Chapter 1. Frances Elizabeth Lay[1]

The chapters in this essay relate the family history of Frances Elizabeth Lay, who was born April 23, 1915, in a frame house in Georgetown, Williamson County, Texas. The story will be told in three parts. After a brief account of Frances Lay's life, two further chapters will trace the origins of her father, Jesse Lay and her mother, Mabel Harris.

Frances Lay was the second child of Jess and Mabel Lay. Her brother Charles Marion (b 1910) and sister Alyce Virginia (b 1920) were born in the same Georgetown house, the family home of Mabel's parents. Frances did not know where the family lived between Jess and Mabel's marriage and her birth,[2] but she does recall her mother telling her that she (Mabel) returned to her family home in Georgetown for the birth of each of her children.

After Frances was born, the Lay family moved to San Marcos, Texas, where her father operated a laundry. During this period, Mabel's mother Cordelia Harris became ill and was confined for some time at Scott & White's Sanitarium in Temple. On January 4, 1918, Cordelia wrote Mabel a postcard: "My dear child. I am sitting by the window in the blue chair. The first time I have sit up since I came. Am just doing fine and think I am going to get well. Don't know just when I can go home. Don't worry one bit. I am just fine. Kiss both babies for me. Love & kisses for all." It is a sign that these were simpler times that the card was addressed to "Mrs. Jess Lay; San Marcos, Tex; c/o Laundry."

In about 1919 the family moved to Lockhart, Texas. They remained here until after Virginia's birth in November, 1920, and then moved to Bay City, Texas, on the Gulf Coast, where Frances started in school in the Fall of 1921. She remembers living about two miles from the school, and generally walking to and from school. On occasion, Jess would take Charles and Frances to school or pick them up after school in his car, a Chevrolet touring car. A few months later they moved to San Antonio to care for Nannie Jennie Lay, then 60 years old. "Grandma" Lay's husband, Frances Marion Lay, had died in June of 1918 at the family home in La Vernia, Wilson County, Texas. Nannie Lay moved to San Antonio in 1919,[3] where she lived alone at 734 Essex Street. She had diabetes and her son worried that she needed care, particularly in preparation of her meals. In San Antonio, Jess Lay worked again at a laundry. Frances remembers that her mother and grandmother quarrelled frequently because Nannie would not follow her prescribed diet, and would sneak into the kitchen to eat sweets.

Jess and Mabel and their three children lived with Nannie Lay in the Essex Street house for only a year, partly because of the dissension between Mabel and Nannie Lay. They moved to a house on Drexel Street and Frances attended school at Highland Park elementary school. About this time, Jess Lay left the laundry business and began working for a company that sold janitorial supplies. He travelled throughout Texas and five neighboring states selling cleaning supplies to commercial concerns. Frances remembers that he was gone for about three out every four weeks.

When the depression came, the Lay family began to experience trouble making their financial ends meet. In 1931, Jess Lay was laid off by the janitorial supply house for which he had worked for 10 years. He tried to go into business for himself, making floor-sweeping compound in the family garage. However, this venture did not succeed and he went to work for the Southern Equipment Company selling on a commission basis. Again, he was unable to earn enough to support the family, so in January, 1933, the family moved to La Vernia, where they rented a house with two acres of land for $8 per month. For the next eighteen months, Jess and his son Charles continued to work in San Antonio, and Frances continued to go to school there, at Brackenridge High School. The family drove back and forth to La Vernia, a trip of one hour. In La Vernia, the family had an extensive vegetable garden and a cow. At one time during that year, Frances remembered Jess and her Uncle Richard Wells slaughtering a pig.

In high school, Frances concentrated on secretarial skills courses, shorthand and typing. Although she remembers "hating" shorthand, she excelled at tying, and won a "competent typist pin." Her speed of 67 words per minute was the best recorded in the competition.[4] She graduated on June 1, 1933, at the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium, one of a class of 430.

After graduation, Frances tried unsuccessfully for a year to find a job using her secretarial skills. On July 1, 1934, the family moved back to San Antonio, where they lived at 409 Drexel Avenue.[5] Jess went to work for the Southwestern Specialty Company, wholesale jobbers. Frances obtained a job working in the dining room at the San Antonio State Hospital and started work there on September 1, 1934. She worked every meal, seven days a week, and lived on the premises for a pay of $30 per month and room and board.

