Dana W. Smith II
I have wanted to be able to pass along the tales
of my family for a long time, as they were first told to me by my grandmother. She
used to tell me these stories many times, and I sat mesmerized in adoration at
the life she put into retelling them. Both of her parents came from large
families composed of musicians, dancers, actors, and entertainers. There are
stories that include vaudeville, Hollywood, and encounters with musical icons
such as John Philip Sousa, Henry
Fillmore, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Red Nichols, Red Ingle, Art Mooney, Stan Kenton,
Lawrence Welk, Harry James, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Glenn Miller, Les Paul, Van
Cliburn, Elton John, and many others.
All of these accounts trail back to a family
with a home base of Pricetown, West Virginia, in rural Wetzel County. The Musical Hayes Family of West Virginia
begins with my great-great-grandfather Henry Spencer Hayes, a violinist born
there in 1858. It continues with the stories of many of his descendants,
totaling 14 children, 32 grandchildren, 78 great-grandchildren, 147 2nd-great-grandchildren,
107 3rd-great-grandchildren, and two recent family additions
beginning the newest generation of 4th-great-grandchildren. A lot of
these descendants inherited the genes and became musicians themselves. Although
these fascinating stories were originally intended for my family, those who
knew the Hayes family and anyone with a love of music and family will surely
find an interest as well.
The Musical Hayes Family of West Virginia is a family tree nurtured by love with roots deep in
music. It is over 340 pages (92,700 words) in length and includes 268 family photos. All images are printed in black & white.
This book is dedicated in loving memory to "MawMaw," Ruth Hayes Smith (1926-2006).
I am a 5th-generation musician of
the Hayes family, born in 1977 in Huntington, West Virginia. I've enjoyed
listening to music for as long as I can remember. Around age 11, I began
learning to play the trumpet and piano and very quickly developed an equal love
of playing as I had for listening. Several years later, I learned for the first
time about my family heritage, and it all made sense about why I had such a
strong passion for music. Now, at age 30, I have never quit and even enjoy
drumming, singing, and know a little on the guitar. I studied some music at Marshall
University, but ultimately, chose a different career. I have also performed in
many Marshall and community bands in West Virginia and currently remain a
member of one.
I am a physical therapist assistant in a Huntington nursing home.
I married my high school sweetheart in 2003, and our son was born in 2007. This
is my first book.
Homer Hayes (my great-grandfather) first learned to play
the violin at home in Pricetown. For his 21st birthday, he received
a Guarnerius violin from his dad. Many people would agree that a Guarnerius is
second only to a Stradivarius as far as violins go. (Today, the location of
Homer’s violin has always been much talked about. Several relatives have been
contacted, but none has an answer to that mystery.) When Homer left home,
possibly sometime around 1906, he went to study at a school called Dana’s
Musical Institute in Warren, Ohio. (An interesting side note is that if you
combine this bit of information with Homer’s birthplace — Smithfield — you get the name Dana Warren Smith, which is my father’s name as
well as my own. This, however, is purely coincidental as it had nothing to do
with the naming of my father.) The school was founded in 1869 by William Henry
Dana, a former student of Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901).
Homer received more than 500 hours of private instruction and graduated while
studying harmony under Dana himself. (The school would later merge with Youngstown College in 1941 and is now Youngstown State University. The music college is still named The Dana
School of Music.)
Homer also studied under Augustus
Gilliland, a trumpeter with “The March King,” John Philip Sousa. A common story
passed around in the family is that Homer himself would soon be seated as a
first-chair cornet player for Sousa (1854-1932). However, I have yet to find
any concrete proof. But this is also mentioned in Homer’s obituary, which was
presumably approved by Bessie. Sousa composed such familiar marches as “Semper
Fidelis” (1888), “Washington Post” (1889), and the most popular, “The Stars
& Stripes Forever” (1896). According to MawMaw, Sousa’s Band once performed
for the Queen of England while Homer was with them. She was not sure if the
Queen came to America, or if the band traveled overseas. As found in
the history of The Dana School, eight members of Sousa’s Band were former Dana
students at one point. Homer had also played with trombonist Arthur Pryor
(1870-1942), a former pupil of Sousa, and played his violin under the direction
of Victor Herbert (1859-1924). It was about this time that he would meet Bessie
Bullock.
The year must have been 1908. Variety
magazine (which is still printed today) was a primary resource for musicians to
look for employment back in Homer’s day. According to Aunt Ceil, he was
browsing through a copy of Variety and saw an advertisement needing a
pit orchestra conductor for a vaudeville act. It was Gus Bullock’s family show.
Homer answered the ad, and he was hired. Along the way, he even joined one of
the other acts, and played first violin ahead of the Bullock show. As soon as
his group closed their concert, he rushed off stage to conduct the pit for the
Bullocks. Bessie was one of the performers on stage, most often a
singer/dancer. Because the pit orchestra usually sat low in reference to the
stage, Bessie used to tell people that Homer fell in love with her legs before
he was able to get a clear shot of her face. From there, they quickly
established a close relationship.
Homer’s grandson, Nick Hayes, son of
Nip, relayed this tale to me:
“The Bullock show got out to Nebraska,
Colorado, or some other of those ‘God’s Country’ states, and Gus decides he
wants to go west, when Homer had decided to stay south (apparently in West
Virginia). Here’s where it gets interesting. It’s said that Bessie threw a
fit. Not just a fit, but a behemoth, monster, throwing-things, breaking-things,
kicking, screaming, yelling, long-term, very unladylike fit. She was not going
to leave Homer. According to legend, it was quite a show! Gus is beside himself
— he tells her to straighten up or he would lock her in a hotel room. He locked
the door, and wouldn’t give her food or water until she decided to simmer down.
Bessie had a very warm relationship with her sisters, who snuck her food and
drink behind Gus’ back. So…you guessed it, she was able to keep the steam
going, and the tirade continued in excess of three days. Finally, a bewildered
Gus sent Bessie on to Homer with a note stating, ‘I can’t do a thing with her.
She’s yours!’”
