I am copying a genealogy report (dated November 1999) that came into my hands. I think it was written by Gene (ernest.fricks@stoneweb.com) he bases it on the following sources: Adrion W. Baird and Jean Willoughby and a bit of conjecture.
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There is no evidence to suggest that Joseph was related to John of the 1666 line. What we know about Joseph is pretty meager. From Census evidence we have deduced a time frame for birth year (if he told the truth). From his grandson we have a tradition that he was Irish. From records we know that he was a surveyor who worked for Stockley Donelson, Andrew Jackson's brother-in-law. At one point Joseph obtained extensive land grants for himself in Grainger Co. Tn which he lost by tax foreclosure. He Married Hannah Lay in Wilkesboro, Wilkes NC in 1794. We do not know with any certitude who were Hannah's parents. She was not a daughter of the two Lay families in Wilkesboro but may have been a niece or a cousin. From Traditions associated with their son, Lewis Millard, he was not born in Wilkes Co. This suggests to me that Hannah may have gone back to the area of her parents for her confinement, especially if Joseph was on the road, engaged in surveying. In the 1790 census there were other Lay families in this area. Lewis Millard was not named for any Baird individual that I have been able to find in NC. There is a Lewis Baird in Rowen County, but he is a German immigrant who anglicized his name. We can account for all of his family and Joseph is not part of it. There are Millard families but no Lewis Millard in the 1790 census as I recall. Once Joseph relocates to the Whitley KY / Campbell TN area we lose even the documentary trail. A tradition has it that he died. Hannah returned to NC for a period, then either remarried and returned or returned to marry. She married Jesse Lay and had at least three children with him. However, no documentation of their marriage is known. The first documentation that suggests that they were married is a church membership record from around 1809. The lack of any stories handed down about Joseph has caused me to wonder just what transpired. It is as if a curtain were drawn across his life. We do know that the individuals with whom he worked as a surveyor were deeply implicated in the North Carolina Land Office scandal. I have drawn a speculative scenario elsewhere that he deserted his family when the hot breath of the law was felt. His wife's revenge was to expunge all memory of him, even to his three young sons. We have another story that he returned to NC and died as a result of a fire at an inn. However, we haven't seen any basis for this story. In any event, he is a puzzlelment and has defied efforts to ferret him out since 1948. After Joseph's death Hannah brought their three sons to KY near Jellico TN.
End quote from Gene (ernest.fricks@stoneweb.com).
Arlie M Lay relates that Uncle Joe 'Tubby' Baird told him that he understood that the Bairds came from Scotland and emmigrated to Ireland around 1600. When the 'Scotch-Irish' were forced out of Northern Ireland the family migrated to America (North Carolina). This was about 1775.
Mike Casdi