On April 14, 1935, Jess and Mabel Lay moved again to 734 Essex Street, the same house in which they had lived earlier with Nannie Lay, Jess Lay's mother, who had died in 1931. It is not known if this house had belonged to Nannie Lay, or if the family simply returned to rent it.

It was at the State Hospital that Frances met Clayton Heathcock, who also worked there as a guard. On December 12, 1935, Frances and Clayton eloped and were married in Hondo, Texas.[6] Tragically, on the same day Jess Lay suffered a heart attack and died in the hospital a week later (December 19, 1935), at the age of 48.[7]

In May 1936 Clayton and Frances Heathcock quit their jobs at the State Hospital and took up residence in a house on Gimbler Street in San Antonio while Clayton worked with the Plaza Hotel Laundry. After the birth of Clayton, Jr. on July 21, 1936, they moved to Dallas where they lived for six months while Clayton tried his hand at selling refrigerators on a commission basis. When this job didn't work out, they returned to San Antonio and Clayton resumed his job with the Plaza Hotel Laundry. Their home at this time was 613 Ripley Street and for a time Frances' widowed mother Mabel Lay lived with them at that address. The author remembers the house well. It was a somewhat rambling frame house with a porch on the front. Its large, fenced-in back yard was mostly dirt. There were often chickens being raised in pens, and "wringing the neck" and plucking the feathers to prepare for a meal was a regular occurrence. Along the back fence was a creek and a railroad track. The next-door neighbor was Oscar Warneke, Sheriff of Bexar County.

In this period, full recovery from the depression had not yet come, and Clayton Heathcock had trouble earning enough to support his family. In the summer of 1938 he returned to his family home in Stockdale, Texas, the "watermelon capitol" of Texas. During the harvest season, which only lasted a few months, Clayton was able to earn as much as $50 per day stacking watermelons onto trucks for shipment.

On August 7, 1939, their second child, James Franklin, was born; at this time the family still lived at 613 Ripley Street. Clayton continued working for the Plaza Hotel Laundry until 1940, when he took a brief job (5-6 months) working as a night watchman for the San Antonio Public Service Company. The author still remembers his father going to work in his Model T ford with his revolver strapped to his leg. The 1940-41 San Antonio City Directory lists Clayton and Frances Heathcock as residents of 1715 Santa Anna; Clayton was an attendant at the San Pedro Texaco service station.[8] Frances' sister Virginia Lay is listed in this directory as an employee of Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., still living at 613 Ripley Street. Her brother Charles M. Lay and his wife Agnes lived at 503 Bailey Avenue; Charles was a salesman for the Dixie Cup Corporation.

During the Second World War, Frances and her family continued to live in San Antonio. Clayton held several jobs, including one as a bus driver and another stint with the Plaza Hotel Laundry. The author remembers visiting the laundry office, which was on the ground floor of the Smith-Young Building, after school in the afternoons. One of his fondest recollections is being allowed to type on an old Royal upright. Another vivid memory from this period is the laundry panel truck, which Clayton frequently brought home after work. This vehicle had only a driver's seat, and was rigged for clothes hangers in its back compartment. It was often used for weekend trips to Stockdale, where Clayton, Frances, Clayton, Jr., and Jimmy Heathcock visited Will and Mollie Heathcock, Clayton's parents. For these trips, Frances had to sit on an orange crate while the children lounged about in the rear of the truck.

In March, 1945, the owners of the house on Ripley Street sold the house and the Heathcock family were forced to move. Their first residence was the top half of a two-story duplex on B Street. This apartment had been occupied by Frances' sister Virginia and her husband Phillip Scott before they left for New York, where Phil Scott was in the armed services. During this period, Frances was pregnant with her third child. They stayed in this location for about six months, then went into a nomadic phase which saw them living for two weeks in a two-bedroom apartment remembered in the family as the "roach house" after its other inhabitants, who outnumbered the Heathcocks by many fold. It was at this house that a cat burglar entered one night and took Clayton's wallet and watch. After only a few weeks in this unpleasant environment, they lived with Frances' brother Charles Lay for two weeks, with Clayton's relatives Henry and Ola Mae Stalls for two weeks, and then moved to Georgetown where they stayed with Grace and Lowrey Foster, Frances' aunt and uncle, until their daughter Peggy Frances was born on September 24, 1945. After the birth, Frances and the three children remained in Georgetown for a few more months, while Clayton, Sr. continued to work in San Antonio.

