any misrepresentations, they are from lack of
information and I would be glad of correction. I would be pleased to
have any other and further information with regards to our family
history (leave out all bad reports) from you and others interested.
Hoping the letter may at least hold some interest for you and yours
with kindest regards for all, in which Brother Brook joins. I beg to
remain, as ever,
Yours most sincerely,
Leonard G. Mays
Source: http://members.tripod.com/~lagosnell/
MAYS/MAY GENEALOGY
I first became aware of my Mays lineage in 1980 after a distant
cousin, Charlotte Bond, of Danielsville, GA sent me a book called
Notes on Charles Bond, Sr. And His Descendants From 1733 by
Catherine Sams Bond Gheesling, 1975. This book contains a wealth of
information and source documentation on the BOND family which came
from Goochland County, VA and settled in Elbert, Franklin, Madison,
and other counties in Georgia.
I have been unable to ascertain the parentage of Susannah Mays,
although there were several Mays families living in Goochland an
Amherst County, VA in the 1700s which undoubtedly are related to her
in some way. My latest theory is that possibly Susannah was a young
widow who had married a Mays and then married Richard Bond as her
second husband, since I cannot locate a Susannah Mays of the right age
in any of the Mays families in the Amherst Co., VA area.
There was also a family by the surname of MAY which was living in
Madison County, Georgia in the late 1800s. Charlotte Bond has also
sent me information on the MAY family of Georgia. Possibly the names
are interchangeable??
I have also seen this surname spelled as MAYSE, MEASE, etc.
Here is my MAYS lineage as far as can be proven:
- Susannah MAYS, b. ca. 1763 Amherst Co., VA, d. 6 Nov. 1843 Cobb
Co., GA; md. 15 May 1783 Amherst Co., VA to Richard Cox BOND, Sr.,
b. ca. 1760 Amherst Co., VA, d. 31 Jan. 1837 Franklin Co., GA
- Nelly BOND, b. 27 Mar. 1798, d. ca. 1847 Lafayette Co., MS; md.
20 Dec. 1821 Franklin Co., GA to John SARTAIN, Sr., b. ca. 1800
Madison Co., GA, d. Aug. 1869 Yalobusha Co., MS
- Russell SARTAIN (brother of Elizabeth Ann Sartain below), b. 24
Aug. 1828 Madison Co., GA, d. 24 April 1909 Jack Co., TX; md. 3rd
ca. 1869 Danielsville, GA to Martha Auntny BEARD, b. 23 Oct. 1833
Madison Co., GA, d. 23 Mar. 1913 Jack Co., TX;
Elizabeth Ann SARTAIN (sister of Russell Sartain above), b. 30 July
1837 Madison Co., GA, d. 29 Oct. 1921 Katie, OK; md. 16 May 1851
Lafayette Co., MS to Henry Washington GARVIN, b. 28 June 1833
Madison Co., GA, d. 21 Feb. 1909 GARVIN Co., OK
- Maizie Elmira Catherine SARTAIN (daughter of Russell SARTAIN and
Martha BEARD above), b. 7 Dec. 1871 Water Valley, Yalobusha Co., MS,
d. 15 March 1954 Morton, Bailey Co., TX (Buried at Morton Cemetery);
md. 12 Dec. 1888 Jack Co., TX to McCager Martin GARVIN (son of
Elizabeth Ann SARTAIN and Henry Washington GARVIN above), b. 19 Oct.
1856 Newton Co., MS, d. 17 Dec. 1920 Frederick, Tillman Co., OK
(Buried at Hackberry Cemetery) (first cousins on the Sartain side)
- Orpha Antonia Hazel GARVIN, b. 11 November 1895 Jack Co., TX, d.
21 Dec. 1979 Cortez, Montezuma Co., CO; md. 12 Dec. 1915 Parker Co.,
TX to William Earl HARRIS, b. 8 Aug. 1895 McNairy Co., TN, d. 5 Jan.
1967 Cortez, Montezuma Co., CO (Both buried at Dove Creek Cemetery,
Dove Creek, CO)
- Hazel Irene HARRIS, LIVING; md. Lawrence Robert GOHR, LIVING
- Glenn Walter GOHR, LIVING; md. Marion Sue BROWN, LIVING
index
MAY
FAMILY COAT OF ARMS (GERMANY)
This coat of arms is from the excellent on-line source
at Amateur Heraldry
compiled by the late Don Smith. The May coat of arms is referenced
there from his collection of German wappen .. and is
distinguished from the May family shield of the British May family; or
the Mays of the Lowlands.
