Blog no. 30

Elijah Hanes “E.H.” Ayres was born on June 13, 1853, in Buckingham County, Virginia, to Matthias Leake Ayres and Martha Rebecca Hanes. He had many siblings.

On November 23, 1876, in Weakly County, TN, E.H. married Lela May Thomason. They had 5 children, and their names were Paul Bransford Ayres, Carrie Louise (Ayres) Beckwith, Laurence Thomason Ayres, Elijah Hanes Ayres Jr., and John Garland Ayres. E.H. later married Josephine “Josie” Hanes on June 8, 1892, in Buckingham County, Virginia. They had two children, and their names were Thomas Black Ayres and Martha (Ayres) Cheairs. 

The Ayres family was a notable family name in the city of Spring Hill, TN. E.H.’s son Elijah Hanes Ayres Jr. went to school at the Branham & Hughes Military Academy, E.H.’s daughter Martha was one of the first librarians of the Spring Hill Public Library, and E.H. himself organized the Bank of Spring Hill and was the mayor of Spring Hill, TN sometime between 1900 and 1926. Another little-known thing about E.H.’s family is that his grandson, Elijah Hanes Ayres Jr. was a private in World War II. E.H.’s great-grandson, Winder Heller, told a story to me and small group of people the story of what happened to Pvt. Elijah Hanes Ayres Jr.. This is the story.

On February 3, 1943, the USS Dorchester, the ship Pvt. Ayres was on, was hit by a torpedo near where Pvt. Ayres was sleeping. He died instantly. Or so his family was told. Sometime after, a man who was on the USS Dorchester offered to reminisce what truly happened to Pvt. Ayres, to his family. The man told Pvt. Ayres’ family that their family member had survived the torpedo and made it to a lifeboat, but sadly, Pvt. Ayres died due to complications of hypothermia from the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean. He was buried at sea. 

Sadly, on June 10, 1926, in Maury County, TN, E.H. died of Pneumonia. He was buried at the Spring Hill Cemetery in Spring Hill, Maury County, TN. Today, there is a road named Ayers Road in Spring Hill, TN that is named after the Ayres family, but is slightly misspelled. Also, the Ayres family home was torn down in 2018 to build an Arby’s on Main Street in Spring Hill, TN.

Special thanks to Mike Hoover and Winder Heller for helping with information and pictures for this blog.