In early 1946, Frances and the children returned to San Antonio and the family moved into an upstairs apartment on Main Avenue. Her brother Charles Lay and his family lived in a downstairs apartment in this same building. It was about this time that Clayton, Sr. began to experience serious trouble because of his alcoholism. The author's memories of this period reflect mixed emotions. On the one hand, there are many fond memories of play time with his brother Jim and his cousins Larry and Pat Lay. Many of these memories pertain to activities that took place in a large, abandoned, "haunted" house at the end of the block. Many games of hide-and-seek and treasure hunts took place in this charming old house. On the other hand, there were also many altercations between Clayton, Sr. and Frances, usually having to do with his coming home drunk.

In the summer of 1947, Clayton quit his job at the Plaza Hotel Laundry and the family moved to Georgetown. Clayton took a job managing the Troy Laundry, which had been purchased by Frances Heathcock's uncle, Charles E. Harris, in 1924. They lived in a frame house about two blocks from the home of Lowery and Grace Foster, Frances' aunt and uncle. The house stood on a large lot that sloped down to a creek. On the other side of the creek was an electrified fence that was intended to keep the neighbor's horses confined. Clayton, Jr. and Jimmy Heathcock spent countless hours building dams across the mud creek and for a time had two pet turtles, each about a foot in diameter, that were kept in the creek. It was in this large yard that the two boys also carried out their first experimented with electricity; they found that by holding a horse's mane and then grabbing hold of the electric fence with the other hand, they could pass a healthy jolt to the animal while not being shocked.

During the 1947-48 school year, Clayton, Jr. and Jimmy Heathcock went to school at the Georgetown Public School and attended church at the Georgetown Church of Christ, which was presided over by a "fire-and-brimstone" preacher, Ben West. The author remembers being baptized by Brother West in a baptistery below the platform upon which the pulpit stood. He also remembers having his first serious infatuation, with another sixth-grader whose name has been long forgotten. However, if anyone ever climbs a large oak tree that may still stand in the yard behind the Georgetown house where the Heathcocks lived in 1948, her initials will be found carved into the bark, well away from the view of prying eyes.

In the summer of 1948, on a Saturday afternoon, the Troy Laundry burned to the ground. There was a strong undercurrent of suspicion that Clayton, Sr. may have been responsible by carelessly disposing of a cigarette while drunk. The author recollects a highly strained atmosphere in the days following the fire, and the Heathcock family soon returned to San Antonio, where they took up residence at 805 Burleson Street. Clayton took a job with a new laundry only a few blocks away, initially named the Acme Laundry. The author remembers walking the neighborhood with his brother Jim handing out flyers advertising the new laundry. He also remembers the bitter winter of 1948 when the temperature dropped to near zero, causing widespread damage to water lines. Clayton, Sr. spent nearly all one night tending to the water pipes at the laundry, then named the Snowflake Laundry.

After leaving the laundry, Clayton, Sr. took work with Stille Auto Supply, where he was working when he died on February 28, 1950. This was obviously a traumatic period for Frances, a widow at age 35 with three children to raise alone. She took a short course to refresh her secretarial skills and on August 4, 1950, began work for the United States Army, as a clerk at the San Antonio General Depot. For the next nine years, she remained at this job, while moving her family through a series of different rental houses.[9] During this period, Clayton, Jr. and Jim graduated from Brackenridge High School (1954 and 1957), Clayton, Jr. entered Abilene Christian College (1954) and married Mabel Ruth Sims (September 6, 1957).

On November 15, 1959, Frances left the San Antonio General Depot and took a job with Kelly Air Force Base as a materials clerk. Her second son, James Franklin Heathcock, married Marilyn Hoag on May 9, 1962. Peggy Frances Heathcock attended Highland Park High School, and graduated in 1964. Peggy entered Abilene Christian College in the fall of 1964, and graduated in 1968. While at Abilene, Peggy met and married Gary Seth Wood, on June 17, 1967.[10]

Frances is remembered by her family and friends as a highly determined individual. As an example of this tenacity, on July 21, 1970, she decided to go on a diet. She had been overweight since her teenage years, and by 1970 tipped the scales at 237 pounds. She entered the Weight Watchers program and in 29 months had trimmed off 101 pounds. Indeed, she was so successful in the venture that she became a Weight Watchers teacher, a hobby that continued for a number of years.[11]