Though historically inter-related from the crusades or prior .. the
May family of mittel-Europe or Germany into Italy is a
separate family descent. Ths German family ancestry which is ancestal
of the Connolly & McCormack family emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts
from Baden Germany about 1835-43.
For the "Armourial" the webmaster has cropped the mantle, plumes,
knights helmet,and added the name "MAY" to simply join the form
of the other exhibited crests. Horizontal bars characterize the
British (including Irish Mays) crest; a similar pattern of the
lowlands. The mittel European which includes
Baden-Wurttemberg area Mays - "Frankish" to Carpathia and
into northern Italy includes the vertical gold and purple bars and the
paired rampant griffins.
index
MAY
FAMILY COAT OF ARMS ENGLAND
The Coat of
Arms used by the MAY family is described in heraldic terms as:
Gules, a
fesse between eight billets or.
with a crest,
Out of ducal coronet or, a leopard's head proper.
and the motto,
Fortis et Fidelis
"Strong and Faithful"
These arms
appear to have first been used by Thomas MAY of Faunt in Sussex during
the time of King Edward IV (in the late 15th century). The well-known
MAY family of Sussex and Kent, therefore, have the right to bear these
arms; as do their male line descendants, the MAYs of North-East
Hampshire & Mid-Berkshire amongst them. Later variants on these arms
have also been granted to other, apparently unrelated, families
bearing the name of MAY. The arms have been displayed by the Hampshire
& Berkshire MAYs in a number of places over the centuries:
index
Coming Soon
Dawe Coat of Arms
index
Source:
David Nash Ford
The Knights of Heraldry
Letter
Family Name: Dawe
Dear Mrs. Dawe,
Your name, Dawe, is more than
just a computer card or a social security number. It is your heritage.
It is the vital link with your family, past, present, and future. It
gives you dignity, and identifies you in the vast community of
mankind.
The family name Dawe, is
represented by a unique and beautiful Coat of Arms, created many
hundreds of years ago, when knights wore armor, and required
identification on the field of battle.
The ancient name Dawe, or
Dawes, is one of the oldest English family names. One of the first
records of the name was found in the county of Yorkshire about the
year 1280, and later found to the south in Somerset and Devon, and by
the end of the 13th century in Oxfordshire and Buckingham. They were
later found in Suffolk, Leicestershire, and London. The name
flourished in the middle ages, and they were amongst the first
settlers in the New World. The Family name Coat of Arms for the name
is silver, on a blue diagonal stripe three swans, all between six
battle axes. The Crest is a battle axe and on the point a dragon. The
family motto is "Fear Not". Authority for the Arms is Burke's
General Armory.
We are proud to offer you the
Coat of Arms for the family name Dawe. It is raised from a background
of finely grained wood, topped by plush velvet, dramatically colored,
following the original heraldic description. Swords are of highly
polished Toledo Steel, and rest in Scabbards, nesting through the
entire shield.
Your Coat of Arms is a once in
a lifetime investment. It will be cherished by you and following
generations.
Yours very sincerely,
Brian Richardson
The Knights of Heraldry
P.O. Box 904
1029 Speers Road
Oakville, Ontario
L6L 2X5
416- 844- 5962
Established 1971 Knights of
Heraldry. Member Oakville Chamber of Commerce
For Further Information:
Contact Judith Scott
[email protected] or
[email protected]
This Coat of Arms Plaque that
is described in the above letter was proudly displayed on the walls of
Margaret Irene Dawe (Mays-Raynor), my mother's apartment for many
years as a testimony of her pride for her Dawe family heritage.
Coat of Arms
Historiography
The Dawe Coat of Arms was
drawn by an heraldic artist from information officially recorded in
ancient heraldic archives. Documentation for the Dawe Coat of Arms
design can be found in Burke's General Armory. Heraldic artists
of old developed their own unique language to describe an individual
Coat of Arms. In their language, the Arms (shield) is as
follows:
"Ar. on a pile gu. a chev.betw.
three crosses crosslet of the first."
