John Hays, founder of holiday firm Hays Travel, dies 'doing the job he loved' The 71-year-old, who started the company back in 1980, collapsed while working at its head office in Sunderland. Now, by extrapolation, I found another article under the heading of Hays Mill on pg. John C. Hays and his wife had nine children, of whom James, who was married to Miss Alice BLAIR, was accidentally killed in early manhood at the stockyards in Chicago, where he was employed. His second wife was Mary 'Polly' Shadden. The 1840 census shows John Hays (age 70-80) and his wife (age 60-70) with only one female in the household (age 15-20). Founder of Hays Travel passes away. Among Hays' group were former Ranger Major John Caperton, who would become San Francisco's first Deputy Sheriff, and John Nugent, a budding journalist who became the controversial editor of The San Francisco Herald newspaper. Over the next 22 years, Mary and I had 10 children, most of them born in Greene County, TN (in/near Warrensburg), where we lived for 20 (or so) years. 17 All but two of his children had left the household. 112 that would appear to indicate (please note, this is speculation on my part) that John Hays father, Charles Hays, may himself have been the son of John Hays and his wife, Rebecca, who "proved their importation from Great Britain" between 1739-1740. “John, who with his wife and co-owner Irene Hays bought the Thomas Cook retail estate a year ago, was at work in the company's Sunderland Head Office when he collapsed. The 1830 census showed John Hays listed consecutively with his wife’s daughter Nancy Israel. About John Hays Born in Pennsylvania, I lived for a time in Virginia, where I met and married my first wife Mary (Ragan) in Rockingham County on November 25, 1784. After John… Revolutionary War Pension Application That afternoon, in the garage of their … He died in Cook County Hospital at 9:10 P.M. of the evening he was hurt, and just ten minutes before his wife … In 1826, John filed for Pension based on 'need' under the Act of 1818 while living in Jefferson County. John Hays is a documented soldier by the D. A. R.: Born c. 1756; died May 5, 1833. The name of John's first wife is not known. Tributes continue to flood in for John Hays, the founder of Hays Travel, who has died aged 71. Hays, who ran the company alongside his wife, Irene, opened his first travel agency in 1980 – becoming one of the most familiar names in the industry. From John Francis Hayes' appeal: In summary, all the evidence offered at the trial tends to show the following: On 11 July 1994, the defendant, approximately sixty years old, occupied a home with his wife, Mrs. Hayes. John, pictured above, at last year's Hays Travel conference, started the company in 1980, when he opened up his first branch in Seaham. Hays Travel owner John Hays died while 'doing the job he loved' aged 71 There has been an outpouring of tributes paid to John as the city – and the North East – is shook by the devastating news.