In November, 1979, Frances began to suffer from fatigue and shortness of breath. A medical examination revealed that she suffered from congestive heart failure. On the advice of her physician, she applied for and was granted a disability retirement. Although she battled congestive heart failure for the next 15 years, Frances continued to lead a full and relatively active life. She lived in several apartments in the North Central section of San Antonio during this period of her life. She had an active church and social life and travelled to California to visit her children and grandchildren once or twice a year until 1991, when her physical condition deteriorated to such a degree that she could no longer travel. For the last few years of her life, Frances lived at The Inn at Los Patios, a very nice retirement community in San Antonio.

One of her favorite pastimes was solataire, and she could be found many mornings sitting at the kitchen table with her coffee cup close at hand, studying her solataire hand.

Frances was a long-time member of the Church of Christ. When she and her family first came to San Antonio, they belonged to the Denver Heights congregation, and later moved to the Highland Park congregation. In about 1980, shortly after her rerierment, Frances moved to the Sunset Ridge Church of Christ, where she was a regular volunteer in a variety of charitable causes.

Frances Lay died on September 25, 1994, at the age of 79. Her funeral service was conducted by Roy Osborn, a retired minister of the Sunset Ridge Church of Christ and a long-time friend. She is buried at Sunset Memorial Cemetery, alongside her husband, Clayton Howell Heathcock, and her parents, Jesse Lee Lay and Mabel Coral Harris Lay.

The three-generation genealogical chart in Figure 1 summarizes Frances Lay Heathcock's immediate ancestors. Of her eight grandparents, all but Frances Gannt came to Texas between 1852 and 1886. Daniel and Elizabeth Lay were the first to arrive, coming from Kentucky in 1852. Little is known about J. F. Green and M. M. Huff, except that they appeared in La Vernia about 1880. Felix and Elizabeth Harris, Andrew Jackson Adair, and Charles and Cordelia Harris all came to Texas as part of a rather large migration from Tate County Mississippi in 1886. This group settled first in Hays County, and Charles and Cordelia settled in Georgetown in 1891. In the remainder of this essay, I will outline what is known about these ancestors. The story will be organized in two chapters, one dealing with the Harris-Adair branch and the other with the Lay-Green branch.

Chapter 2. The Harris Branch

Felix Harris was born in Georgia on January 7, 1832. The names of his parents and the exact place of his birth are not known. The Federal census records are of little help, since Harris was a rather common name in Georgia in the period from 1830-1850. Felix's wife was named Elizabeth Wilburn.[12] Nothing definite is known about her. However, it is clear that she did come to Texas, because the author is in possession of a photograph of Felix and Elizabeth Harris, taken about 1890 in a studio in Waco, Texas. The 1850 census shows an Elizabeth Wilborn, born in 1830, residing in Troup County Georgia with her widowed mother Sarah Wilborn and seven siblings.[13] Whether or not this is the Elizabeth Wilburn who married Felix Harris is still open to speculation.

It is not known with certainty if Felix Harris participated in the Civil War, although he was of the proper age. There was a Felix Harris in Company D of the 42 Mississippi Infantry[14] and several men listed as F. Harris in Georgia units.[15] Felix Harris died on January 2, 1909, and is buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Georgetown, Texas.

Charles Morton Harris was born to Felix and Elizabeth Harris on September 21, 1861 in Senatobia, Mississippi.[16] Senatobia was incorporated in 1856 and became the county seat when Tate County was established in 1873 from DeSoto and Marshall counties. It is in the northwest corner of Mississippi and lay astride a major north-south rail line, the Mississippi and Tennessee.

Charles and Cordelia Harris had two children in Mississippi, Frances Elizabeth and Charles Edward. In December of 1886, a large group, including the Harris and Adair families, was led from Tate County to Texas by Banney Hargis, known by his followers as "Uncle Banney." The group settled in Hays County, around Kyle, where Grace Pearl, the third child of Charles and Cordelia Harris, was born in 1889.