When translated the Arms
description is:
"Silver; on a red triangle a
chevron between three silver cross crosslets."
Above the shield and helmet is
the Crest which is described as:
"A lion's gamb erased and
erect ar. holding a fleur-de-lis or."
A translation of the Crest
description is:
"A silver lion's leg jagged
and erect holding a gold fleur-de-lis."
Family mottos are believed to
have originated as battle cries in medieval times.
A Motto was not recorded with
the Dawe Coat of Arms.
Individual surnames originated
for the purpose of more specific identification. The four primary
sources for second names were: occupation, location, father's name and
personal characteristics. The surname Dawe appears to be patronymical
in origin, and is believed to be associated with the Welsh, meaning,
"Descendent" of Daw, a pet form of David.
Different spellings of the
same original surname are a common occurrence. Dictionaries of
surnames indicate probable spelling variations. The most prominent
variations of Dawe are Dawes, Daw and Daws.
Census records available
disclose the fact there are approximately 400 heads of households in
the United States with the old and distinguished Dawe name. The United
States Cencus Bureau estimates there are approximately 3.2 persons per
household in America today which yields an approximate total of 1280
people in the United States carrying the Dawe name. Although the
figure seems relatively low, it does not signify the many important
contributions that individuals bearing the Dawe name have made to
history.
Note: No genealogical
representation is intended or implied by this report and it does not
represent individual lineage or your family tree.
Your Name and Your Coat of
Arms......... Priceless Gifts from History
Until about 1100 A.D. most
people in Europe had only one name ( This is still true in some
primitive countries today). As the population increased it became
awkward to live in a village wherein perhaps 1/3 of the males were
named William, and so forth.
And so, to distinguish one
John from another a second name was needed. There were four primary
sources for these second names. They were: a man's occupation, his
location, his father's name or some peculiar characteristic of his.
Here are some examples.
Occupation: The local
house builder, food preparer, grain grinder and suit maker would be
named respectively: John Carpenter, John Cook, John Miller, and John
Taylor.
Location: The
John who lived over the hill became known as John Overhill, the one
who dwelled near a stream might be dubbed John Brook or perhaps John
Atbrook.
Patronymical:
(father's name): Many of these surnames can be recognized by the
termination----son, such as Williamson, Jackson, etc. Some endings
used by other countries to indicate "son" are: Armenian's---ian,
Dane's and Norwegian's---sen, Finn's---nen, Greek's---pulos,
Spaniard's---ez, and Pole's---wiecz. Prefixes denoting "son" are the
Welsh---Ap, the Scot's and Irish---Mac, and the Norman's---Fitz. The
Irish O' incidentally denotes grandfather.
Characteristic:
An unusually small person might be labeled Small, Short, Little or
Lytle. A large man might be named Longfellow, Large, Lang, or Long.
Many persons having characteristics of a certain animal would be given
the animal's name. Examples: a sly person might be named Fox; a good
swimmer, Fish; a quiet man, Dove; etc.
In addition to needing an
extra name for identification, one occupational group found it
necessary to go one step further. The fighting man: The fighting
man of the Middle Ages wore a metal suit of armor for protection.
Since this suit of armor included a helmet that completely covered the
head, a knight in full battle dress was unrecognizable. To prevent
friend from attacking friend during the heat of battle, it became
necessary for each knight to somehow identify himself. Many knights
accomplished this by painting colorful patterns on their battle
shields. These patterns were worn also woven into cloth surcoats which
were worn over a suit of armor. Thus was born the term, "Coat of
Arms."
As this practice grew more
popular, it became more and more likely that two knights unknown to
each other might be using the same insignia. To prevent this, records
were kept that granted the right to a particular pattern to a
particular knight. His family also shared his right to display these
arms. In some instances, these records have been preserved and/or
compiled into book form. The records list the family name and an exact
description of the "Coat of Arms" granted to that family.
Signed:
Shirley I. McDonald
Coat of Arms
Historiography
Seal: Sovereign
563 Boundary Road
Cornwall, Ontario.
For Further Information:
Contact Judith Scott
World War 1 Attestation Papers for Private
Stanley Dawe
Coming Soon
[email protected] or
[email protected]
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