In 1890 they settled in Georgetown, a prosperous town of about 2500 in Williamson County. Georgetown lay on the San Gabriel river about 10 miles north of Round Rock, which lay on the intersection of Brushy Creek and the famous Chisholm Trail, which was used for cattle drives from about 1867 until 1871. It was in Round Rock in 1878 that the outlaw Sam Bass and his cohort Seaborn Barnes were gunned down in the street by a vigilante group in the course of a bank robbery. Although this violent event had no direct impact on the Harris family, it will be recounted here in order to give a little of the flavor of the locale at about the time of their migration. The following account of was published in a contemporary newspaper:[18]

"During the afternoon of last Friday [July 19, 1878] three strange men made their appearance on the streets of Round Rock, who attracted the attention of some civil officers-deputy sheriff Moore, of Travis county, and deputy sheriff Grimes, of this [Williamson] county. These officers without knowing who the strangers were, but having reason to believe that one of them at least, was armed, followed them into a store, and Sheriff Grimes asked one of them if he did not have a pistol on, he answered in the affirmative, and before the officers had time to ask another question, all three of the men drew their revolvers and commenced to fire, Grimes was pierced with five balls without having time to fire a single shot himself. Moore received one shot, but returned the fire. The three desperados, who were Sam Bass, Frank Jackson, and Seab Barnes, left the store and ran to their horses pursued by such rangers as were near but also by citizens. Everyone who had a gun or pistol whether soldier or citizen (as we are informed) used it. When near their horses, Barnes fell dead, having been shot through the head. Bass received two wounds, one disabling his right hand and the other through his body. He and Jackson reached their horses, mounted, and rode out of town, pursued by the rangers and citizens as soon as horses and arms could be procured. Bass and Jackson rode by their camp, which was near the graveyard, got their guns, and then struck the Georgetown Road at the beginning of the lane near Mr. Oates' [Oatts'] house. They kept to the road until they had passed Mrs. Tisdale's place, as it is called, and then turned down a lane leading to the woods and it was not more than a thousand yards down this lane that Bass was compelled to halt. The citizens of Round Rock, as well as the civil officers and rangers deserve credit for the promptness with which they responded to the call to vindicate the laws."

A second story appeared in the same issue of the newspaper under the large headline: THE CAPTURE OF SAM BASS.[19]

"Not long before sundown on last Friday [July 19, 1878] the news of the fight with the Bass party at Round Rock reached this place, and in a short time Deputy sheriff Tucker and Constable Lane mounted their horses and started for Round Rock, arriving soon after dark. They at once sought out Major Jones, informed him who they were, and of their desire to aid in the capture of Bass, and of their their familiarity of the country. After consultation as to the best course to pursue, Tucker with one Ranger, was sent by Maj. Jones to the Cluck spring some three miles above Round Rock, where he found Lieut. Runnels camped with a squad of eight or ten rangers. Lane was detained in Round Rock until one or two o'clock at night, and then sent up in company with the detective Murphy to the same place they all remained until daylight. After getting breakfast, the Rangers, under Sergeant Nevils, saddled up and made ready for the pursuit, Lieut. Runnels being unwell and going on to Round Rock. The Lieut., however, before leaving camp, having learned who Tucker was, asked him to lead the rangers under Sergeant Nevils to where he thought it most likely they would find Bass and his companion, or get on their trail.

Mr. Tucker found the trail and followed it into the woods. He had gone about 100 yards when Sergeant Nevils called him. They came upon a man with his left hand raised in token of surrender. When asked who he was, the man answered, `I'm Sam Bass, the man that has been wanted so long.'

"Bass then asked, `Where are you going to take me?' Tucker replied, `To town, I reckon,' meaning Round Rock. Bass said, `I have seen you twice before and I am not afraid of you and the Rangers, but I don't want to be mobbed.' Tucker assured him that he would not be mobbed. He was later identified by Lane. Major Jones was sent for and came with a hack and a doctor to take Bass to Round Rock, where he died two days later. He is buried at the graveyard in Round Rock."

It was in Georgetown that Charles and Cordelia Harris' last child, Mabel Coral, was born in 1891. The 1900 census records that Charley M. Harris was a grocer and lived with his family on Orchard Street in Georgetown. In addition to wife Cordelia, the family included children Fannie, Eddie, Gracie, and Mabel.[20] The full Harris family may be summarized as follows:

(1) Frances Elizabeth b March 17, 1884, d January 22, 1983

(2) Charles Edward b April 8, 1886, d December 24, 1958

(3) Grace Pearl b July 2, 1889, d May 20, 1978

(4) Mabel Coral b December 17, 1891, d October 8, 1968

Charles and Cordelia Harris both lived long lives in Georgetown. The were charter members of the Georgetown Church of Christ when it was organized in June, 1892 and Charles was a deacon of that group for many years. In their elder years, Cordelia was affectionately known as "Mother Harris," and Charles was called "Grandad" by his friends in the courthouse, shops, offices, and stores of Georgetown. In 1933 an all-day golden wedding anniversary celebration was held at the home of their daughter Frances Campbell in Taylor, Texas.[21] Cordelia died on January 19, 1944 and Charles died on May 12, 1945. They are buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Georgetown.

Chapter 3. The Adair Branch

The Adairs seem to have originated in Scotland and Ireland. A number of Adairs migrated to the United States in the early l7OOs, settling in a number of states. By 1790 there was a large settlement of Adairs in Laurens County South Carolina. A future president of the United States, Andrew Jackson, was born in the Waxaw colony of Scotch-Irish emigrants in the Chester District of South Carolina.[22]

James Adair was born June 8, 1790 in South Carolina. The identity of his parents is not known. On February 14, 1814 James Adair married Ann Smith, who was born in South Carolina May 17, 1789. The 1820 census of the United States indicates that James Adair had moved Southwest to Putnam County Georgia, and by 1830 he had settled in Henry County Georgia. Henry County was created in 1821 from Indian lands. By 1850, James Adair and his wife Ann had moved to Shelby County Tennessee, where they lived near Memphis. James Adair died March 22, 1851 and Ann Smith Adair died on October 16, 1852 in Shelby County.

Andrew Jackson Adair was born May 13, 1831 while his parents were living in Henry County Georgia. He moved with his parents and brother John Adair to Shelby County Tennessee and is listed as living with them in the 1850 census. On October 1, 1857, in Marshall County Mississippi, Andrew Jackson Adair married Frances A. Gannt, born October 28, 1839. Marshall County is in the Northwest corner of Mississippi, and abuts Shelby County Tennessee, which is in the Southeast corner of that state. Marshall County was created from Indian lands that were gained in the Chickasaw Cession of 1832.

On March 22, 1862, Andrew Jackson Adair enlisted in Company I of the 34th Regimental Mississippi Infantry at Tyro, Mississippi. On June 27, 1862, Private Adair was sent to a hospital in Columbus, Mississippi. His muster roll for November and December, 1862 notes that he was "still in the hospital" at Chattanooga, Tennessee. In April, 1863 his enlistment was commuted and on August 2, 1863 he was transferred to Company G of the 3rd Confederate Engineer Troops, as an Artificer. He remained in the Engineer Corps until the end of the war, and was mustered out after the surrender of Joseph E. Johnston to W. T. Sherman at Catawaba Bridge, South Carolina on May 5, 1865. While in the Engineer Corps, Andrew Jackson Adair participated in building and destroying several bridges and also helped with the construction of batteries atop Lookout Mountain, overlooking Chattanooga. On the morning of November 24, 1863, his division was "driven from our batteries while at work by the enemy sharpshooters." The "enemy" were the Northern forces under the command of General Joseph Hooker, and the storming of Lookout Mountain was but one event in the lifting of the Confederate siege of Chattanooga. The Northern victory at Lookout Mountain on November 24 and the succeeding victory at Missionary Ridge the next day threw the Confederates into retreat and resulted in Ulysses S. Grant being named commander of all of the Union forces.

In 1873 Marshall County Mississippi was subdivided, and Tate County was created. The 1875 tax roll of Tate County shows that A. J. Adair owned two mules and two carriages. The 1880 Federal census shows that both Andrew Jackson Adair, and his brother John S. Adair were residents of Tate County. This census also lists Charles Morton Harris, aged 18, as a tenant in the home of George Stanton.

Frances Gannt Adair died in Tyro, Tate County Mississippi on November 7, 1882. In December of 1886 The Adairs and several of their children and their families left Mississippi and migrated west to Texas, settling in Hays County. Andrew Jackson Adair lived the rest of his life in Hays County and died in Buda on July 18, 1911. He is buried in the Kyle Cemetery in Hays County.

Chapter 4. The Lay Branch